Arriving at the Meredith Music Festival, one enters an atmosphere incomparable to any other Victorian festival. The vibe is so avidly fun, the emphasis on craziness and good times in whatever way possible. There are so many special elements that make up the MMF experience, and that’s before you even get to the music – on which, more later.
The wait for the bands to begin on Friday afternoon (gates open at 8am, the first band Regular John began at 4pm) was pleasantly filled by interactions with always friendly fellow festival-goers. Early act Oh Mercy gave an immensely pleasurable show of relaxed, acoustic indie music. Cat Power-like melodies gave way to wistful harmonica and saw many in the crowd jigging along. Extended chords merged between songs, and at some times the music recalled the excellent pop of Tegan and Sara, but with a male vocalist. The choice to close with a cover of The Triffids’ “Raining Pleasure” was an inspired one, although the intermittent sunshine (enough to give you third degree facials burns, trust me) gave the lie to the lyrics.
Despite being hotly hyped and much beloved of the oh-so-cool indie scene in their native New York and also here in Australia, Akron/Family were largely uninspiring, making a lot of noise, but producing nothing remarkable.
The completely adorable Sia followed, playing beautiful drifting soul/jazz influenced acoustic music. She was having a blast on stage, and it showed. The crowd adored her Triple J-friendly singalongs. When she bantered with her bandmates, her voice was helium-high and in keeping with her pixie-like appearance. However, when she belted out songs, her voice at times reached truly impressive levels, comparable in raggedness and power with Janis Joplin’s. She also demonstrated a mellower range, with influences from blues and swing music.
Patrick Wolf
Wonderful British pop diva Patrick Wolf kept the crowd waiting for at least 20 minutes past his set’s official starting time, and many must surely have been wondering whether he was worth the wait. All doubters would have been blown away by his ferocious set, as he opened with a slow build up and continued with the crowd-pleaser “Bluebells”. Wolf is never shy, and the constant theatrics in his set, complete with Bowie-inspired costume changes, was a welcome touch of glamour to the dust and gumboots at Meredith. An accomplished violinist, he alternated between keyboard, ukulele and violin throughout his show, and was ably backed by an intuitive but not intrusive band.
A stellar rendition of “The Libertine” roused the crowd, and afterwards Wolf suggested they throw things at the sound guy, who apparently wasn’t mixing to his satisfaction. He has become infamous for his temper onstage, in particular one violent incident while performing at the C/O Pop Festival in Germany. When told the time for his set had finished, Wolf became incensed, and proceeded to throw microphone stands and his keyboard around the stage and to spit into the air – an aggressive display heavily at odds with his campy stage persona. When asked how he felt about the incident in retrospect, his philosophical answer was refreshingly honest and candid, saying he thought it was important for people to see celebrities as human, and admitting “I do have off days and bad moments like every other person in the world”. An amazing extended rendition of Wolf’s biggest hit, “The Magic Position”, provided a revelatory end to his set, and saw the entire crowd dancing along to the handclaps and ascending scales with euphoric smiles visible all around.
Royal Crown Revue played jazz standards and continued the dancing into the wee hours, with plenty of horns and bravado backing the Sinatra songs and James Bond themes. Hotly hyped Yacht were also impressive, and afterwards DJ Tim Sweeney took over for the remainder of Friday night.
Saturday morning dawned hung-over and sun burnt, but the music was stellar all day. Kid Sam provided a feedback-heavy start to the day. Thee Oh Sees and WHY? were both enjoyable, and ably showcased the diversity between the festival’s many musical acts. Teenaged siblings Kitty, Daisy & Lewis played their distinctive brand of jiving swing with great energy. Their voices are perfectly pitched and the harmonies created by the similar but contrasting vocals are beautiful.
Pharoahe Monch
Queens-born hip hop star Pharaohe Monch was another festival stand out. Opening with his openly aggressive hits “Rape” and “Fuck You”, he got a tad political and subtly pushed a pacifist liberal message. Pharaohe’s rapping was excellent and his flow stayed articulate throughout the show. The execution was solid and the mixing proficient. He began listing the cities in Australia he’d been before, generating a predictable but hilarious response from the crowd: “Perth” (silence) “Brisbane” (silence) “Adelaide” (boo) “Sydney” (BOOOOO) “Melbourne” (crowd goes wild). A wonderful version of “Desire” was absolutely euphoric and drew a huge response from the crowd, who were far more relaxed and friendly than your typical hip hop crowd. Pharaohe apologised repeatedly because “my vocals are fucked”, but stated how much he wanted to push his performance at Meredith regardless. He dedicated “Body Baby”, with its string elements to the ladies. He closed out his excellent set with “Simon Says”, displaying the skills of a born performer in his ability to unite the crowd.
Combo La Revelacion followed, and their 15th consecutive Meredith performance was a wonderful mixture of gypsy-infused brass arrangements, crowding the dancefloor with an enormous conga line.
Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly gave a typically consistent, engaging performance, laced liberally with his hits, including “Dumb Things”, “Careless”, “Our Sunshine”, “Before Too Long”, “To Her Door”. Accompanied by singer Linda Bull, of sister due Vika and Linda Bull, Kelly appeared unperturbed by the young hipster crowd, who rewarded him with a huge presence and level of enthusiasm, drawing one of the bigger crowds of the festival. “When I First Met Your Ma” drew a massive cheer, and an acoustic version of “Deeper Water” became a full-band jam. PK took off his shoe, and was mimicked by hundreds of watching fans as the crowd became a sea of shoes held above heads. During the final song “How To Make Gravy”, some brave souls were seen chugging a whole jar of gravy through a beer bong. Well done those men.
Animal Collective gave a loud, electronica-laced set, accompanied by an enormous light show. At 10.30pm on Saturday night, legendary former Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker ascended the stage. Unfortunately Cocker no longer plays any Pulp songs, however his solo work stands on its own. Both his solo albums, Jarvis and Further Complications have received widespread critical acclaim. His jagged dance moves have a bit of Mick Jagger’s swagger and strut, but minus the sex appeal. “Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time” (which Cocker originally wrote for Nancy Sinatra), “I Never Said I Was Deep” and “You’re In My Eyes (Discosong)” were highlights of an altogether polished set and enjoyable hour-long set.
Yacht Club Deejays took the prime set immediately post-midnight on Saturday, and earned it well and truly with and excellent mix of recent hip hop songs, ironic kids TV show themesongs, MoTown hits, and retro pop. The mixing was clever, unobtrusive, and effortlessly well constructed. M.A.F.I.A. had a hard act to follow, and did not quite match YCD for polish, but did maintain the party-hard atmos in the amphitheatre.
To anyone who made it past Bag Raiders (who finished at 4.30am) on Sunday morning without the aid of drugs, well done indeed.
Sunday morning was rather subdued, with some people evidently nursing debilitating hangovers/scattered brains. Those who struggled down to see Wagons were rewarded with a bawdy set which didn’t compromise on storytelling. Henry Wagons’ style draws inevitable but justified comparisons to musical gods Johnny Cash and Nick Cave. The Middle East provided an ideal backdrop of cacophonous percussion, including tamborine and maracas, and cute muso boys. Their music is ideal for lazing on the picnic rug with beers or dancing under the trees (many people did a bit of both). The ended their set with a couple of acoustic songs which loosened the vibe further.
The Fauves were a surprise highlight of the festival. With hilarious banter between the musicians, and a constantly humourous approach to lyrical topics combined with musical proficiency, the crowd was laughing aloud throughout. Songs like “Metrosexual” and “I Am Not Approachable” set the tone, and the abstinence-promotion of “True Love Waits” was highly persuasive. Lead singer Andrew Cox was clearly once a bit of fox, which doesn’t hurt.
The Meredith Gift, a nude running race with an entry policy of first in best… undressed (har har), was completely hilarious and an excellent unofficial end to the weekend. A digression: Well done and thank you to the organisers for taking note from other festivals of the things most hated by the audiences, and avoiding them. By allowing BYO alcohol, and having only one stage so there was no possibility whatsoever of missing any act you love for another you love more, Meredith distinguishes itself and offers a sweeter experience for everyone.
So, to conclude, the best things about Meredith (aside from the music, which has been covered):
- Free cocktail parties
- Interpretive dancing
- Nude wrestling
- Body suits (tight) with visible genitals
- Free mullets
- Beer bongs (filled with gravy and/or beer)
- Awesome hippy parents with young children who will thank them later
- Santa, clowns, pirates, and every other possible costume
- Where’s Wally – lot’s of them
- Toilet paper decorations flying over the crowd
- Giant inflatable penis
Meredith Music Festival
11-13 November 2009
Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre
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