Once upon a hill

A three-day festival set in the dusty, thorn-ridden, night-time-finger-bitingly- cold environment is no mean feat for soft-bellied Cape Town southerners more used to friendly trees and happy lilos. We quickly realised that an abrupt mind shift was designated. Words no longer necessary, guttural grrrs and argghs were commonly accepted. If feeling marginally more eloquent, a loud "Oppi!" war cry reciprocated by an enthusiastic "Koppi!" could be used Marco Polo-style whenever, however. Drunken stumblings were the order of the day and stranger high-fiving mandatory. Hello there Oppi, we tentatively muttered, we need to be consumed by the spirits before we can be fully introduced.

Show us your Northam spirits

Later, once better acquainted with the Northam spirits, certain sweet things were experienced: an electrifying, spark-showering, semi-naked Bingo pulled focus upon the James Philips stage set against a couple of brand spanking new tunes from good ol' Taxi Violence. Jeremy Loops won over a whole new army of fans with his sunny loopy tunes. Eagles of Death Metal front man Jesse Hughes declared his need to "make love to all the little faces" in the crowd and inspired some "show us your boobs" moments. Despite a looong delay, due to sound issues, the Kongo's got a choking cloud of dust to envelop their audience of stomping thousands, with the help of a guest appearance by rap-out-with-his-cap-out Jack Parow, on their Beatles/Snoop Dog cover mash-up of Come Together. Seether reigned supreme, playing high priest and conductor to a choir of nostalgia, and headliners Bullet For My Valentine pulled on heartstrings with a patriotic inspiring rendition of Nkosi Sikelel'.

Eagles of Death Metal

Seether

And then there is all the non-music-related sweetness: Corne and Twakkie and their cancer lesbian army of one, a tightrope walking maverick, a starfish and man/lady devil couple, a #youmecurveo branding take over, a little thespian action under the trees, and even some athletic male nudity.

Sweet times for sweet things

In true Koppi custom that really is just the tip of the liquorice allsort; so many more noteworthy moments were experienced and shared by all in the vastness of this internationally rated festival. Farewell and till next year Oppikoppi, you sweet thing.

Corne & Twakkie

View gallery