The party starts Thursday

Unrestrained fun is guaranteed judging by opening night, says Miles Keylock

The 1999 Oppikoppi music festival kicked off on the jazz stage last night with what can only be termed an eclectically diverse evening of sounds - from ultra-groovy fusion to angst-ridden heavy sounds and more structured rock jams. But the impetus for many of the recent tent-pitchers was unmistakably getting into the festival vibe, rather than bothering to actually listen to any of the bands.

Thursday's the first night after all, and the real deal only starts on Friday evening anyway. An impressively large number of people trooped up the koppi and into the jazz stage venue in the hope of sparking the fires of what is undoubtedly going to be a massive weekend of music.

Initially I was disappointed that most of the audience wasn't interested in whether the bands were any good or just plain crap. I could rant on about the fact that Boomslang (that's Boomslang from Bloemfontein, not the now defunct Cape Town crew, Boom-slang) sounded fundamentally derivative. Despite their well-executed set of funky fusion, I couldn't help but feel that they were missing something.

Their own voice perhaps? Nonetheless, I'm not going to harp on about the fact that Boomslang sounded like a covers band. Last night they provided their audience with precisely what was needed. A set of infectiously instrumental sounds that primed the party.

Does it matter that no one in the audience really cared who they were? Quite apparently not, judging by the enthusiastic crowd response that they, and the next two bands, Penny Dreadful and Leely, received. Did it matter? Christ, no - they were there to party, man! And party is precisely what they did. Dancing and moshing and just generally letting (quite literally) their hair down.

Let me tell you one thing: whether you're coming to Oppikoppi to listen to the music or just to have a fucking party - whether you have to drive, fly or walk to this year's festival - it's worth it for the air of unrestrained fun that being at this festival guarantees.