An epic decade of Rocking the Daisies! It came and went in a flash of bright lights, vibrant music and unbelievably beautiful Cape Town ladies.
Being Daisies virgins The Grind Radio was in for a treat. The trip to Darling was jam packed with 5 guys, camping equipment and all the vibes squeezed into a Hyundai i10. We managed to just barely fit. Circus clowns would have been impressed with all that we managed to fit into that car.
On arrival the excitement exploded much like our baggage when we opened the car doors! Carrying all the equipment from the car to camp tested our will, yet the over manly man in all of us came out and anything more than two trips to the car was simply unacceptable.
Finally, with our haphazard fairy-light strewn camp set up it was time for beer and live music in our faces!
The first night was incredibly cold but intimate at the Vans Campsite Stage. Most memorable were retro Dizzy. Antics included a stellar performance spiralling out of control when their lead singer Richard downed a bottle of Jack Daniels while their bassist, Stuart sneakily put on a bra flung from the crowd. All the bass was dropped… Retro Dizzy kept it tidy and proved why they should have more crowds going wild for them. The almighty end of their show saw Stuart fling Richard’s Fender Strat like a fan girls bra. Let’s hope that didn’t mean the end of Retro Dizzy… Following suite were notable acts such as The Pranks and Hell Cats. More gees than a Blue Bull at Loftus.
Friday morning was a slow adventure waking up a bit battered and bruised but nothing an ice cold beer couldn’t fix.
The main festival grounds opened at 10 allowing festival goers to enter an eclectic world of music, art, comedy, food and the notorious Beach Bar (brutha).
Most conspicuous was the towering Electronic Dome lying dormant before unsuspecting souls got lost in brutal bass and liquid beats. The Hemp Stage, powered entirely off of solar power, was scattered with hoolahoops and quickly brought out the inner child of many and had people dancing to the music and playing as if they were 7 year olds again.
The Beach Bar made you kick off your shoes and dance in the beach sand as though you had entered into a tropical wonderland while listening to funky beach vibes.
The highlights for Friday were seeing Fokofpolisiekar and The Cat Empire! Both acts absolutely hit the nail on the head! Fokof showcased another passionate performance proving once again what a class act they are. The Cat Empire’s performance was full of fun and “two shoes for dancing” sounding better live than on their albums. A word of caution, one very hot bunny chow can consumed that night! Lets just leave that story in the Daisies campsite.
Saturday morning we were all blessed by a cool overcast morning, allowing a late sleep in. This gave everyone a bit more time to try and pay for his or her sins from the previous night. Unfortunately, some folks who slept the night before were still up at 5am screaming “GOOD MORNING DAISIES” at the top of their lungs. The girl sleeping next door to us seemed to have a sense of humour failure and screamed a few very interesting curse words from her tent, which made most of the people around her blush.
Saturday also saw the likes of Thomas Jack transforming the Beach Bar into a tropical paradise with his pioneering blend of Tropical House taking over the world one Toucan at a time.
The line-up was a constant upper, from Al Baire getting everyone jiving to their own cover of Venga Boys to the Hog Hoggidy Hog Tribute which one can only describe as beautifully emotional as the band and several special guests from other local bands bade farewell to their late lead singer George Bacon. The Grind Radio was privileged to interview the band after their show. It is still overwhelming to think this is the end of the line for such an amazing band.
On the final night Milky Chance pulled a crowd that was so packed one had to fight through the masses just to get a spot to stand in the back of the audience. Their show was flawless and had all the teenage girls weeping at their feet as they played the cult classics “Down By the River” and “Stolen Dance”. The final act of the evening was The Kooks putting on a strong performance mostly of their new album getting people singing along and dancing in the late hours of the morning. The energy of people slowly changing as more and more people realized it was the last evening of partying at Rocking the Daisies.
The traffic to escape Cloof wine farm on Sunday was a slight nightmare, but a cold beer and good conversations about the chaos that had unfolded the pass three nights was enough to keep everyone’s sprits up until at last that beautiful mountain appeared once more
Overall, Daises was an amazing and an unforgettable experience and we can’t wait to go back again! We want to thank everyone who was involved in organising this incredible festival and a big thank you to everyone who was around us at the festival providing all the vibes, stay beautiful.
We’re still wondering whether Allen was ever found?