Synergy Live 2012 Johannesburg: My Review

This past Saturday (the 1st of December) I made my way to Synergy Live 2012 Johannesburg at Riversands Farm in Fourways. The Prodigy were the international headlining act for this one day festival, but it was also jam packed with some really lekker local talent.

I arrived at the venue at 1:30 PM (thanks to the Hotbox Express bus from Aandklas in Pretoria). I have to admit that there some issues that the organizers had to sort out when I first arrived but they dealt with them appropriately (even though it resulted in the festival being delayed with 2 hours).

The second Synergy Live 2012 Johannesburg kicked off it morphed into a crazy and magical SA Music rollercoaster

Newtown Knife Gang started the day’s proceedings on the main stage and showed just why they’re one of Johannesburg’s best rock acts. They were followed up by Man As Machine who entertained the Jozi crowd with their excellent blend of rock ‘n roll.

Gangs of Ballet followed these 2 bands and impressed the crowd with their blend of mellowed out rock before handing over the main stage to Pretoria rockers Wrestlerish. Werner Olckers and the boys played an excellent set that got the crowd going, despite the pending rain (which never came in the end).

After Wrestlerish, Bittereinder made their way onto the stage at Synergy Live 2012 Johannesburg. These Pretoria boytjies really got the crowd going and played a lot of songs off their recently released second album. One of the highlights of their set was definitely their colab with Desmond and The Tutu’s lead singer Shane Durrant – I did not see that one coming.

Desmond and the Tutu’s appeared on the main stage after Bittereinder and proved why they are considered one of the best live acts around at the moment. The Jozi crowd were treated to a finely executed rock performance by Zebra and Giraffe (who showed up with two brand new band members) next.

Before The Prodigy amazed the 8,000 strong crowd at Synergy Live 2012 Johannesburg it was The Narrow’s turn to tear them a new one with their in-your-face rock ‘n roll. It was pretty awesome seeing Hanu de Jongh and the boys  on a stage for the first time since RAMFest 2012 Johannesburg. The crowd really got into their music and showed many a music fan how a real mosh pit should be executed.

If you ask me, Synergy Live 2012 Johannesburg was a finely executed festival (despite the 2 hour delay). The bar cues were not too long, there were enough toilets and enough places where you can buy food. I’m thinking that we’ll see another edition of this festival next year in Jozi. Kudos to Arcade Empire, Griet and all the other organizers who were involved in organizing this gem of a one day festival. For more photos that I took at the festival, check out the Henno Kruger Photography page on Facebook.

What did you think of Synergy Live 2012 Johannesburg? Leave a comment and let the readers of Running Wolf’s Rant know.

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