Last week Saturday I made my way to the Hatfield Carnival 2014 (which was part of this year’s Campus Invasion tour) and it was one of the coolest experiences of the year – the reason why I’ve selected it as today’s Phototastic Thursday topic. The event got off to a slow start, but in the end more than 8000 people had made their way through the gates into the closed off streets of one of Pretoria’s most notorious suburbs.
I arrived in Hatfield around 12 noon, feeling all amped up to watch some of the best live acts that the SA Music Scene has to offer, but sadly the event got off to a slow start. The first few acts that I caught were Jamie Lee Sexton (a lady with an absolutely amazing voice), Le Voyage (one of the most exciting rock acts to come out of the capital city in recent years), Die See (an act that can transport you to places you’ve never been with their deep and intense lyrics), The Olympic (a Pretoria rock band with a pink unicorn mascot) and Naming James (one of the local acts that you need to watch in 2014). These acts all reminded of the awesome state that SA Music is in at the moment and made me smile from ear to ear and all played to tiny crowds, but the pace started picking up.
Next up were Bright Light Big City (who impressed me with their awesome bluesy sounds), Tumi Modikane (the South African king of hip hop), Ross Jack (an interesting individual who spewed out some catchy rap lyrics) and Taxi Violence (who reminded that rock was still alive and well in SA). After this I caught the last bit of the BCUC set before I enjoyed my first Bittereinder show of 2014. These Pretoria boytjies really came to the party and had the crowd bouncing and dancing before you could say “Snor City”. I spent the remainder of the night at the smaller stage, enjoying awesome sets by Shortstraw, Gangs of Ballet and Van Coke Kartel. Shortstraw got a good reminder of how much they’re loved in Pretoria, Gangs of Ballet impressed me with their awesome live performance skills and I was just completely blown away by Van Coke Kartel. And yes – Dylan Hunt (Van Coke Kartel’s new drummer) fits right into the band. After this it was off to Aandklas for my first beer of the day. We partied into the early hours of Saturday morning before @BaasDeBeer and I drove home through an intense thunderstorm.
Kudos to Stephan, Erin, Tammy, Gareth, Nicol and everyone else at Hilltop Live for pulling off one awesome event. It was much better organized the 2013, 2012 and 2011 editions. There plenty of toilets and being able to munch on some KFC, MacDonalds and Andiccios was just awesome. I’m definitely looking forward to the 2015 edition of Hatfield Carnival. Here are some more photos that I took on the day, you can find the rest that I took on the Henno Kruger Photography page on Facebook.
So, what did you think of Hatfield Carnival 2014? Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Feedback is appreciated and welcome here. If you’ve enjoyed reading my review and viewing my photos, feel free to share this article with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. Remember: Sharing is Caring.
Watch this space for regular updates in the Music category on Running Wolf’s Rant.
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