On route to Riviersonderend I was not a happy camper. I hate rain. It makes me want to stay home and drink whiskey while watching reruns of Six Feet Under. Reruns which I broadcast to myself. It’s that or sitting on my floor against the wall listening to all the Radiohead albums on repeat. I had a headache, was car sick and was constantly praying that we’d reach the venue and it would miraculously not be in the centre of the storm. I was wrong. We were driving towards the torrential downpour. We arrived at what must be the furthest venue thus far into season and had to wait for a tractor to tow us up a tiny hill that cars didn’t feel like climbing up. Lazy cars! At this point my spirits had already been lifted somewhat thanks to the lovely ladies I travelled with and the amazing gate people, whom we fed.
The champion tractor driver successfully towed us to our parking bay and in no time we were hastily mixing our vodka and mixes (ruby grapefruit and strawberry flavoured green ice tea for me) before trudging off to the dance floor, while all along the way, avoiding being sucked into the quicksand.
Within five minutes of being on the floor, I lost the ladies I arrived with. I spotted another lovely lady that being the amiable Shane Renew, or Deliriant as he is known to his army of adoring fans, who was standing with his new partner in crime Mr Peter Lehto aka Mad Piper. Having no concept of time (already) I asked them when they were playing, and was told in the next thirty minutes. Boom. That meant it was ten thirty.
I stood with them and we traded drinks, sampling each other’s concoctions while prancing to the last bit of Psyguy‘s onslaught of choice night time full on tracks. Having only arrived in the last half hour of his set I must make a note that the hardcore Saturday night trancers that were there, were already turning the grassy floor into a muddy haven.
Up next came the unstoppable force that is the combo of producers Mad Piper and Deliriant, these guys wasted no time and proceeded to break our legs and backs. Peter and Shane delivered all the favourites including the awesome Mad Piper remix of Deliriants “Chronic V 2.0″ which got everyone screaming in jumping in unison. I looked around the dance floor at this point and there couldn’t have been more than about seven hundred odd stompers, give or take, but it seemed that everyone was on the floor and already giving it their all. Due to the rain, and the furious set that was being delivered to our senses, the covered dance floor was the only place to be!
Following the beautiful assault on my ears that was Mad Piper vs. Deliriant, came another duo, this time in the form of Cybernetix. One half to this twilight act is Warren, who showed his love and prowess in the scene as he not only delivered another killer set with Tim but was also in charge of making sure his new baby, a new rig was running and purring like it should.
Following hot on the heels of the previous two hour set these masters delivered a solid set comprising of live tracks such as “Source Code”, “Cybernetix VS Rabdom L – Anti Matter” and a selection of other tracks that put the party into overdrive mode with blasters by Illuchina, Absolum, Damage and Magneto. Great set all in all and the perfect lead into the following set which took shit to the next level as it was Killawatt who stepped up to deliver some dark psy to those who were brave enough to withstand the gargantuan bass.
Not being a huge fan of dark psy myself, I decided to wait out the first ten minutes of Killawatt‘s set and ended up staying on the dance floor jamming furiously to the beats, which did not reach too high a bpm, thankfully. He played what I like to call an introduction to dark psy, tracks that weren’t too fast, so that the kids like myself could enjoy it and still manage to keep the adoring fans of dark happy.
After this point things get a little bit blurry. As they always do when you’re me. The beautiful Ganeisha was up next and the international act proved to us why she’s so popular. Much like our local DJanes such as Tune Raider this sister not only knows how to please a crowd, but she sure as hell knows how to have a good time while doing it! She did not stop moving those hips for one moment during her infatuating set!
As the sun was rising, or trying to against what usually would be quite the depressing backdrop of storm clouds, those okes called Plusminus represented by doing what they do best. Welcoming the new comers and re-energising those that stood the test of time like myself. With no sleep I continued my romp, running around greeting all the Sunday stompers I knew, and proceeded to begin the filthy half of the party. It was daybreak, I was being served my corn flakes in the form of daytime funk and this was just the beginning.
The eloquent and charismatic guru Bruce was next and he stepped into the pulpit to deliver one of his most enriching sermons to date. Sunday service was in full force and the attendees were all praying to Gaia in a unison of stomping, sloshing feet as the dance floor melted away to become a pool of gees.
Headroom was up next and as always he aimed to please. By this point the creatures on the floor were all covering each other in muddy love and those front right were treated to some theatre in the form of Barry Dylan Botha and Adam Lifshitz as they proceeded to give us their interpretation of interpretative dance. Headroom‘s bodacious sexy bouncy beats provided the perfect soundtrack to all the sexy silliness found on what has been one of the most loving dance floors I have been a part of. I couldn’t walk from one point of the dance floor to another without sharing a laugh, a silly moment, a strip dance, a mud tackle or a wet hug.
Broken Toy was throwing out his sexy tunes when I found myself doing a Magic Mike routine – much to entertainment (or detriment) of my good friend Chantelle. I found myself ankle deep in mud, topless and delivering some of my best male stripper dance moves. That’s how great his set was. I remained topless in the rain and mud for the remainder of the party.
Dave Mac showed why he has been around for so long, slamming out great tunes including Coming Soon’s “I Only Smoke” which had the crowd – now rife with beautiful retardation in a frenzy. Beautiful women and men alike were asked by the friendliest security staff to step down from barriers as they struggled to contain their excitement as Dave Mac dropped his bombs upon the mud covered madness. I don’t really remember where I was when Connecto stepped up, but it’s safe to say that the remaining stompers were treated to yet another awesome set, cause by the time he had finished his set I found myself conscious of my surroundings again, and nothing much had changed, save for more and more faces and bodies being completely covered with mud.
Sterealkey closed off the party with some deliciously bouncy and sexy tunes, and what champ I might add, I was told by one of the many beautiful psy honey’s ( I’m going to get grilled for using that term) to go on stage and tell him to play filthier beats. I proceeded to do so, greeted the legend, delivered the message and by the time I got back in the decadent filth, he dropped his next track. And boy was it filthy! Big ups to him for playing an encore as well!
A big thanks to the riggers and all involved in the creation of this beautiful party, I spoke to Rusty about the trials they were put through in getting us a dance floor to stay. One of the previous attempts at a floor location was washed away by the harsh conditions, but these champions braved the conditions and gave us a truly beautiful dance floor, complete with a cover which was beautifully decorated and all in all one of the most heartfelt and positive parties yet!
Organik Gaian Dream has left me battling a cold, but if I had my very own Delorean I would travel back in time and relive the soaking, muddy beauty of it all, all over again!
-Lloyd Matthew Newkirk
Pics by Mik Motala Photography – to see more go here.
