If you have ever been to Oppikoppi, you have experienced the crunchy red dust, the shiver of the night and the sweat of the day. You have also had a drink at 9am and not wondered if it was OK. Of course it is the right thing to do in Northam. Isn’t that why Northam exists as a town after all?
The other thing that you have done is watched bands, enjoyed music and danced to a variety of beats while being covered in a film of dust, wet wipe residue and the beer some random messed down your top rather than in your mouth. I realised this week, while looking at the photographs of all the bands from Sean Brand, that out of the eighteen bands I wanted to watch, I only managed to muster up a measly 3,75 show-up rate. (This is not at all scientific because I didn’t watch an entire set nor do I know all the music I did watch.) All I can say is, it’s probably a good thing that I was not meant to be doing anything constructive at that time.
Here is what I got up to instead.
We arrived at the monumental Oppi Farm on Friday morning at 6am, with no sleep and a very squishy ride in the darkness. By 9am the drinks were flowing faster than the time it took me to take off my bikini top after being stung by a jellyfish. The day was spent checking out the scenery (by scenery I mean willies and thorn bushes), finding friends (which seems to be all we did that day), chilling in the sun and just appreciating life out of the rat race for a change.I then proceeded to drink an array of tequila mixed with all sorts of things. My rule is: “no shots on Day One of Oppi”, but with a twist of my rubber arm and compliments of my favourite Jews, a girl with blue hair and @SimonThome, this turned into a black nail polish extravaganza for both males and females alike.
We then managed to catch Isochronous. What an awesome mix of Radiohead and Muse blended with a touch of South Africa! I laid back on the mountain and just looked at the sky and in that very moment, pleased with myself for not trying to fight a crowd to get prime position. This moment reminded me of the first time I watched Zebra and Giraffe at Oppi, alone on a hill, just taking it all in. Hope to see more of this band on their tour
The rest of Friday night involved some more mountain climbing to the background rumble of a crowd and passing out at the entrance of my tent.
Saturday’s sunshine was welcomed by a toasty burger from our stolen fire (we even managed to score some free ketchup – Thanks Russell) and the emotional round up of Haggis and Bong in the camping area, before another mission up the mountain to meet up with the people I ramble on with all day on Twitter! Tequila Breakfast at last. I could have died happy in that moment! Thanks @josecuervo for the free tequila and for introducing me to the awesome You.Me.Cuervo! vibe.
I had a very interesting encounter with a bunch of pranksters from Hatfield, some or the other church where I played some drums and almost pushed a very big guy down the hill and into a portaloo for his pretend racism. *note to self: stop taking everything so seriously*
My only band mission for Saturday was to chill with Karen Zoid at the Skellum Stage. It did not happen though. Rather, I was kicking some dust with these two lovely gents and Gina Bina and feeding them the delicious homemade chocolate Vodka I had attained from a villain. I also attempted to figure out how to put my socks on for at least an hour, before a jump around with Not my Dog and a roll in the hay at the James Phillip stage.
Acts I missed on Saturday that I wanted to see include Jax Panic, Zebra and Giraffe and Niskerone. I also promised some dude claiming to be @FrancoisVanCoke, after giving him free hugs in Boom Straat, that I would watch Van Coke Cartel in my pink fluffy hat if he promised to call me up on stage. Take that supposed famous guy! I forgot you again… *evil grin*
Sunday there was a violent urge for a shower and at the advice of my besty, the hour’s wait was so worth it. Made it in the nick of time also because the water cut out the second the shampoo was out of my hair. *phew* Teeth polished and moisturiser applied, I planned to go out of Oppikoppi with a bang.
Ok, so not really a bang of a drum, more the bang of a triangle! Squeaked some tekkie on the hay with @musicandhippies and @DayneAB.
Had an awesome nap to Dan Patlansky and then busted some crazy “sakkie” moves with a dude who claimed to be from Luxembourg to the awesome sound that is David Kramer.
This put me in full stead for a party but not before flashing the sound guys (with a torch), a brief moment with Magic Pie @HennoKruger and a rad discussion about an Internet-driven world with @BassDeBeer.
The night ended with jumping and exhilaration to Lark, The Used, Die Antwoord and Sum41.
I was then a tired @sinistermoon and decided to pack it in for the night, knowing that I would miss the Wedding DJs yet again. It was OK though, because this random who smelt of beer woke me up with some melodic guitar noise.
Goals for next year: Pace on Day 1, watch more bands and a devise a mechanism to deal with my distractions for dusty boys and manic girls...
*this article was written for
SA Music Zone*
