Splashy Fen

01 August 2012

Photo: Jacques Liebenberg Ultim8 Designs – Special thanks to the Splashy Fen Music Festival team for contributing to the article

The tranquil Underberg farm on which the annual Splashy Fen Music Festival is held was transformed into a colourful tent town when thousands of people from around the country descended on the southern Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal from 5 – 9 April 2012. Black Coffee, commissioned by Kingston Sound, were pleased to once again be part of four days of great live music in a spectacular mountain setting. Black Coffee supplied the structure and lighting for the main entertainment tent area.

Photo: All Adds Up “This event is always such a blast,” commented Llewellyn Pieters from Black Coffee. “But this was the first time that it never rained.” Usually it rains during set-up or during the festival, which made dust a bit of an issue this year. With the main stage next to a busy gravel road, Llewellyn had to clean the filters and air vents of the moving lights every morning to avoid over-heating. Black Coffee received a brand new Avolites Tiger Touch a few days prior to set up. “I had to open the console every night to dust the inside.”

The artists performed from noon to 11 o’clock each evening. With this busy schedule and endless hours, Llewelyn busked and utilized the pallets on the Tiger Touch. He was the LD for every performance except for the opening night, where SAS Production lit the first three bands.

A note to mention was the impressive long-life of the haze fluid! Llewellyn only used one bottle for four Le Maitre hazers, considering the robust units ran for 12 hours per day for four days.

“Everyone loved the Clay Paky Sharpys and Kingston Sound ideally would have had us use them on every performance,” smiled Llewellyn.

“The Robin LEDs worked very well. We only had 63 Amps of power and they worked the stage and also did beam work.”

The splendid music line-up included Van Coke Kartel, Zebra & Giraffe, The Graeme Watkins Project, Jeremy Loops, Arno Carstens and Albert Frost, Tidal Waves, The Black Hotels, Dan Patlansky, The Rudimentals, Lark (Electro), Madala Kunene, John Ellis, Gary Thomas, Shadowclub, Mr Cat and The Jackal, Gangs of Ballet, The La Els, December Streets, City Bowl Mizers, P.H.Fat and Niskerone, among many others.

Photo: All Adds Up Aside from the music, Splashy Fen offered loads of fun activities for the entire family – think tubing in the river, paintball, zip-lining and a giant 12-metre slide – as well as a vibrant craft market, children’s entertainment and a separate family campsite. For many it’s become an annual tradition, and is definitely something to be experienced at least once in a lifetime.