Sin Auld Lang Syne.

New Year's Eve was a blast, in Pretoria at the Tuks FM Capital Countdown. It's the third year running that Fokofpolisiekar have played it, and the third year that I have shot it with them. They played a blinder, a truly awesome show, even though at one point there were those of us on stage that could hardly breathe thanks to Marky of The Dirty Skirts firing off multiple fire extinguishers.

Speaking of The 'Skirts, their show was also great, though beset by sound problems. Marky deserves a medal for bravery, on account of his taking the piss out of a life-size cut-out of Kurt Darren. For those of you who don't know Kurt, or Hatfield Square in Pretoria (where the concert took place), that's some serious nailing of colours to the mast... Mark is alive and well in Cape Town, at the mo'.

More suited to a Pretoria crowd (though The 'Skirts rocked it) was Valiant Swart. There's not much to say, other than that the man is a legend. His set got cut a bit short, but he finished it in style with Mystic Boer, as usual... it was a small and awkward stage for a 6-piece band, so it was a mission to shoot, but I have plans for better shots in the New Year, of another nature. More on that later...

The night belonged to Fokofpolisiekar though, and a weird one it was too... third time in a row that things ran behind schedule, with the band having to stop halfway through their set so the Tuks DJ's could commence the countdown. Even so, they didn't cool down too much, and tore the place apart shortly thereafter. Was a bit of a "going through the motions" shoot for me though; what with the nature of the video I did for them recently, and a possible exhibition on them I have planned (from an entirely different perspective), it felt like a caged hunting trip, with all photographers present going for the same archetypal shots over and over, and likewise missing the same others. Oh well... no flies on the band though.

One bonus of the New Year's show is that while the band are on the opposite side of the country from home, come midnight, they at least have their girlfriends with them. Same applies to me, in the case of my wife... it's nice to get a little "family" time bang in the middle of what usually equates to work. To the left (and from the left) are Pini, Ingrid and Lauren. I won't tell you who's with who... like most girls with guys in bands, they don't like being defined as such, but there's a clue in the vid if you're really aching to know.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Later.