My Coke Fest 2008

5FM and Coke have announced the first few acts performing at My Coke Fest 2008, the all-day rock festival that is becoming a much anticipated annual event in South Africa.

Next year's line-up:

Korn
Muse
Chris Cornell
Kaiser Chiefs
Good Charlotte
Prime Circle

Tour dates:
Friday, 21 March 2008 - New Market Racetrack, Johannesburg (Gates open at 10h00)
Monday, 24 March 2008 - Kenilworth Racetrack, Cape Town (Gates open at 10h00)

Ticket prices:
Golden Circle - R600.00 - INCLUDING Computicket service charges
General Admission - R400.00- INCLUDING Computicket service charges
General Admission (Student) - R330.00- INCLUDING Computicket service charges

Bookings open at Computicket from 9am this Friday, 26 October 2007.

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For the 2nd year running, Durbanites have been shut out, denied of their own concert. And at the moment I personally can't decide if I'm going to make the trek to Joburg again.

On the one hand it would be awesome to see Korn live. I'm not the biggest fan of the band but I own their Greatest Hits, and some of their early pivotal albums, so I know all the songs that matter. And Korn truly are alternate rock icons.


I loved Good Charlotte's Chronicles of Life and Death but their new album hasn't done much for me - maybe it's just too samey, or maybe it's been contaminated by the associated stench of the lead singer's girlfriend, Nicole Richie. Blergh.

I would really like to see Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell, even if just to watch him perform You Know My Name, the kickass Bond song from Casino Royale, which still gets regularly played on my iPod.

As for Brit indie rockers Kaiser Chiefs and popular local boys Prime Circle, they're fine, if a bit flavourless. I know their radio-played songs and that's about it. Nothing they've done has ever thrilled me to the point of motivating me to acquire their albums.

And as for Muse, I seriously have to ask "Who?" I know the band has a cult following even in SA (I've heard the name often enough in "My favourite music" discussions), and I know Muse has won plenty of Best Live Act accolades at the Brit Awards. However, I honestly couldn't name a single one of their songs off the top of my head.

It's a prime example of the irony behind My Coke Fest. 5FM's desire to steal away Radio Metro's listeners has meant that rock has taken a back seat to R&B on the playlist (well, at least until recently - I'll give 5FM credit for that).

As a result radio listeners are subjected far more often to Rihanna wailing about being a murderer or umbrellas, than we are exposed to up-and-coming rock acts. So when it comes time for My Coke Fest, many of the bands brought out have received little to no airplay by the station. This means that the audience will stand there unresponsive, waiting for the one song they DO know, while the band rocks out... unless the audience members have made the effort to discover the group on their own. And that's just wrong. The bands have come so far - they deserve to be playing in front of audiences who appreciate them.

Click here to read the official My Coke Fest 2008 press release on the 5FM website.