It’s early and cold on the Wednesday morning before the Big Weekend. Wound up with excitement, I make my way to the Cape Town train station. “Just look out for a bunch of alternative people,” was the instructions from Hotbox Express organiser, Henk van der Schyf, so I nervously approach the first guy with dreadlocks I see. We boarded the train and my week of partying as an “Oppikoppi virgin” (and a bit of work) started…
The Hotbox Express is a train trip from Cape Town to Krugersdorp, filled with a bunch of the most diverse, yet unbelievably friendly Capetonians with one collective destination: Oppikoppi. Holiday Murray also joined us, offering a shot of tequila to anyone walking past their cabin.
The trip was sponsored by Tassenberg and Sailor Jerry spiced rum, so the fear that we will run out of alcohol was not even an option. Sonja Myburgh, brand ambassador for Sailor Jerry SA lights up a cigarette and pours the first rum and iced tea. “This is going to be a memorable trip,” she said. Yet after that, my memory started to fade already. What would you expect from sixty bloodthirsty, die-hard party people?
After a twenty-five hour train trip - and with one massive hangover - we got off at the station in Krugersdorp and made our way to the Gates of Heaven with a bus. Most of the people are (still) drinking and the anticipation to get to Oppi starts to become unbearable.
Upon arriving, we make our way through the dust to try and see some recognizable faces in the red-brown air. And from there, The Weekend began…
This was a year of many firsts for Oppikoppi. It was the first time two international bands performed and it was also the first for a less popular innovation: the money card. This little piece of plastic became your new best friend as you couldn’t buy anything with cash at the festival. The problem: if you lose your card, you lose your money. It also makes it hard to keep track of your finances and almost everyone went home with money left on the card. It makes a decent souvenir though.
Bright and early on Friday morning one gets woken up by the sounds of people (still drinking) and the smell of their breakfast. I’m starving. After a breakfast burger, the guys from Saintfearless open their first beer of the day, because there’s no such thing as drinking too early at Oppikoppi.
The first band of the day was Oros in ‘n Lang Glas, setting the right mood for a Friday afternoon and preparing the party-goers for an amazing lineup. Corné en Twakkie definitely filled their roles as hosts with enthusiasm and won over the crowd with stunts like wrestling with the boys of Locnville and their rather brave political remarks regarding Julius Malema. Their interaction with the crowd improved even more when Alleen na Desember took the stage just as the sun set. An audience member, Chloe Greyvenstein, was brought on stage just before the show and got ‘sandwiched’ between the two hosts! All warmed up and ready for action, the band impressed afterwards with a great show and got the crowd on their feet in no time.
Needless to say, Isochronous had another spectacular performance with crystal clear sound and fantastic lighting to complement their oh-so-amazing talent and Richard Brokensha’s fresh and wide-ranged vocals. They set the bar for eF-eL who performed for the last time as a group. Their performance went down as a bit of a failure in the books of most their fans. To everyone’s disappointment the sound failed during “My Sindikaat” and they played it again after an encore. The last song of their set was Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”, which was greatly received by their audience, but I’m sure I’m not the only one wondering why they didn’t the finish off their career with one of their own songs… Now, where’s my card? I have to get a drink.
And so the sun rises on yet another scorcher of a day at Northam and we make our way to the nearest food stall – equipped with our cash cards and cotton wool-mouths. The sounds of The Lise Chris band on the Bruilof Stage made the beginning to my Saturday even sweeter. Dancing feet and bobbing heads were the result of their fresh soft rock tones and great stage presence. On the main stage, Mr. Cat and The Jackal made for yet another controversial, yet mind-blowing performance with their over-sized stage props and alternative music. Fans adored each moment and gathered in front of the stage to welcome the Capetonians. But, they weren’t the only visitors from the Cape. Holiday Murray left their mark in the hearts and memories of Oppikoppi. Their remarkable performances never seem to disappoint their fans and the indie-rock tunes suited the general calm-before-the-storm vibe on this beautiful, dusty Saturday afternoon.
That evening a rush of people to the Bruilof stage made me realize that it’s almost time for Not My Dog to step into the spotlight. My stomach is in a knot. With yet another killer performance from Hanu de Jong and his band it comes as no surprise that there would be an outbreak of mosh pits in a crowd of about four thousand strong. This is one of the most talented acts in South African music that I’ve seen and I rest my case after this gig. Well done, boys.
Later that night, Jax Panik, Desmond and the Tutus and Van Coke Kartel all entertained an astonishingly strong and spirited audience with flawless performances on the Main Stage, whilst Karen Zoid, Goodluck and Gazelle performed at the Skellem Stage. Goodluck performed their smash-hits “Hop On, Hop Off” and “Taking It Easy” and the audience (all snuggled up against each other in the small space) drank in every moment with the trio. Off to the bar again.
It’s Sunday. I’m tired, hung over, broke and dirty. Still, nothing can stop me from dragging myself to the Bruilof stage to see Saintfearless, who won a slot at the festival by votes from fans in a cyber competition. After a killer opening track, Kieron Brown’s on-stage potty mouth caused the audience to fade somewhat, but the band’s collective energy and songs that force you to jump along repaired their morale and this instantly drew people to their feet again. Dance, You’re on Fire was one of the favourites of the day amongst the Koppi-ers, although I don’t believe that they had the best of shows. The sound wasn’t that great to begin with and Tom’s vocals might have slipped a few times. The fans adored them nevertheless and with the turn of “Boxes of Tigers” all glitches were forgotten.
This year’s special guest at the festival was David Kramer – who had every soul singing along to “Skipskop”, whether they knew the words or not. There is honestly not one bad thing I can say about this performance. The sound was great, David clearly had a blast on stage and the interaction between artist and crowd could be felt as far as the sound waves traveled.
With the little energy I had left, the moment I have been waiting for the entire weekend finally got thrust upon me and I could feel the life rushing back into my body as crowds gather to welcome the first (and my favourite) American band. I forced my way to the front to get a clear view of my heroes. The Used eventually made it on stage after 45 minutes and the crowd went ballistic as Bert McCracken greeted with one of the most famous phrases in the Afrikaans language: “Jou ma se ****”. After an intense (yet awfully short) show and fans singing along to every song, the band sang an encore and ended off their set with “On My Own”. I had to fight back the tears as I realized that I had to wave goodbye to them, but my mood quickly lifted as the second international act took the stage an hour later. Sum 41 had one of the best shows of the festival and Deryck Whibley had the audience clinging onto his every word. With songs like “Fat Lip” and “In Too Deep” it’s no wonder that you could hear 10, 000 tired and barely-there voices blasting through the air as the 14-year-olds in all of us sang along to the punk-rockers that got us through adolescence.
With great difficulty we woke up on Monday morning – tired, dirty and ready to head home. After a breakfast burger and the last bit of Sailor Jerry, we made our way back to the bus and took one final look at what was once one of the best weekends of our lives. After a three-hour bus ride, we arrived at the train station in Krugersdorp (literally one minute before the train!) and boarded what was to be our home for the next 25 hours back to Cape Town.
Although our little trip to Heaven came to an end, we will all still have the memories of Oppikoppi 2011. And the words of Mister Thomas Mpaka still ring true as it is illuminated by my memory of his bright and ecstatic smile when he took me by the arm and said: “We have all been truly blessed by the Unknown Brother.”
