So the dust has settled after Koppi and hopefully you’re all breathing normally again. I’m probably the last to post about the event, but hey, I’ve been pretty busy. After my sketches flashed alongside the painfully cool PHFAT on Friday night I have been inundated with illustration requests and freelance work. Which is awesome! I wasn’t able to snap any pics of their performance because I was crying like a little girl who just got a pet panda-bear for her birthday. I wished with all my heart I could go hug my chubby, insecure, and afraid 13 year old self and reassure her that one day she’d feel truly cool… It was the single proudest moment of my life so far, and I wanna thank the people who made it special for me, you know who you are. I love you.
Despite my obvious bias, I would still pick PHFAT as my top act this year. Their energy is just incomparable. The crowd was much bigger than I expected and the huge-ass flags branded with their bolt just looked fly as fuck. I am so proud to have been part of their epic performance and I hope to collaborate with them on MANY projects in the future. This bitching boy band is definitely going places, big, dirty, new places!
I was lucky enough to catch Wrestlerish’s last performance. I don’t know why they’ve decided to kill their beautiful music machine, but I sincerely hope that the big guy keeps making music. If no-one’s told you: Werner, you were born to sing, and the world would be poorer if it were to lose your sound. I look forward to finding out what new journey you’re embarking on and I wish each of y’all the best in whatever you decide to pursue. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being part of so many of my favourite memories. You guys made a special kind of magic when you made music, and it will most definitely be missed.
I must be growing up, because I can remember everything from that weekend. Personally, it felt like a true Odyssey to me (in the epic Greek sense) or even a bit like Christ’s temptation in the desert. I learned a lot of hard lessons this year, the most important being that the distinction between friend and foe isn’t nearly as clean cut as I believed it to be. I was deeply hurt by friends I considered closer than family, and sincerely surprised by others who I was sure hated my guts. Koppi is an honest and weird and mystical place where tiny miracles go unnoticed and people get changed forever. So, I missed Wolfmother… but I got so much more than I bargained for. I saw my name in lights, I felt real love wrap its arms around me, I rediscovered the kindness of strangers, and I figured out some serious shit about myself. Like I REALLY dig The Inspector Cluzo!
It’s a shame things can’t stay as clear or cool as they are when you see through the dust. People go back to their jobs, to being themselves, to forgetting what they felt and learned. Not this prawn. Dust only knows what next year will throw at me, but I’ll be getting ready! Oppikoppi 2015, come at me bro.