Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Meredith Magic

Team ATR survived the scorching heat on the weekend at the Sweet Sixteenth Meredith Music Festival.

While I can hardly claim to be a veteran of the festival circuit, let alone of Meredith festivals (yes, it was my first time), music festivals surely would not get much better than this one. A major reason would have to be the setup at Meredith. You probably all know the drill but the positioning of the stage at the bottom of a slope means everyone can actually see the bands so it doesn’t get too crowded at the front. BYO makes a pretty big difference as well I reckon. The people who aren’t actually big on the bands can disperse and do whatever they do (although I don’t really understand why you would actually come and not see the bands??), while the rest of us can just kick back in our seats, laze on other people's banana lounges and on our rugs and just kick back enjoy the outdoors, the atmosphere, the booze and the tunes. You can’t ask for much more than that.

The other major reason for why it was such a good weekend was the lineup. While I must admit I do have quite narrow tastes, I was very impressed with the lineup this year, and pretty much all of the acts actually delivered. I think the following acts delivered some of the best sets I have seen all year:

In the order they appeared:

  • My Disco – Electric agitated performance from angular art rock band. Confirmed thoughts as one of best live acts in Melbourne. Drummer Rohan Rebeiro is close to the best going around.

  • The New Pornographers – By this stage I was a bit intoxicated so I don’t remember it perhaps clearly as I should have, but thought their energy of their poppy performance matched their records. Can’t wait to catch them tonight.

  • Midlake – Before the weekend I thought this band was only promising, but after seeing them at Meredith and at the Corner on Sunday night my respect has grown tenfold. Sound was rich and lush. Delivered a performance that precisely reflected atmosphere and mood of The Trials of Van Occupanther, which must be bloody hard to do.

  • The Soundtrack of Our Lives – Raucous, rambling riff driven rock n roll. The closing number where the messiah himself Bjorn Olsson walked off the front off the stage, made the front twenty or so rows sit down, while the band was pumping in the background to deliver a giant bear hug to a guy that looked like his long lost brother is hands down my best rock moment of this year. I've haven't seen a crowd go nuts like that for a while.

  • Augie March – In the past they have the tendency to be a bit or miss live (show at the Hi-Fi Bar earlier this year aside), but they were spot on the money on Saturday night. Beautiful music. Rocked up their songs a bit too which I guess was required for their Saturday night slot.

  • Dallas Crane – Hardly gave them a thought before the festival but they kicked ass.


Now I can't wait until next year. I might even go to Golden Plains...

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said:

oh how i wish i was there..

yay! more melbourne blogs please!

8:46 am  

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