Story of the Koppi 2011

It’s been exactly a week and one day since Oppikoppi Unknown Brother ended :(  I should have blogged earlier but I was a little too busy finding my voice and curing my liver... Sorry liver...

What an amazing weekend. It really was an awesome party this year. Although a lot of the really well known local acts didn’t play, a whole whack of new stuff was added to the line up. Here’s a little bit of  how it all went down.

From what I remember Friday started out pretty relaxed and chilled... After exploring the Oppi surroundings with a few first timers I managed to watch a bit of eF eLs last ever show and finished off the night with some Fuzigish before trying to find friends that decided to arrive at Oppi in the dead of the night... The 5am wakeup to leave Joburg that Friday morning didn’t really work well with the partying routine... We were all Mr and Miss Collapse-o’s at about 1am.

Saturday began nice and early, well Oppikoppi early, so about lunch time haha! A busy busy day was ahead of us. I was super impressed by Mr Cat and the Jackal even though I only watched them from a distance. Holiday Murray was by far one of my favourites. I think I may have found my new indie obsession. After watching their performance on Studio 1 on mk last week as well, I’m a fan :)

Heres their video for their single Jirey. If you haven't already seen it, its a total must.

Holiday Murray - Jirey [Official Video] from Holiday Murray on Vimeo.

Hot Water was yet again phenomenal... Those crazy eyes and Jew fro of Mr. Donovan Copley, Holy moly... that band is something else on stage. Seriously, do yourself a favour and check out their music.. Amaze!

I’ve never really been a huge fan of Jax Panik’s new stuff; I always thought I much preferred the old songs from his first album, but wowzers what a party! The energy that came from that stage... So much fun. Next I had my feet going nuts to Desmond and the Tutus. I don’t need to say much about them because they are pretty much the best thing since sliced bread if you’re looking for a good party. A lot of shenanigans and fun times happened after Desmond, it’s all a bit of a blur, but I’m positive it was fun nonetheless.

Ah then came Sunday bloody Sunday. The last day of Oppi. bitter sweet because the acts we had been waiting to see all weekend were finally going to be on those stages, but it also meant the amazing weekend was going to be coming to an end in 24 hours.

It started with a 5 litre Vodka lime and water, and Wrestlerish. After that was Dance You’re On Fire... we danced...then I’m not too sure what happened next (vodka got us down). We then watched a big Nigerian called Killer-man-jaro wrestle a guy called Tornado. Oh yes I forgot to mention there was a wrestling ring right by our tents... a little strange but hey, thats so Oppi!  and then we were back for P.H. Fat. Good afternoon I’d say.

Out of the international acts I was really amped to see The Used. Being a little bit of an emo kid at heart, it’s where my excitement was going... They took an hour to set up which meant they only played for about 45 minutes which meant they had to cut their entire set short. I wasn’t too impressed. Loved what I heard from them but just wished it went on for longer.

Sum 41 on the other hand was kind of mind blowing to say the least. 15 years of touring definitely pays off, these guys knew exactly what they were doing and made every person in that 16000 person crowd love it. I am a reborn Sum 41 fan :)

The night continued with me wandering around finding my people, somehow we all got lost in the party but I eventually found some and we partied at the Red Bull stage over the koppi till our faces exploded. Not literally... duh! But it was THAT cool!

I would  post some of the pictures I took at Oppi but they are pretty horrific.. Instead, feast your eyes on the amazingness of Sean Brand pics.

So like a well spoken Narrator of a lovely heart-warming movie I will say: And that my friend was my Oppi experience for 2011.

Oppi 2012... I’m waiting for you.