So I've survived the sweaty hell of doing the decor for the Dynamo stage and I didn't explode during the sweaty not-hell of my last set with Jo Fo. After those two were over you'd think a Ben could just chill and enjoy the festival. But this isn't the case- I've still got two important things to do:
Straight after the carnage of Johnny Foreigner ends I need to start preparing for a new kind of carnage. 3 of the Doomers were already on stage for the end of Jo Fo's set, so that only leave's Makkie that needs to get up on stage with us. A brief change over later and we're ready to switch the soundtrack of the festival from fight pop to doom.
What follows is totally sweet. But honestly kinda bitter-sweet. Firstly there's the fact that Barend can't be playing this show with us. As awesome as it is having Makkie in his place, it feels so wrong not having Barend on this stage. And also, having just played my last show with Johnny Foreigner, I can't help but occasionally think about how this could be the last time we play as Kidofdoom. With Ryk having just moved to Cape Town nobody's sure what the future holds for the band. Ramfest is the band's last booked show and knowing this could be the end I just go nuts.
But it's over all too soon...
After we pack up I can finally check in on the Dynamo stage for the first time all night. It's rocking. We head back to lock up our gear, drop by the campsite to grab a drink and fresh t-shirt.
Spend the next while hanging at the Dynamo stage. Which is a mad party. Lapse is playing and people are totally loosing it to his set. Pretty soon it'll be time to complete my last obligation for this crazy crazy day. I get into the Red Bull truck, plug in my headphones and get ready to bring the Sass.
I get the impression that the whole night this stage has just been playing Cape Town style electro. I figure it'll only be right to turn things on their heads with some Pretoria style rock and roll. Cue Martian Martian. People freak out.
Looking out across the hundreds of people and screaming to Jean's sounds I wonder how many of the people in this tent were amongst those that caught Martian Martian live on our first tour back in oh six?
Things escalate from here. The energy in the place is just mad. When I play Test Icicles someone decieds it'll be a good idea to try "stage dive" off the bass bin that's mounted on the back of the van. This reults in something tripping all the sound. Dead silence. People dash around, plug things in and out, try turning it off and on again.
In the big scheme of things the loss of sound for a few minutes isn't a big deal. By the time I can start playing again the tent is feeling a little more empty, but those that have stuck around get right back into it.
Personally I feel like I should be rocking out a bit harder myself, but after and epic train raid down, straight into creating the decor for this stage, straight into the johnny Foreigner set, straight into the Kidofdoom set, my energy levels are getting pretty low.
By the time I finish my set, I am finished. I'd love to party in the tent for a while longer, but the only thing I can do is head to our tent and crash.
