Synergy Live 2011. Done.

So I’ve tried writing this post a few times this morning and I get stuck at the same point every time. It’s the point where what I write becomes so long that I lose your interest halfway, and I fucking hate that, so I will try to avoid doing the same. So here is my take on one of the best festivals I’ve been to.

Friday. It wasn’t the greatest day, but once we arrived, all was better. I had a shady parking (something which become even more important 15 minutes later), we hooked up with the mates and proceeded to pitch tents in the parking lot. In the parking lot? Yes. Because the camp site was far, and we weren’t there to play camp, we were there for rock and roll.

I realised I had not taken our massive tent’s poles along, so my trusted grey spidermonkey served as our camp for the weekend. And let me tell you, as a tall guy, my little i10 is actually super comfortable. I’ve never slept as late at a festival, until 9AM on Sat morning, and my body felt less broken than usual upon our return home.

And that is surprising, because as was discussed many times throughout the weekend, “we didn’t feel that wasted, but we think we’d had quite a lot to drink”. And I think we did, I don’t remember, and I don’t remember because I was too busy hanging out with quality people, watching quality music. Friday night was stolen, for me at least, by Ashtray Electric.

There was a sense of occasion while they were playing, and we all noticed. Goeie werk ouens, ek het julle gese daai album is spesiaal.

My second favourite act was Shadowclub who didn’t care about a few unturned strings, a couple of missed notes or keeping it down. All of these things made it more fucking fantastic. Guys, I like your style, and will certainly be seeing you at many more gigs.

Then Saturday arrived and we were all hungover as hell. It was bright; we crashed around, watched some comedy, ate some greasy goods and sipped on fresh cappuccinos. You know, the typical Cape Town festival way.

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Then a few bands played, and for the most part they were good, and then Black Rebel Motorcycle Club took the stage. And that’s when Synergy peaked, at the perfect time, before the weekend’s wave would crash and retreat back into Monday.

Primal in its assault, simple in its complexity and unrelenting in its execution, BRMC’s set took all of us on an unparalleled musical journey. It flowed, it was alive, and those who were there, we all felt it. I’m rarely quiet when it comes to my opinion on music, however, all I remember is Dan standing next to me saying “rickbosch is smiling, he’s just smiling. Fuck, so is Rudi!” And that sums it up perfectly.

I had nothing to say, I couldn’t find the words, it was unusual for me. In those two hours from when they started to when the encore finished, it was completely heartfelt. From their renditions of the tracks we all wanted to hear, to their appreciation of the crowd and being invited to South Africa, it was real. We were there. It was great to be a part of the crowd and to still be glowing about it on Tuesday, that doesn’t happen often.

So you see? Details aren’t what matter when it comes to festival reports, only two things do. Did you make it home and did you see music that moved you? I can happily answer yes to both of those, we even made some new friends, got smashed with some old ones, and generally just had a great time.

This was all just topped off with BRMC killer set, and as you can see, I find it hard to let it go. I want to hold onto that feeling for just a little longer, they howled and they crooned, they persuaded us to keep watching, as Robert jumped to the front of the stage smashing his hand onto his heart while asking “what ever happened to our rock and roll?” and for once, we could all look around and drink it in, because it was there. It was them, and it was us and all I could hear was rock and roll.