4/20/2014 with the Dagga Couple.
April 20: The day that gives all the stoners one more reason, amongst the unending list of excuses, to smoke weed. A day that brings people together in hazy joy to to enjoy and celebrate an incredibly useful plant. Imagine the good vibes. Imagine the sharing and giving attitude that cannabis culture promotes. Imagine the soapbox speeches you’d hear about cannabis’ environmental benefits. Imagine a green park with grass to sit on and views to admire. This is what one might imagine while getting ready to go to ‘The Dagga Couple’s 420 celebration. Dancing around with a green buzz to the sounds of Tidal Waves in a green area of the city.
After the event one can definitely say that some expectations were met, but there was something amiss amongst the smoke and unwavering musical genius of The Brother Moves on. The gathering was on a street in the middle of town. Fair enough. It had to be accessible yet secluded enough to avoid creating enemies with the local anti-cannabis populace. Entrance was R50. Sure, that makes sense. The stage sound was professional and there was a lineup with some very impressive acts. ‘The Dagga Couple’ also should take some proceeds to further their noble campaign which is also fair. One just wonders if the extortionate prices at the bar helped pay for event or The Dagga Couple’s rent. The proceeds certainly didn’t pay for dustbins because there was party trash all over the street. Dancing is a whole lot harder when you’re stoned trying to dodge broken glass with a coke can stuck to your foot. Go ahead and blame the crowd for dropping the waste but, to be fair, waste disposal was handled poorly. This kind of organizing bungle contributes to a messy stigma that follows the people of cannabis culture. No one likes a hippy-hypocrite. “Cannabis is environmentally friendly!” said the stoner guy throwing his cigarette butt on the ground. The Irony is just too blatant when one hears the band talking about environmental benefits while the crowd kicks around trash with every second step.
Amidst the flaws of this cannabis culture event there were some positives. There were some truly great characters to meet and minds were blown by the likes of The Brother Moves On. Never before have I seen such depth and musical prowess in a live performance like the one that I saw from The Brother Moves On. When a band paints such a vivid picture through their performance one doesn’t notice the trash underfoot or the stingy stoner jocks pretending to know how to dance to ska.
In summary: The D-Day 420 event had great music and great intentions but it was marred by the irony of party trash amongst stoners shouting ‘save the environment’.