Them's Fightin' Words

Now that I’ve recovered from the “IDFFLT” state that I found myself in last week, it’s time to get things back on track with my second Rocking The Daisies Must-See Bands post.

Originally I was going to break this festival down stage by stage until I realised how much work that would be on my part.

Instead, I decided to go day by day rather, a much less painful option.

So the first post pretty much covers everything for Thursday as there’s only going to be one stage up and running. Come Friday however, the festival will start coming alive and when it does, these are the bands you need to check out.

One more disclaimer before I start though – all the bands I’m recommending are playing on the main stage.

Yes, I know how lame that is, most people will just go to the main stage by default so I probably don’t need to big up any of the bands playing there, but holyfuckingshit, I’m writing this post on a machine that crawls like a goddamned dying snail, it’s already taken me THREE FUCKING HOURS just to find the videos below.

 

 

As much as I’d love to give other bands and artists from the Beach Bar Stage, the Nu World Beat Barn and the Electro Stage some love, that will literally take me another ten hours at the very least.

If ANYONE reading this knows other sick bands and artists performing on the Friday, drop a video link in the comments section below and if I get enough, I’ll write a follow-up post to this one.

Moving on, Friday kicks off at 1pm on the main stage with the Black Handed Kites. This band will make for a perfect, chilled start to the day with their acoustic guitar / banjo folky vibes. Check out their video for “Up”.

 

 

The next band I’d keep an eye out for on the main stage is Beatenberg, who are stepping up to do their thang at 3.10pm.

They’ve got a nice acoustic pop vibe, easy listening kinda stuffs to zone out to and get lost in. Really liked the sound of their track “Scorpionfish”, check it:

 

 

Anyone planning to indulge in some shrooms or anything else of a hallucinogenic nature should probably give the main stage a wide berth at around 5.20pm when The Brother Moves On take to the stage.

Or not. Depending on what you can handle…

These guys are like the Mars Volta of African music. Massively experimental, they won’t be everyone’s cuppa tea but I’ll definitely make an effort to see these guys. Should be pretty entertaining to watch if nothing else.

 

 

Of all the bands playing the main stage on the Friday, the first one to really make me sit up and listen when I was researching this piece was Machineri, who are up at 6.25pm.

From the couple of tracks of theirs I’ve managed to dig up, I like what I’m hearing. The guitarist Andre Geldenhuys is on a whole other level and the vocalist Sannie Fox has a Jefferson Airplane / Janis Joplin vocal tone that is all kinds of sexy.

 

 

Once Machineri have melted a few faces, I’d strongly recommend EVERYONE AT THE FESTIVAL heads to the Lemon Tree Theatre to watch Dylan Skews do the funniest stand-up you’re likely to see the entire weekend.

I watched this man at Synergy and literally cried laughing. Here’s a clip I dug up of some of his material from last year:

 

 

After that, I’d grab a bite to eat, smash a few tequilas and get ready for Friday’s big acts, starting with Isochronous, (who recently shortened their name to ISO), who are up at 9.40pm.

They wrote a pretty mesmerising, almost ethereal kind of indie which balances nicely with the Ben Gibbard / Death Cab For Cutie vocals.

Here’s a taste:

 

 

Last up is a band that I will personally kick you in the shin if you even think about missing.

Kongos are up at 11pm and they are going to blow everyone the fuck away. You can pretty much take that to the bank.

Here’s their video for “I’m Only Joking” if you don’t believe me.

 

 

Love those Queens Of The Stone Age / robot rock vibes. That relentless, driving bassline sounds like something stolen straight from Song For The Deaf, beyatiful.

If you’ve still got any strength left in you after that, I think it’ll be worth staying to watch BEAST, Inge Bergman’s new band.

I loved Lark, so even though I haven’t been able to find any of BEAST’s material to show you guys, I have high hopes for this band.

So that’s Friday for ya, anyone have any other suggestions of bands to watch, don’t be shy

-ST