Over the weekend I attended Rocking the Gardens 2010 at Emmerentia Dam in Johannesburg (the same venue where RAMFest 2010 Jhb was hosted in March). I arrived at the venue about 10:30 AM (still nursing a slight hangover from the previous night’s #PTATweetup at Aandklas in Pretoria).
Here’s my review of Rocking The Gardens 2010
The sun was blazing hot and I soon realized that it was a huge mistake to leave my favorite MK cap behind and to bring my jacket with me. I made my way to the Nokia tent to register on Ovi in order to obtain my free Rocking the Gardens t-shirt. After this I ventured to my other familiar festival friend, the hydration station obtain my water bottle (which enabled me to obtained cold water the whole of the day).
I must say that the water helped a lot to nurse my hangover. And I would also like to thank the folks at the Nokia tent who gave me a complimentary cap to protect my skin from the sun and a bag to make it easier to carry my stuff around in. The day’s proceedings started at 11 AM with the Rambling Bones set. At this time I was a little bit hungry so I bought a cheese burger from the Burger Express stand (which frequent Oppikoppi festival goers are probably familiar with).
I was walking around a lot and bumped into one or 2 of my friends along the way. I also ventured into the comedy tent for a laugh where Vittorio Leonardi and other comedians were performing. I caught a glimpse of Newtown and the Jack Mantis band peforming inbetween. Eventually I made my way back to the main stage to watch Wrestlerish performing.
After this I met up with @lea083 and her cousin at the Jose Cuervo VIP bar for some margaritas. The sounds of Napalma getting their groove on at the main stage was the perfect backdrop for this. We made our way to the stage to watch South African reggae / rock sensation Tidal Waves. I had not seen them perform live since they played at STRAB in Mozambique, so I was keen to seen them play again. They played an excellent gig and really got the Rocking the Gardens crowd going. After this we made another trip to the Jose Cuervo VIP bar for some more margaritas.
I bumped into @stevoza and @Ahwelady again as well as another friend from Pretoria (whom I have not seen in at least 5 or 6 years), all in a matter of minutes and while the Dirty Skirts was jamming in the background. Eventually we made our way to the food court at the comedy stage.
We caught a glimpse of Conrad Koch (one of SA’s best ventriloquists) in action. I also watched a bit of Jesse Clegg jamming on the main stage. The highlight of the Jesse Clegg gig was probably seeing @mikesharman dancing on the railing in front of the crowd in his speedo (which was welcomed by cheers from the crowd). We made sure that we found a nice spot for Prime Circle and waited for them to start their show.
Prime Circle got the Joburg crowd jumping up and down and singing along to most of their songs. As Zebra & Giraffe started their show I also spoke to @spillly and walked around taking photos. Zebra & Giraffe played brilliantly and also got the crowd going.
At this point my 33 year old rocked out body made its way towards the exit gate and I was back home in Pretoria just after 10 PM. Looking back at the day, I’d say that Rocking the Gardens 2010 was a jol and that it has confirmed my suspicions about Emmerentia dam being one of the best concert / festival venues in South Africa. If there’s going to be another one next year I’ll definately be making me way there again.
Here are some photos taken by me on Saturday. I must say that I’m enjoying my new Fuji Finepix S1800 camera:
Feel free to check out the other posts in the Photography category on Running Wolf’s Rant.
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