TO CUT A LONG STORY SHORT...
Sometime in 2007 a friend plays me a band he's just discovered. I fall crazy in love with what they're doing. I send their demos and EP through to my girlfriend in Stellenbosh. She falls crazy in love with what they're doing. Adds them on myspace. Band adds Anja back, write to tell her they like the video on her profile. They start chatting and become cyber-pals. I land up being flown to London for a workshop on youth culture. Said band happens to be in London over the couple of days I'm there. They put me on the list for their show and have a little package waiting for Anja, a tote bag with a shirt, stickers and a copy of their debut album which was released like, the day before. A year later Anja moves to London, get's loads of time to hang out with said band. They're dying to tour in South Africa. Show's vocalist a video of me performing a live trailer for my upcoming London exhibition. He thinks the way I'm doing visuals is awesome. Our friends land up bringing band over. Band asks me if I'll do visuals with them on their SA tour. I say yes (obviously). We have the most amazing two week tour. Cape Town and Stellenbosch and Pretoria and Joburg and lions. Somewhere in between the band works with a Pretorian producer, recording a song in Cape Town. We take a train to Worcester for Ramfest. Get to Worcester, offload our stuff, get separated as half of us climb into a bakkie and head through to the festival.
WHICH LEAVES US...
Crossing the bridge from Worcester to the holiday resort where Ramfest happens. The scale of the festival this year is clearly bigger than last year. I spot a white dome of a tent - presumably this'll be the Griet dance tent.
We get to the gates of the festival, get dropped off. Decied to wait for the other half of our gang still on their way. Jun, Anja, Peach and i find a nice bit of grassy shade and chill for a bit. Rest of the gang arrives, check in, lock up our gear, find a campsite. The festival only really opens tomorrow, so for so today us "train people" pretty much have the whole resort to ourselves.
I chill for a bit, then head through to the white dome tent to meet up with Dom. The tent is awesome, with the Red Bull truck pared on the one end, the tent open on the other. MJ, Brendon and I start plotting what we're gonna do with the space for the Dynamo party the next night. And then we get to work making stuff. Draw things, cut out piece of cardboard. Tape them together. We're gonna try turn the whole redbull truck into a giant robotic ram, with huge forns hanging off the sides. It starts getting dark. Word is, lights will be hooked up, but for now we take a break from making decor. Head back to the campsite. Join Anja, The Foreigners, Chris and Skat.
Watch the sun go down and moon turn on.
Everyone joins me when i head back to carry on making decor. We land up with a whole little production line, people drawing stuff, people cutting stuff out, people working on robot helmets, people working on the giant ram. Round elevenish we call it a night. Climb into our tent and fall asleep, feeling afraid and excited about the carnage that's gonna go down one the festival opens tomorrow...
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