RAMfest 2014 Review

Possibly the biggest international lineup to hit South Africa in the past year, RAMfest 2014 promised to be the festival of the year. And it did not disappoint. South African music fans gathered in the thousand to support the array of local acts that were followed by the international headliners. Here’s our review from RAMfest Johannesburg.

Biffy Clyro, Foals, Killswitch Engage, Trivium and Camo and Krooked were the international headliners for the festival along with a local lineup that was good enough to stand on it’s own actually. The new venue in Bronkhorstspruit is a great new addition to the festival venues up north adding more flavour to the musical landscape of South Africa. Even the constant rain, which flooded the majority of Gauteng in the week leading up to the event, did not deter die-hard music lovers from a weekend out in the open. The campsite looked like a zombie apocalypse in the mornings but this just added to the awesomeness that is the ultimate rock festival in the land. One thing that was extremely noticeable in the crowd was that you could see who was there for Biffy Clyro/Foals on the Friday night and KSE/Trivium on the Saturday. Metal heads galore is what was on offer and the smile on their faces when they saw Matt Heafy (Trivium) set foot on stage was something extraordinary. The hipster clan was out in full force too but they seemed to keep to themselves trying not to get mud on their scarves.

As many of us knew, this was going to be the mighty Pestroy’s last performance and what a way to go out than on the main stage at RAMfest. After 16 years of being the ultimate metal band in South Africa, Ramfest was the perfect send off for the local music legends with them putting on a performance like no other seen that evening. Man As Machine, I rate, gained a whole lot of new fans on the day as well, Rob Visser’s vocals soared over the audience with the backing and tightness of his band behind him. Newtown Knife Gang put on their most epic show yet and you can see that the mainstream success of their single ‘Anthems’ is finally paying off with the audience chanting the lyrics along with Spencer Martin. Facing The Gallows destroyed the Monster stage (in a good way) with Poverty Of Ideals becoming the new instrumental force to be reckoned with in South Africa. Another stand out local performance were the dudes from Climate Control who are destined for great things in South Africa.

Killswitch Engage was definitely the highlight of the festival. Metal fans had their dreams answered when Jesse Leach belted out that first scream in ‘A Bid Farewell’ with the crowd erupting like a volcano. Trivium was on point and delivered a performance worthy of legendary status. Biffy Clyro, I can safely say, was the tightest and most elaborate performance on the Friday night. The band resonate what a festival band should be and I hope other bands were paying attention to their sheer brilliance on stage. Before Biffy Clyro, were Foals, who were the perfect opener for the headliner as they played their most recognizable hits that fans went mad for.

All in all, RAMfest was EPIC and other festivals will have to pull something very special out their hats to top this year’s lineup. Congrats to all involved, especially Monster Energy and Red Heart Rum who show that big brands still love the music scene in South Africa.