Nelsparta is not the small town everyone tends to think it is. It’s also not as hot as one would think it would be in winter. The 13th annual Innibos NasionaleKunstefees happened in this “small town” over the weekend and left everyone in awe with it’s power and if you think that Innibos is just an Afrikaans festival filled with two toned shirts and boere poppies you need to wipe the dust out of your eyes.
It’s hard not to go into detail for the 4 days festival (make it 3 for us due to flu in the sables) because there is so much we can tell you. Let’s begin at the Innibos Rock Rumoer competition that 99% people felt was unfair. This competition was open to any unsigned band in South Africa over the ages of 18. The top 10 were chosen via a public voting system on the Innibos website. The top 10 had to play live on the MK Rock stage on Wednesday the 29th of June. From there on the judges picked the top two to play the next night on the main stage. In the end the battle was between the Jonathan Peyper Trio and Tuin.
The Standard Bank stage (also known as the main stage) became the rock stage on Thursday the 30th of June and showcased bands like The Black Cat Bones, Dan Patlansky, Albert Frost, Prime Circle, Die Heuwels Fantasies and more. Both The Jonathan Peyper Trio and Tuin had one song to play after which the winners were chosen on how loud the people cheered.
For many this was a stupid way of determine a winner. Any drunk male student filled with the idea that chicks are hot will scream for the chicks if you ask me. Many of us felt that Jonathan Peyper Trio should have won purely because they can make music. They won best drummer, bassist and vocalist the previous night – shouldn’t that tell you something? However, Tuin won by 4 decibels – a stupid way, but they did. Lessons learnt I think.
The other highlight of the rock stage on the Standard Bank stage was Patlansky / Frost collaboration. You quickly separate the music fans from the drunk ones and also the blues fans from the pop fans. I must give it to Karen Zoid, her fans quickly filled up the front and she proofed why she will always be the first lady of rock. Francois van Coke also announced that he and his wife is expecting a little van Coke later this year. Great news all round.
In between the evenings we went to watch Schalk Bezuidenhout at the Boma Kuier Teater. What a funny guy! I regret not buying tickets to his one man show but boy, the jokes will last me life time. From RSG jokes to why Pretoria guys are really such big okes. We also caught Hannes Brummer “Punk in Plakkies” at the same teather. Even this guy had us in stiches and since my human lost her voice it was even funnier to see her try to laugh with no sound coming out.
When last did you see Fokofpolisiekar? For me and my human it has been 10 years and it might have been at Blue Moon. So on Friday the 1st July at Innibos we were ready to watch the boys perform again. But of course the stage needed to warm up first with performances by Spoegwolf, Majozi, Wonderboom and Taxi Violence.
Wonderboom’s music went over a few kids heads but the rest were all just hanging onto Cito’s lips. It was one kick ass performance from them and Taxi Violence. Fokofpolisiekar showed why they still can get onto a stage make everyone go nuts. Everything from condoms to cups were thrown onto stage during their crazy set.
On Saturday the 2nd of July I was people watching with my good friend Louise Pieterse. We were taking it slow after I managed to mix my meds and beer the previous evening. It was a bloody cold day in Nelsparta even though everyone thought “Oh it’s going to be summer”. Take note: It snowed on the mountains surrounding our town.
The MK rock stage kicked off with Afrikaans band, Nagligte who is not that popular yet. We were humbly surprised by them and we had a lekker jol with them later on. Matthew Mole was up next and the young crowd hanged onto his smiling face and sang back some his songs. Bouwer Bosch was next and I gave him a skip (because I’ve never been a fan). Gangs of Ballet lured the crowd into the cold with an entertaining set before it was time for aKING (an all time favourite at Innibos).
During their set, the band asked the crowd which aKING song they wanted to hear and the the crowd proclaimed “Brand Suid Afrika” (which is a Fokofpolisiekar song). aKING gave one of their best performances (in my eyes maybe because I can’t keep my eyes off Laudo’s cute butt).
Bittereinder ended the week’s rock music with an electronic, blow your head performance. I just love watching this band and it was a good thing I was wearing earplugs, otherwise I would be completely deaf now. They were the prefect act to close this year’s Innibos Rock Stage.
During the festival you always notice things and compare notes with other festivals. Innibos really looks after all their VIPs, even the media. The back stage area at the rock stage had a fridge full of water and coffee section – nice additions. The festival terrain was a human ants nest but there were no complaints. We had a clean bathroom every time, the medics were very helpful when we needed them and the police on the horses was a highlight for me.
Innibos is just one of those big festivals you have to do just to appreciate the smaller ones. Also Nelspartans are nice people (yes Schalk this is for you) once you get to know them. Innibos 2017 dates have been announced already so head over to their Facebook page for more information.
Watch this space for regular updates in the Music category on Running Wolf’s Rant.
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