aKing – The band who went up

Mentioning aKing in a conversation, is sure to get quite a variety of reactions. Everything from absolute awe and wonder, to distant musings of what could have been had they not [insert reasoning here]. Personally, I edge much more to the “awe”-side of things.

The reason for the vastly varying viewpoints, is quite simple actually. You see, when aKing was formed in 2007 by Hunter Kennedy and Jaco Venter from Fokofpolisiekar, many FPK fans expected to hear the same sound we got to know from the legendary Afrikaans rockers. This was, however, not the case. Hunter and Jaco teamed up with Laudo Liebenberg and Hennie van Halen to form a completely new musical experience. It was melodic rock like never heard before. Unfortunately, many people are so anally retentive that they just couldn’t make peace with the fact that this was not another Fokof. Simply put, they missed out on the opportunity to love an awesome band from the start.

Giving birth to a band, and by default being compared to one of the greatest bands ever to see the light of day in South Africa, has been a tall order. aKing however, managed to not only hold their own, but as a matter of fact go UP from their already high starting point. A list of highlights from their career so far (almost 6 years and counting) include 4 album releases:

• Dutch Courage (LP, 2008)
• In The Twilight (EP, 2009)
• Against All Odds (LP, 2009)
• The Red Blooded Years (LP, 2011)

Radio stations on which they have topped various charts include:

• No 1 – Highveld Stereo Homebrew Top 10.
• No 1 – Kovsie FM (Bloem) Top 30
• No 1 – TUKS FM – SA Top 10
• No 1 – RMR SA Top 10 (Grahamstown)
• No 1 – UJ FM SA Top 20
• No 1 – PUK FM – SA Top 20
• No 1 – MFM – Top 10

In 2012, Hunter Kennedy (one of South Africa’s best lyricists) left the band and was replaced by Andrew Davenport. Other than that, the band has remained unchanged. Growing musically, and overall creatively with every new venture (such as their incredible music videos), I can assure you that aKing is a band that will still have an even bigger impact on the South African music industry than they’ve already had.

Here’s one of my favourite aKing songs, Safe As Houses, off of their first album “Dutch Courage”

Check them out on:

• Twitter @aKINGband
• Facebook
• www.aking.za.net

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This post is part of my “A2Z Blogging Challenge”, where I have committed to creating one post per day, every day of April (except for Sundays), thematically according to the alphabet. For more info on this challenge, check out www.a-to-zchallenge.com

The Coming of The Ram

Yes fellow Lovers Of Good Music, it’s RAMFest time.

Saturday 10 March 2012: Johannesburg, Riversands Farm

This year, the runup to the fest has generated quite a lot of hype. There was that unfortunate incident with the anally retentive attention seeking twat in Bloemfontein who likes sending around chain-mails. (In short: RAMfest is satanic, music is evil, and all such nonsense). That, however, was overshadowed by the positive vibe building around the 2012 RAMfest experience. So many people, blogs, celebrities and media are psyched about the events.

I am going to the Jhb-leg of this epic fest this coming Saturday, 10th of March. Let me tell you, I am excited. It’s as if RAMfest’s awesomeness just increases each year! Things I can’t wait for:

• Fokofpolisiekar
• Inflames
• Stalletjies
• Freakishly awesome people
• Moshpit!
• Chilling on the grass after hectic day with drink in hand, burger in the other
• Let us not deny, RAMfest always has a lot of extraordinarily beautiful ladies
• ALL THE MUSIC (That’s what a rockfest is for, after all)

Yes, I did list Fokofpolisiekar above Inflames. I did that for a reason. The rest is just random.

@HennoKruger and myself are organising an informal TweetUp to kick off the experience. 11:30 at the main Beer Garden. Here’s the link to the tweetup: https://www.facebook.com/events/119992298125448/

If you haven’t yet been to RAMfest, make sure you get your tickets, and go! The rest of you who have been there, I am sure I don’t need to motivate you to go again.

Here’s the full schedule for the day (in reverse, coz RAMfest is awesome like that:

RED HEART MAIN STAGE

• 22h30: INFECTED MUSHROOM (Israel)
• 20h30: IN FLAMES (Sweden)
• 19h15: THE NARROW
• 18h15: PESTROY
• 17h00: AWOLNATION (USA)
• 15h30: FOKOFPOLISIEKAR
• 14h30: CHROMIUM
• 13h30: SHADOWCLUB
• 12h30: NEWTOWN KNIFE GANG

OLMECA ELECTRONIC STAGE

• 20h00: DOUBLE ADAPTER
• 18h00: NETSKY dj Set Ft. MC Darrison (Belgium & UK)
• 17h00: NISKERONE
• 16h00: RUDEONE
• 15h00: TASHA BAXTER
• 14h00: DEEZIAK
• 13h00: BENSON
• 12h00: CUTKEYLOW
• 11h00: AMBUSH

Some more info:

Camping:

This year there is also an option for camping. Camping tickets are R50 pp for 2 nights (Fri and Sat) and R30 pp for 1 night (Sat). No camping tickets available for only Friday.  Space is limited so book asap.  Buy your camping tickets here.

Please note: Camping ticket does not include festival ticket and does not allow you entry to the festival arena. You will also not be allowed into the campsite without a valid festival ticket.

RAMfest JHB Party Bus from Pretoria:

After the success of Railway to RAMfest in 2010 & 2011, Hotbox Express has decided to organize a party bus from Pretoria to Ramfest JHB. For more info mail us at hotboxexpress@yahoo.com or contact us on 074 143 7471.

For more information, click here.

TICKETS

RAMfest Johannesburg – R350 (EFT or credit card options)
available at: www.ramfest.co.za or www.ticketbreak.co.za

 

Click here for the facebook event details.

Also, make sure you follow @RAMfest on Twitter

I am no longer an Oppikoppi Virgin

Firstly, let me get it this out of the way. Yes, I have never before been to Oppikoppi (hence the term Koppi Virgin). This does not however mean that I am a newbie in the entertainment world. I have been to more gigs, shows and festivals than I can remember. I’ve done the whole shebang from playing in a band myself to organising tours. Furthermore, I have roughed it in informal settlements for months in African countries. I’ve done survivor camps, rock climbing, river rafting on the Zambezi and many other extreme fun events. I’ve even gone shopping in Menlyn during the school holidays. So of course I was prepared for Oppikoppi.

Yeah right.

The sheer magnitude of the festival almost overwhelmed me. To see thousands upon thousands of people from such a diverse cultural spectrum all together for one event was amazing. From the white Rasta to the black punk, the boerseun in khakis and a Fokofpolisiekar T-shirt to the poppie trading her Sandton-manicure for hippie-pants and a MK-cap…  To be frank, I can go see bands any time I want, but to live the experience of Oppikoppi is, evidently, much more than just the music.

Our campsite was my base of operations. Here my days began with Black Label and ended with friends around the fire just before curling up in my dusty tent. I was privileged enough to have a really fun crowd camping with us. My fellow Koppi Virgins and I were continually enthralled by tales of previous Oppikoppi’s as told by people like Henno Kruger (doing his 13^th) and others with a few Koppi’s behind them. What made these stories even more awesome was the realisation that I too, was now living the stories I would tell to next year’s campers. Aside from all the laughs and random encounters with even more random people, camping also provided me with a strange opportunity to reflect. I was surrounded by dust (and a LOT of it), noise (every surrounding campsite had its own self appointed DJ) and conversations (you’d be surprised to know what people all around your tent talk about at 3:30 am). Yet somewhere in the cacophony I found myself engaged in my own thoughts for the first time in ages. I don’t know whether it was the change of pace form the city, or the subconscious realisation of the inherent freedom that Oppikoppi embodies. All I know is that there, on the corner of Frank Frost and Freedom, I found a part of my inner self that I thought had long ago been lost.

During the day, things were a lot less mushy and the music took over. Of the 5 stages on which more than 80 bands performed, I frequented four. I left the electro/dance stage to those that actually like that type of music. My personal favourites of the festival was undoubtedly Karen Zoid, Not My Dog, Bittereinder (by far the best local act at Oppikoppi. Read my interview with them on SA Music Zone) and the Canadian band Sum41 who blew more than 16 000 people away with their old songs and new hits alike. Other bands that need to be mentioned for exceptional performances are Van Coke Kartel, Die Heuwels Fantasties, Die Tuindwergies, December Streets, the Lise Chris Band and Frankie Fire. A very special show was the David Kramer tribute, celebrating his 30 years in the SA music industry. He put is all into an amazing performance, collaborating with -amongst others- Karen Zoid, Francois van Coke, Pierre Greeff (Heuwels Fantasties) and Jaco van der Merwe & Peach van Pletzen of Bittereinder.

Certain moments at the fest just managed to put the proverbial cherry on top of the already delicious cake. On the Saturday we had a TweetUp (meet-up of various twitter folks) hosted on the Cuervo deck. I was privileged enough to be there (seeing as I helped to organise it) and meet some of South Africa’s most prominent online personalities… whilst drinking tequila.

Visits to the legendary Top Bar (especially the post-koppi party after the last shows were done) made for more epic moments than I can mention (some of which I’d rather NOT mention).

All in all I can say that my first Oppikoppi experience was a tremendously good one. I will definitely be going back next year… and every year thereafter. If YOU are still an Oppikoppi Virgin, do something about it. Oppikoppi 2012 is waiting for you!

To my Unknown Brother who traded his suit and tie for and tie-die and Doc’s…
To my Unknown Sister who used a portable ablution facility for the first time…
To the Unknown organisers and crew who made this event a reality…
I salute you. YOU are the people that make Oppikoppi the life changing experience that it is.