An objective approach does not exist. Because, above everything else, Oppikoppi is an emotional experience. It is intense and about far more than just music. It’s about survival, dust under your contact lenses and in the creases of your laugh lines, and people. Good people. For me at least.

This review is also by no means exhaustive. With over 108 bands, DJ’s and musicians on this year’s line up, seeing them all was practically impossible. Decisions as to which bands to see and which ones to miss were tough — and many times based solely on how many times one had to walk up the koppie that separated the two bigger stages from the small, intimate, nice-to-drink-a-Savanna-at-and-chill-out stage. I’d be lying if I said this stage didn’t win a lot of the time.

I’ve been away from South Africa for almost a year and it was no coincidence that my return holiday coincided with this year's Oppikoppi. The saying goes "absence makes the heart grow fonder" and to this I add: the experience of seeing a band live after living its songs in your head and on your CD walkman miles from home is purely sublime. A sigh of relief and the realisation that all is good. I’m home.

Matthew van der Want getting ready for his set

I could babble on for pages but let's get down to business. In an attempt to describe the atmosphere that weaved in and out of the dust, and in an attempt to keep the sounds alive as I wait another long year to return I have compiled an imaginary CD/DVD box set called 'Blood is thicker than Soda Water', which showcases the best songs and moments from this year's festival. The compilations are completely biased and have obvious holes.

The first CD in the set — called 'Code Pineapple' (long story) — starts with a Delta Blue ballad. As the sun set on Friday evening it was Delta Blue who got Oppikoppi 2004 kicked into action in fine blues style. With an acacia tree silhouetted against a dark blue sky and twirls of campfire smoke puncturing the air this Delta Blue song will forever remind me of beauty in the bushveld.

'Mowbray Kaap' from Freshly Ground: Wow, I’ve missed this band. THIS is the South African sound. Playing an early evening gig these guys pumped up the crowd and readied them for the long night ahead. There is only one-way to enjoy Freshly Ground: loud and dancing until it hurts.

'Humanarium' from Bed on Bricks: Absence from these shores has meant that I have missed the glorious rise of this band and my only exposure to them was a single SA Rock Digest mp3. To hear the song live and loud, in the flesh, was truly amazing. Their Oppikoppi gig was the last on a countrywide tour and as we speak the boys are in the studio working on a new CD.

Being the 10-year anniversary of Oppikoppi the line up was not short of a few blasts from the past. Making it onto 'Code Pineapple' are 'Giant Love Affair' from the Springbok Nude Girls — as heard from half way up the koppie road with friend Gil… stopping us both in or tracks.

'Electric Train Ride' from the Blues Broers also finds it onto the track listing — for pure ability to bring tears every time.

'Ten Feet High' by Sugardrive. A comeback may be on the cards and new songs may be written — but do you get much better than this?

Buckfever Underground's Toast Coetzer

'I Want To Die On A Tuesday Afternoon' from The Buckfever Underground also proudly makes it onto the CD. I remember a day that feels like yesterday — but was in fact several years ago — when I sat on a beer crate in the Rhodes Union among an audience of five listening to this band. So much has happened since then — including, it seems, a massive growth in the fan base of this revolutionary band. Respect. Love.

I missed the Koos Kombuis gig. But even though I was almost a kilometre away in the campsite I could hear the ground tremble as the crowds screamed — occasionally the word “Johnny” escaping into the dusty air. For this reason 'Johnny is nie Dood nie' also makes it onto the CD.

'Vernietig Jouself' by Fokofpolisiekar. Another band I haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing live, but whose reputation precedes it with almost religious zeal, is Fokofpolisiekar. I wasn’t disappointed. Holy bananas, these guys kick ass!

'Kamakastig Land' by Albert Frost and Friends. Perhaps the best part of Oppikoppi is the impromptu jams where boundaries are broken and real music — not the type that radio stations like — is made. In a moment of extreme beauty, Albert Frost, Schalk Joubert and Daniel Lohues (from the Netherlands) combined their skills in a display that intensified to such a point that I thought the amps were going to blow.

'Code Pineapple' also has a bonus track. 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' by Bonnie Tyler. At first glance one might think that this classic is a little out of place on this CD. What can possibly tie it to Oppikoppi 2004?

The answer is, of course, Corne and Twakkie. Used as the backing track to their elegant dance theatre extravaganza, this song was sung out loud by all in the audience (a beautiful sight, I must tell you), and as bizarre as it sounds, it will always remind me of my favourite Captain of Love and his faithful sidekick, Twaks, clad in makeshift g-strings and holy leotards on a koppie in the Limpopo Province. Rumour has it that if you play it backwards it says: “Believe it, cos its true.”

Space has run out on CD one — and because music is not always enough to set the scene, a special edition DVD accompanies it. On it are clips from the Tidal Waves set — because one song cannot sum up how beautiful this gig was. The sun had started to set, the dust caught in its rays, someone sat high above the crowd in a tree, eyes closed.

There are also clips from the Stijn gig. Hailing from Belgium, his set caught people completely unaware. Wow. As his last song finished I heard someone say: “What a complete chop”. Someone else said it was the best thing that they had yet seen at Oppikoppi. Love him or hate him, his gig got people screaming for more. Joining him on stage for one song was Toast Coetzer of Buckfever Underground fame and “fortune” (inverted commas intended). A new freestyle rapper in our midst?

Where better to take in the Oppikoppi ambience?

Then there are clips of camp scenes — black label bottles hung from trees, toilet paper (used to demarcate campsites) flapping in the wind and a doringboom-turned-art installation with the Oppikoppi essentials stuck to it: Panado box, piece of boerewors, a ten rand note, a condom, a stompie and a marshmallow.

There are clips of Arno Carstens collapsing into the drum kit during the Tim Parr gig, and clips from the Zero to Hero (respect) — Northam's own musical phenomenon — set. And we all thought Northam was just a bottle store?!

There will be clips from the Battery 9 set (arguably one of the best of the weekend), the Rude Boy Paul and Mabe Thobejane set — which rocked my socks off. There is a little something in the presence of Mabe that brings back happy memories of Jo Blu on this very koppie stage. Other kickass sets belong to Tim Parr and his friends, Tumi and the Volume, Brixton Mood en Roof Orkes, Liele Groenewald, Valient Swart (SA’s own Bruce Springsteen) and Jack Hammer.

The second CD is one entitled 'The Truth' — but it is not a compilation of different artists.

It is the ENTIRE set of the Matthew Van Der Want and Chris Letcher. It is essential that I emphasise that this CD might not change your life irrevocably (although, it must be said, this is a distinct possibility) but it will give untold meaning to it. When I mentioned that Oppikoppi was an emotional experience, this is what I meant. Ironic that the first song’s lyrics read: “I can’t move you”.

Little rivers of mud slide down my face and a mere 45 minute set made a 15-hour, ocean-crossing flight back to South Africa all worth it. In one fell swoop. The set was a mixture of songs from both 'Low Riding' ('Special Agents', 'Home') and 'Bignity' ('Fugue', 'Badmouthing') as well as some new songs — of which 'Good Shepherd' and 'Tunnel Vision' will remain in my head until someday, with all the hope in the world, they make it onto CD format.

Seeing as though 'Code Pineapple' and 'The Truth' are both mere figments of my imagination, use the money you would have used to buy these two CDs for another good purpose. Stop reading this and go directly (do not pass GO) to your nearest CD store and get hold of 'Low Riding' and 'Bignity' by Van Der Want/Letcher.

Do it.

Now.

Quickly.

Go.