Endless Daze 2019, Presented by Psych Night and Vans.

Poster by Simon Berndt, One Horse Town Illustration.

'Wait, hold on a second. That guy still writes articles and shit?'

Yup. It's me. 'cha boy André is back from the ether of admin work, (accidentally) becoming a, sort of, part-time event organiser and general Tsar-related activities.

It's been a while, it's true. I missed this.

I never thought I would ever do much else in Dystopia apart from writing and working with our other writers.
This year, 2019, (and I'm sure many of you might agree with me on this) has been one motherlovin' .arsegoblin
. of a trip around the sun. It's also been one of the best periods of time in my life.
Dystopia is about to turn one year old. Which is convenient, because it coincides with today's topic.
So... Let me tell you a little about Endless Daze, the birth of Dystopia and most of all, the nature of adventure.

Endless Daze 2018 Recap Video.


Part One.
A Long-expected Party.  

Taken from Endless Daze 2019 FB Page.

I first encountered Psych Night at home in Snor City; somewhere between 2015/16. I saw Medicine Boy, Black Math, and many more of my now favorite bands because of Psych Night events. Not to mention the ones I missed out on, such as the goddam Allah-Las at Arcade Empire of all places (before you ask, yes. I am still not over missing that.).

For whatever (assuredly good) reasons, Psych Night events in PTA started drying up, and eventually they stopped altogether. Wessel and I had grown particularly fond of these gigs. So, when we saw what was happening, we made a decision.

We weren't fucking having it.

We loved these events. We loved Psych Night's style, and most of all we loved the bands we'd discovered. The only clear solution to this problem then, was to go right to the source.
So started our plans, for our first adventure to Cape Town.

Part 2.
A Shortcut To Mushrooms.

For those who don't know, Endless Daze has been a yearly feature by Psych Night and Vans, boasting the best and brightest of SA talent, since 2016. The 3-day festival, hosted at Silwerstroom Resort, has become one of the best festival experiences in all of South Africa. The three respective years' lineups in particular have consistently been some of, if not the; most diverse, best curated, and high quality collections of acts in all of SA. Including not only the best of local music (with bands such as Medicine Boy, Black Math, Black Lung, and many more involved), but also some of the best international acts of the past few years, including; Froth, Moon Duo, Nonn, Dead Meadow, W.I.T.C.H, The Oh Sees, and The Night Beats, to name a few. Personally, I believe Endless Daze has become the only festival in SA which can be considered as truly world-class. All this, while the festival circuit in SA has, according to many, been "dying out."

Wes and I went to 2018's edition with very high expectations. It was Wes's first ever festival experience, and roughly my 5th or 6th. What I never expected, was that we would both get off the plane back in PTA having each had arguably the best three days of both our lives, and that while both of us having had completely different experiences, regardless of our initial points of reference when it came to festivals.

We drank a hell of a lot of Jäger. We each walked away with about 10 new favorite bands. We both had seen the best live performances of our lives, from multiple bands we knew already and discovered for the first time. We made new friends with some of the best people we'd ever met.
Most of all, we walked away from Daze '18 with three major, ultimately life changing, things:

1. A new understanding of what artistic- and live music events could, and should, be like.

2. A new standard for live music events in SA.

3. The seed of an unlikely idea.

In the time since, Dystopia was born.

We've done a lot of cool shit in the 12 months since getting off that plane, and we're absolutely going to do a lot more in times to come.
I don't believe any of that would have been possible if not for those first couple events by Psych Night in our hometown of PTA, and especially if not for our trip to Endless Daze 2018.

This weekend (1-3 Nov 2019), Wes and I are going to Endless Daze again. This time not only as the music--superfans we (unapologetically) are, but also as media members. As Dystopia.
Needless to say, it's an honor. Fuck it. It's one of the proudest moments of my life.

Design by Simon Berndt, One Horse Town Illustration.

Part 3.
Lothlorien. or; "We interrupt your quest to bring you this trippy detour through the hippy forest."

Or in this case; "... -hippy beachfront."

Silwerstroom Resort is the picturesque beach side venue, which plays host to Endless Daze yearly. From the Beach Clean-up initiative, to the incredible vendor and food stalls, to the House of Vans, and the unrivaled talent of the musicians and artists who'll be displaying their work in various forms, Endless Daze 2019 looks to be the best edition yet.

Thirty one bands (yes, 31 bands) will take to the stages of Daze this year. That number, by the way, includes a whopping 7 international acts. All of whom represent the best of the best, of not only South Africa's music industry, but of the best music globally, at the moment. Check out the playlist we're releasing along with this article. It includes Dystopia's favorites, from (almost) every act, on the bill for Daze this year.
A few highlights include; The Night Beats (US), Yak (UK), Föllakzoid (CL), The Gluts (IT), Amy Ayanda, Dangerfields, The Valley, PXLS, BCUC, Hadeda, Julia Robert, and (for their last ever performance) Medicine Boy & The Last Light Ensemble.

Those are only the acts I could think of off the top of my head.

Taken from Psych Night's FB Page.

Part 4.
One Last Word.
(okay, Three last words and a greeting)

"Come with us."

Love, André & Dystopia.

Endless Daze Festival Map.
Taken from Endless Daze 2019 FB Page.

Endless Daze 2019 Ticket Link

Psych Night Website

Endless Daze Website

Psych Night Youtube

One Horse Town Illustration Website

Endless Daze Instagram

Endless Daze FB Event Link