On Saturday I attended Hatfield Carnival 2011. The event was held at Hatfield Square in Pretoria. The event was part of the 2011 Campus Invasion tour of South Africa. Campus Invasion is brought to South African music fans by Hilltop Live, Vodacom & Smirnoff Spin and is supported by MK and Channel O.

Here’s my review of Hatfield Carnival 2011

I arrived in the square after 4 PM, still somewhat broken by the Rammstein performance at the Coca-Cola Dome on Friday night, but eager to enjoy the brilliant display of South African music set out for the afternoon and the evening. The first band I got to see on the day were The December Streets (who won the 2010 KFC Sessions contest).

The rain did not stop the small-but-growing Tuks RAG crowd from dancing in front of the stage. The December Streets truly impressed me. They’ve definitely grown as a band since the last time I saw them perform. I overheard someone saying that Tidal Waves were playing at the stage which was set up at the bottom end of Burnett street and I quickly dashed down there to satisfy the reggae fan in me.

Tidal Waves showed just why they’ve been around for so long. The crowd were not disappointed. I made my way back to the main stage in the square to catch the 6 PM Wrestlerish set which was lined up. Before long they had the growing crowd singing along to songs like Bad News and Oliver Tambourine.

An hour after Wrestlerish finished their set Zebra and Giraffe made their way onto the stage and played an absolute gem of a set. A jam-packed Hatfield Square was singing along to most of their songs, proving that their popularity in the capital city had truly grown over the last few years. An hour after their set the filled-to-capacity Hatfield Square crowd were treated to the brilliant Afrikaans rock sound that is Van Coke Kartel.

The atmosphere was absolutely energetic. A huge portion of the crowd in front of stage engaged in one of the most-intense Hatfield Square moshing sessions I’ve ever laid my eyes upon. Hearing the crowd sing along to songs like Skadus teen die Muur and September Fools proved once again that support for SA music was alive and well in Pretoria.

After their set I made my way to a jam-packed Aandklas for some after festival entertainment. During the course of the day I bumped into @stevoza, @AlexCaige, @SimoneFourie7, @sunevh, @Sarinatjie, @jacquesdpsa, @pjvanrooyen, @RyanBrunyee, @elismaroets, @mj_healy, @s4SamsonOduntan and a few of my non-Twitter using friends, which added to the awesomeness of the experience. There’s no doubt in my mind that Hatfield Carnival was an absolute success.

Here a few photos that I took at Hatfield Carnival 2011:

The previous Photo Album post on Running Wolf’s Rant featured photos taken at the Rammstein Concert at the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg, feel free to check out it.

Watch this space for updates in the Photography category on Running Wolf’s Rant.