How Rocking was the Gardens?!

MCBN Jozi crew had been itching for this little weekend joll at Emmarentia Dam for a good long time. With a little inside scoop from Hidro, who enjoyed the premier year, “nothing better than listening to some proudly South African bands and smashing lager in the recently-arrived summer sunshine”. And in the space of a year, Rocking the Gardens has literally gone from what was a relative infant one-day vibe, into a lion-sized weekend special. We had a few treats in store for us this year, New Pony Club would be playing (Hydro cheers!) and the new Red Bull Studio tent cunningly hidden behind the tree line (Von Lurie took full advantage of this floor)…

 Having arrived there around 12 we experienced blissfully good music with a great crew of people. We drank merrily and jammed to the likes of the Dirty Skirts, Prime Circle and Jessie Clegg. But our favourites (this may be due to the jolly behaviour coming out after a couple hours of drinking Jose Curevo and Heineken) were Zebra and Ziraffe and the New Pony Club from the Rock Stage and clearly, Von Lurie’s favourite was El Gordo on the electro floor. Seeing Zebra and Giraffe as one of the opening acts for the Killers last year, they are cool. Their performance at Rocking the Gardens confirmed this. By the time New Pony Club entered the fray, the crowd was kicking as if it would be the last time they would  be able to sue their legs. Having up and coming electro heat, El Gordo, up from C.T was a treat to say the least. El Gordo stepped in just in time to lift the almost dwindling energies (by that late stage of the eve) to a full throbbing outdoor electro mosh!

 The Red Bull Studio tent was the perfect addition to the Jozi festivities, great way to mix it up a bit and draw a more diverse crowd.

 MCBN’s only hope for the next Rocking the Gardens is that the party continues later into the night. Ten o’ clock is a tad early, and the crowd would have enjoyed an evening that ran for longer. To be honest, MCBN would love it if the party ended 5a.m on Sunday morning, a few hours before the Sunday session starts so that we can go get breakfast and take five (you do need a break sometime, you know?). And that may be asking too much, but we’re sure we are not the only ones asking.

 MCBN is definitely looking forward to a even bigger and hopefully little longer event next year!

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