ROCKING THE GARDENS

Rocking the Gardens; with its lush green grass spotted with happy families and their picnic baskets took place at the historically tranquil Emmarentia Dam. With its picturesque views and a number of dams to jump into if you need a rest from the music or just to cool down; was a suiting venue for a truly environmentally/Sociality conscious festival. With the likes of GREEN PEACE, WWF, CAN\SA, FOOD AND TREES FOR AFRICA, and even Levis with their Jean donation program all there to spread the word about their various causes one couldn’t help but feel that this festival was organised for the right reasons in mind.

Rocking the gardens featured some of South African Rock heavy weights, including: JUST JINGER, FRESHLY GROUND, AKING, and 340ML; however, opening up the festival proceedings would be CHIBA FLY. CHIBA FLY are a heartfelt, Folk/Tribal style of music, somewhat like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Their cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “ALL I’M THINKING OF IS YOU” was refreshing and really set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. Next up was female fronted FIRE THOUGH THE WINDOW an Indie/Pop Band, who presented their first single “DO DO DO” off their recently released Album “HEY!”

BLACK HOTELS were on form as usual, a product of the South African music scene to be proud of. The audience was showered with powerful tracks ”SUPERMAN”, “BEAUTIFUL MORNING” and “EPISODA”. The BLACK HOTELS are most definitely a great band with a selection of great songs.TIDAL WAVES’ reggae renditions got the crowds grooving to their funky rhythms, a true multilingual band doing songs in English Afrikaans and Venda, if reggae is your cup of tea this is a band for you.AKING are a product of the Cape Town music scene, experiencing great success in both their home town and abroad, watch out for their newest video “YOU AND I” soon to hit MK. Sweat and alcohol being the fuel OF AKING made for a great stage presences; despite some technical difficulties with their kick drum, Singing “MY LIPS OF MISERY” and “GUILTY AS SIN” still really stood out and got the crowd moving. If you don’t have an AKING album yet, you music collection is surely lacking.

BED ON BRICKS another Cape Town band hitting Rocking the Gardens, this Up Beat, Jazzy Rock band who made use of the saxophone in some tracks, have energy that is easily conveyed to the audience. Their light hearted sense of humour is refreshing and makes for something a little different.A GANG OF INSTRUMENTALS truly are a stage band, filling every nook and cranny of the stage, the constant hubbub of activity made for a visually stimulating show. Their branded mix of Rnb and Hip hop is a sign of change in popular South African Music, with even some of the hardest rockers on their feet enjoying the grooves. A Gang of Instrumentals were recently winners of Best Urban Pop Album for 2009 SAMA’s which shows that the days of South African bands not getting the recognition they deserve are behind us.

Next up was FRESHLY GROUND, they seemed to optimise the theme of Rocking the Gardens, and surely would have headlined the festival if the rock legends Just Jinger weren’t making an appearance. One can imagine frolicking through flowers with Freshly Ground being the accompanying sound track. Playing all their hits such as “POT BELLY” and “BUTTER CUP“ FRESHLY GROUND brought the crowed to their knees in awe of their energy along with their seamlessly put together set.

Now living abroad, in California, this will be JUST JINGER’S first live show in South Africa in a number of years; despite this, the crowd at Rocking the Gardens showed them that they will always be more than welcome in their home land and that they continue to draw in the crowds. JUST JINGER will be making an appearance at this year’s 94.7 Joburg Day. No doubt most festival goes were here to see the legends in action. Does this spell the end of their leave of absence, since there last self titled album “Just Jinger” in 2006? Perhaps we can expect some new material from them sometime in the future. During the first few songs it was evident that this was their first performance for some time, but as the show progressed they seem to get back into the groove. Their set consisted of some of their classics off their first album, including “FATHER AND FATHER”, “ALL COME AROUND” and “SHALLOW WATERS”. Looking older and pudgier these days, Just Jinger are still a force to be reckoned with.

JUST JINGER and FRESHLY GROUND’S array of feel good melodies and uplifting ballads was a suiting end to the festival. With its great Family picnic orientated atmosphere, Rocking the Gardens will most defiantly be marked on my calendar for next year. If Rocking the Gardens is anything to go by, then its bigger brother, Rocking the Daisies, should make for a great event.

Photography: Michelle Smith
Words: Brian Mcfarlane