In Retrospect: Synergy Live, Boschendal, 26-28 November 2010

Claire reviews her experiences at the Synergy Live event.

Part of me believes that, when organisers throw together a festival of epic proportions, they use a quaternary system. They choose a combination of acts – some that are good whether they are commercial or not; others that are good but still need to be “found”; acts that are not great but affordable and some that are awful but necessary. Then I ask myself, which are the ones that people came to see? But then again, as one guy admitted, he only saw four bands the entire festival.

Ladies and Gentlemen – Karma was on the side of Synergy last weekend, because they managed to create a little piece of festival paradise for everyone; whether they were floating belly up in the river, in an alcoholic coma, altering intelligence levels in front of the electronic stage or rocking out to South Africa’s first-rate artists. I agree with anyone who thinks that the line-up had something for everyone. No holds barred for Synergy.

I was, to put it mildly, rather exasperated when I found out that there would be two stages at Synergy this year (three if you count the electronic stage – which I don’t). I knew that I would be spending the entire festival running from one stage to the other and missing half the acts. But after seeing most of the acts on both stages (a small feat that required large quantities of sobriety and wits), I was deeply impressed.

After getting a healthy and happy dose of The Sleepers, I decided to wonder back to my tent for food, showing only a passing interest in the electronic stage where a large crowd had gathered. That crowd was like a queue of kids in front of a counter at the candy store. My rock vocabulary cannot extend far enough into the land of bass beats and repetitive aural rape, so let me just say this; the electronic tent was, erm, popular. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a little crowd eagerly bouncing around in the YourLMG tent and thought I would investigate. Well, I felt as if I had walked into the Mad Hatters tea party of caffeine-induced lunacy. The band that impressed me most, Jinx, are like a burlesque opera to a disco beat; theatrical, talented, unusual and really fun. They had me hopping like the white rabbit in no time. This band has serious appeal, but only if you have an appreciation for the peculiar.

Sabretooth was the second highlight for me. When I saw them on the line-up it was an epiphany; metal at Synergy – thank goodness! I have been meaning to see them for some time, having heard that they are the best metal act that Cape Town has to offer. I must agree. They are Killswitch Engage’s answer to 80’s Hair Metal. Ferocious frontman, wailing guitars and double bass, halleluiah! Definitely one of the best metal acts in South Africa at present. It was fate. I bought the T-shirt.

The YourLMG stage had a discerning focus on rock and roll, blues and metal; and for someone who takes a very cynical view of the current pop culture, I felt like it may be my saving grace. But the Main Stage also contained a few charms; some known and others newly discovered. Having never heard of them before, I was pleasantly surprised by The Rescu and No One’s Arc. It was like a balm for my soul to discover that rock is making its way back onto festival line-ups. Obviously bands like aKing, Hog Hoggidy Hog, The Rudimentals and Die Heuwels Fantasties are the backbone to many of our festivals, but the Synergy organisers did a great job of mixing up the genres and bringing some of the brightest stars of each. But they also threw in the necessary evils like Jax Panik. I was not impressed by the rehashed aerobic disco beats, even if their face masks were kind of cool.

Being a ‘camel man’ kind of girl, some of the acts that I saw at Synergy were like models on the front of body building magazines; not for me, but I can see the attraction. Being a Cape Town-based festival, there was an infestation of Afrikaans rock; which I can appreciate in small measures but have tired of since the multitude of Fokof’s spawn began dominating our airwaves. Flash Republic have a phenomenal stage act, with the lioness, Tamara Dey, burning up the stage with her ferocious presence. But, I failed to fall in love.

The headliner, Feeder, unfortunately also fell into the body building category. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had a good, if commonplace, rock sound, having based my initial impression of them on their awful pop-punk single, Buck Rogers. However, watching the crowd react like a euphoric blob of undulating mass, I could see why the organisers had chosen them as a headlining act (although secretly I think budget might have been a factor too).

Synergy seems to have doubled in the space of a year; although, for many I contend that it was just a good way of getting away from their parents for the weekend and an opportunity to get drunk. I was relieved to find toilet paper available most of the time but I didn’t think it made up for a general lack of attention to detail. Not a tap or a festival line-up in site. Never mind the way they managed to piss off one or two journalists. The festival itself was a typical mix of kids passed out in the wrong tent, bizarre confessions of your neighbour at 4am, hundreds of half-naked bodies sizzling in the sunshine and every ironic or humorous T-shirt within a 50 km radius finding their way onto the various scenesters. The place was also left in a typical disgusting state; Mad Max could have lived off of the rubbish for at least year. Come on, people, have respect for the environment.

It was fat, and occasionally phat, and it was a great success. I was sorry to have missed The Mochines, The Jack Mantis Band and Ree-burth, bemused to see how Prime Circle’s heavier songs brought the crowd to a standstill, gleeful that the guys picking up the litter skanked with me to The Rudimentals and impressed that rock is making its come-back (although maybe that’s a premature assumption). I must also apologise to all those bands that I failed to see; maybe next time. Synergy surpassed the cynic in me and, for someone who suffers from rock-elitism, impressed me by bringing uninhibited bedlam to Boschendal.

I made two rookie mistakes while at Synergy: wearing white during Taxi Violence’s impressive set and forgetting to charge my camera’s battery beforehand. Therefore, I would like to thank the legendary local photographer, Michael Currin, who generously gave over the pictures you see in this review.

Photos Courtesy Of Michael Currin

- Claire Martens
claire@musicreview.co.za