Sowing the Seeds Music Festival (Published in Your LMG Magazine)
It lacked the milky glaze of its bigger sibling, Rocking the Daisies. But then again, Magaliesburg comes nowhere close to the serene beauty of the Cloof Wine Estate. Sowing the Seeds was an irresistible chance for the kids of Gauteng and the surrounding areas to get wasted and frolic about in the shrubs. (Perhaps rocking the Shrubs is a more apt title for the event?). I really do hope that the objective of the event was not to gauge the interest of us “Vaalies” for future music festivals in the area, because the mediocre turnout says differently to our thirst for quality event organisers to put on quality shows. Regardless, it got me interested, and I was excited to see what Seed Experiences was to conjure up in the North.
Sowing the Seeds was a charming little festival, filled with the all the right nuances. The handpicked line-up was a refreshing change from the one-dimensional crowd-pleasing strategy that we see at most of these mini festivals. The line-up on Saturday was like a ricocheting bullet, the direction unexpected and uninhibited, bouncing from oddball revolutionaries (The Brother Moves On), to heavy-white-Afrikaans-electro-rap (Bittereinder) and finally settling on the preppy goodness of Goldfish. Apparently P.H Fat made a surprise appearance as the last act for the night, but by that point I was lost somewhere in the musical wilderness.
With a crisp Gypsy hangover after Friday night, courtesy of Toby2shoes, the excitement surrounding Shortstraw’s set provided the momentum to get to the stage. Now there’s a band that is lacking the necessary attention from the festival circuit. They were given an early slot, but proved once again that they can handle a big stage with ease. Towards the end of their array of infectious tunes, the crowd was eagerly chanting their lyrics back at them. But their set was cut short due to some sort of mismanagement and miscommunication from what I understand came from festival’s side, which was highly disappointing.
During The Skabenga’s set I began to indulge in various hangover remedies provided in the bar-area. I found myself torn between the tunes from this highly talented fusion act, and fighting with the idea that not only was Black Label the only beer sold, but was also the most expensive of all the drinks provided. Now I am very well acquainted with the laws of supply and demand, but this was just ridiculous. Nevertheless it didn’t stop me from buying litres of the stuff throughout the day (The tent is so far, and imagine how warm the beers must be by now!).
Jeremy Loops composes songs from scratch using a Loop Station pedal. I have seen it done before, but he does it right. He beat boxes or taps the microphone for the beat, uses guitars to build up the rhythm and sings over the product of various layers of sound. When he started playing the novelty and theatrical nature of what he was doing started to draw the crowds in, out of curiosity if nothing else. The news must’ve spread quickly because within minutes he had the better part of the whole festival mesmerised. On the festival flyer the act was advertised as Jeremy Loops & Co. That “Co” was saxophonist Jamie Faull and rapper M.O.Lecko. Now I don’t know if the guest artists are permanent fixtures or perhaps guests for his bigger shows but I think that’s the act right there. That should be the band. Those three together is where the magic lies.
I decided to give Wrestlerish a miss in order to take a tour of the surrounds and soak up a bit more of the festival. I had a look at the VIP section (which was dubbed “Very Important Poo” by the festival goers who did not have the luxury of fancy toilet facilities) and leaving quite unimpressed I walked on and was fortunate enough to come across Deep Fried Man and his unidentified sidekick. It was hysterical. They insulted the audience and passers-by with the kind of relentless brutality that would make a person want to crawl into their tent for the rest of the festival. Hell, they even had a go at me! I was honoured.
The ‘heavyweight’ bands took the crowd into the night. Tidal waves bought their watertight reggae-rock grooves as they always do and it was good to see Desmond and the Tutus playing new tunes, which usually happens around election time. I like where they going with their sound and their live performance seemed more beefed up and professional than usual. Shadowclub once again proved that they deserve all of the attention that they are getting as they gave a flawless and powerful performance and left the crowd looking like blood-hungry maniacs.
From then onwards things steadily declined for me due to the fact that my birthday was the next day and 12 o’ clock was nearing. A few Jagers down and my next experience was waking up at daybreak and literally feeling the inane conversations around my tent. The kind that were probably so interesting and profound to me just hours before.
