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4 Epic Photos That I Took of International Acts in 2012

by Henno Kruger on April 8, 2013 · 0 comments

2012 was one of the busiest years that I’ve had. I took many pictures that some folks have called Epic Photos. I went to Synergy Live, RAMFest, Up The Creek, Oppikoppi, Mieliepop, Vodacom In The City and various other gigs in Pretoria and Johannesburg throughout the year.

I had the privilege to watch and photograph The Prodigy, AWOLNATION, In Flames, Infected Mushroom, Uriah Heap, Bloc Party, Eagles of Death Metal, Enter Shikari, Bullet for My Valentine and Seether. 2012 really was a great learning curve for my Photography skills.

Today I’m featuring 4 Epic Photos that I took of some of these International Acts in 2012. I’m also including a story with each of these photos.

Photo of The Prodigy At Synergy Live in Johannesburg: I made my way to Riversands Farm last year in December to catch the first Johannesburg edition of this festival. I was extremely amped up before hand to watch the Prodigy live for the first time and when push came to shove they did not disappoint me at all. I’ve never seen a crowd of close to 8,000 people dance like they way they did during the Prodigy’s set. If they ever come to South Africa again, I’ll be there to watch them again, no question about it. I snapped this photo of Keith Flint during their set. I had to time this shot perfectly because the lighting wasn’t the best I could work with.

Photo of In Flames at RAMFest in Johannesburg: I was at Riversands Farm in March 2012 for my 3rd RAMFest experience in Gauteng in a row. More than 15,000 people crowded the festival fields in anticipation for Swedish Metal Act In Flames. The rain did not discourage them at all. I made my way into the media pit with many other photographers and starting shooting like a photographer on steroids. Despite the fact that I was slightly tipsy at the time, I managed to capture this epic photo of one of the guitarists rocking out during their set.

Photo of Bullet for My Valentine at Oppikoppi 2012 Sweet Thing: I have to admit that I did not expect too much of the Bullet for my Valentine set at Oppikoppi 2012 Sweet Thing last year. I’m not a huge fan of Emo, but these boys from Wales blew yours truly and 20,000+ people away last year at the Wesley’s Dome Stage. Despite spending nearly 14 hours on my feet and taking photos of numerous bands on the day, I gathered enough energy to photograph their epic set before retiring my camera for the weekend. I snapped this epic photo of Bullet For My Valentine’s frontman rocking out during one of their songs. I was so gatvol for photography after Oppikoppi, I didn’t touch a camera for two weeks.

Photo of Uriah Heep at Mieliepop 2012: Mieliepop was definitely one of my favorite festivals on 2012. More than 2,000 people made their way to a resort near Lothair in Mpumalanga to enjoy Uriah Heep and some of the best live acts that SA has to offer. Photographing one of the legendary rock bands who have been around for more than 40 years was an awesome experience. They reminded me that you can still rock if you’re over 50 years old. I snapped this epic photo during their performance (which completely blew me away).

Well, there you have it. Hope you’ve enjoyed reading the stories behind these 4 epic photos that I took of International Acts in 2012. Share this post with your friends if you want to.

Watch this space for regular updates in the Photography and Music categories on Running Wolf’s Rant.

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My 2 Cents on RAMFest 2013 Johannesburg

by Henno Kruger on April 1, 2013 · 0 comments

in Music, Opinion

About 2 weeks ago I attended RAMFest 2013 Johannesburg at Riversands Farm. It was the third year in a row that this festival was held at this venue and the fourth year in a row that I attended it.

We arrived at the venue late Friday afternoon, just in time to catch Man As Machine. These okes got the festival off to a rocking start and blew the early birds away with their no-nonsense rock ‘n roll style. Their cover of the POD song “Boom” was something that I’ll never forget. After them it was time for the Black Cat Bones. These Pretoria boys showed the crowd just why they won the MK Award for Best Live act a week later. They were extremely energetic on stage. I still stick to my opinion that they have the craziest bassist in SA Music.

The rain caused some issues on Day One. The Boom! stage had to start later and there were sound issues at the main stage. It took the organizers two hours to sort out the hiccups, but it all turned out okay in the end. I caught a glimpse of Pretoria band North of Winter and then sucked in the awesomeness that is Inspector Cluzo (two crazy rockers from France). After this I found out why Fuzigish is still one of the best live acts in South Africa and everyone found out why Van Coke Kartel has won the MK Award for Best Live Act for two years in a row.

It was awesome seeing the Bellville rockers collaborating with guys like Laudo Liebenberg (from aKING), George van der Spuy (from Taxi Violence), Hunter Kennedy (from Fokofpolisiekar and Die Heuwels Fantasties) and Peach van Pletzen (of Yesterday’s Pupil and Bittereinder fame). It was something special that those attending will never forget. After this the crowd and I danced our arses off to the sounds of Jack Parow. It was also extremely awesome seeing Francois van Coke sharing the stage with him again.

We drove back to Pretoria after day one and made our way back early on Saturday morning in time to catch the first live act at 12 noon. Tailor blew the crowd away with her unique musical style and awesome live performance skills. The day progressed slowly with some performances from a few metal bands and an awesome display by the Monster Energy motocross dudes.

Eventually it was time for Jet Black Camaro at 4 PM. These Joburgers blew the crowd away with their no-nonsense style of Bluesy Rock ‘n Roll. They reminded the crowd that rock ‘n roll wasn’t dead after all. Short Straw were up next on the Boom! stage. They entertained the crowd to the max. Apparently some random chick flashed them (but I missed it). It doesn’t matter if you were in a bad mood before their set, everyone left smiling afterwards. Short Straw just has that effect on people.

BEAST were up in the late afternoon on the main stage. Inge Beeckman, two guys from Taxi Violence on bass and the drummer from the Plastics proved just why they are definitely one of the acts to watch in 2013. This was definitely one of the highlights of RAMFest 2013 Johannesburg for me. There were a bunch of metal bands up after this. Eventually it was for Pestroy. I have to admit that these Joburg rockers tore the crowd a new one with their in-your-face style of hard rock.

Bring me the Horizon were up next. Their live performance skills impressed the crowd who were completely blown away by them. I’m not a huge fan and I don’t know their music, but I have to admit that I was particularly impressed by them. Rise Against were up last and blew the Riversands Farm crowd away with their expert crowd interaction and live performance skills. It was something that we’ll never forget. I hope they come back to South Africa soon.

Overall, RAMFest 2013 Johannesburg was an awesome experience, besides some minor issues. The toilets could have been organized better, but there were ample food stalls and enough bars to handle the crowd of +/- 12,000 people. I have to admit that I would’ve loved to camp though.

Watch this space for regular updates in the Music and Opinion category on Running Wolf’s Rant.

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Photo Album: Rise Against at RAMFest 2013 Johannesburg

by Henno Kruger on March 25, 2013 · 0 comments

in Music, Opinion, Photo Albums, Photography

Some of you may have forgotten already, but Rise Against played at RAMFest this year. I was one of the lucky few to photograph Rise Against at RAMFest 2013 Johannesburg just over a week ago.

Rise Against were phenomenal live. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an international act touch base that much with their fans. They made the crowd feel like they could have been in there living room having beer with them. Besides this, the set list was just pretty damn amazing.

Having the opportunity to photograph them while they were playing “The Good Left Undone” was bloody awesome. I was singing along to every single word. And lets not forget that they played songs like “Prayer of the Refugee”, acoustic versions of “Hero of War” and “Swing Life Away” and finished their set with “Saviour”. The set by Rise Against at RAMFest 2013 Johannesburg was something that will always have a special place in my music loving heart. The awesomeness is a close tie with the Smashing Pumpkins set that I saw in 2000.

I’m so glad that I could catch part of this experience on camera. Check out the photos that I took of Rise Against at RAMFest 2013 Johannesburg below.