Over the last few years, my interest in SA music has increased in huge amounts thanks largely to MK89, the general upward trend of the SA music scene, and Oppikoppi.

The Oppikoppi festival is pretty much permanently inked into my calendar. I’ve only been doing time there since 2004 but even after your first time, it feels like you’ve joined a club of boozing rowdy drunkards where music is the central “golden thread”. That said, I’m pretty sure most would admit that the 3 day event would make the nomination list for the award of “filthiest, most crazy, dusty, and enjoyable gathering of the year”.

I’m really happy to see that Oppikoppi, who are now a “fully fledged events company and a recently initiated Below-the-Line advertising agency”, have joined the RSS/blog world.

I like the way that they have embraced the medium to gather feedback from the people who support their events. In a recent post titled “Band Wish List”, oppikoppi asked fans to vote who they want to see play at their upcoming events:

It is our mission at OppiKoppi to give you what you want - except a lifetime supply of tropical warrior women.

260 comments later, the list looks like this (in no particular order):

- Falling Short
- LA Cobra
- Fuzigish
- Lark
- Shu
- The Slashdogs
- Springbok Nude Girls
- Tonight we Die
- Diesel Whores
- K.O.B.U.S!
- 12th Avenue
- The Beams
- Shy Guevaras
- Taxi Violence
- Fokofpolisiekar
- Bed on Bricks
- Aion Truth
- Valiant Swart
- Cassette
- Torment

Although there’s one or two bands in there i haven’t heard, I think its quite easy to appreciate the sheer number of submissions. I don’t know of too many South African blogs that can generate such interest and discussion in such a short space of time (this was the blog’s 7th post). Just goes to show the strength of the industry and is a good indication to other not so well organised event “organisers” to get their arses into gear.

let’s hope they give us what we want to hear!

Oppikoppi RSS feed: http://www.oppikoppi.co.za/?page_id=455