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A few of us friends decided to stick to the plan, brave the sandstorm, and go to Dunestock 2008. We took the Salwa Road route and drove through what felt like an obstacle course, but that’s a whole other story. After the numerous diversions we finally got there at 4 and were quite surprised to see the large assortment of people laden with cool boxes, kids, and dogs, all rocking away despite the weather. I guess we traded one disadvantage for another, cause instead of the blazing sun which at the time looked more like a harmless yellow moon, we got fine stinging sand hitting us and finding its way into our eyes, mouths, ears and even our pockets.
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Picture by David Brown |
The music was quite varied and the bands and solo artists played some original compositions, music from the charts as well as the well-loved rock classics. There were some really good performances but some were pretty awful too…. (I’m not mentioning names but honestly there was a duo that sang to no musical accompaniments, which to my untrained ears sounded like some drunk Irish guys singing at the local pub. But then again each to his own I guess, ‘cause they’ve played at every Dunestock and someone must be enjoying it or their probably reliving their memories of great drunken nights).
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Picture by David Brown |
Having been to all the past Dunestock’s, I have to say this time round the sound system was by far the worst, though the fierce wind did nothing to help. But one of the things you look forward to in a music festival is being able to hear the music at ear shattering decibels, especially if it’s rock. This year with some of the mikes not working properly the music was barely audible.
As the sun set and the glow sticks snapped, the winds died down considerably and the crowd got a lot more energetic (the sound quality however was just the same). The kids had fun right through the day, and there was a jumping castle to amuse them if and when they tired of rolling down the dunes. There was also a souvenir stall and a food stall (they even managed to get a shwarma stand), as well as bathroom facilities.
All in all it was a fun day out and I look forward to Dunestock 2009, and hope that next time there will be a much better sound system.
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