MEREDITH23 began on Friday the 13th.
Which made sense, as it was the least eventful weather event for quite a few years.
Not much to say about the weather really.
MEREDITH23 began on Friday the 13th.
Which made sense, as it was the least eventful weather event for quite a few years.
Not much to say about the weather really.
There were 500 less people at this one than the previous year, with Aunty writing to subscribers earlier in the year to let them know about the reduced ticket sales, which was decided upon to make everyone’s experience a little more comfortable.
This was also the year Aunty’s Ticket Resale Service was introduced to try and take out the pesky scalpers.
If you spent any time on Sunset Strip at this one, you probably noticed all the wind turbines that had gone up on the other side of the gorge as well.
Nice to look at when relaxing with your thoughts.
Hopefully they can power the speaker stacks one day.
On this side of the gorge, 2013 was the year the douse showers were built. When first introduced these showers had some of the best water pressure this side of Maude.
But we had to dial it back a bit in recent years as they were using far too much water.
The Friday night was memorable for the giant spider (‘as big as a crab’ according to Bradford) that stopped the Deerhunter set less than one song in.
The Friday also featured The Brian Jonestown Massacre, which left a few people disappointed that no shit went down on stage like in the doco, and Clairy Browne and the Bangin’ Rackettes firing on all cylinders.
World’s End Press got everyone dancing and singing, before Le1f got everyone dancing and pinging, with the atmosphere going troppo when the crooked horns of Wut rang out.
Friday night’s other notable occurrence was the 55 minutes of magic from the singular figure that is Jon Hopkins.
The Saturday morning was memorable for two reasons. Firstly, the Ballarat Brass Band either cured or intensified many hangovers with a cover of Robbie Williams’ Angels.
Secondly, an up and comer named Courtney Barnett played the 11am slot.
It would have been more of a surprise had she not already had her star rise considerably in the time between the LineUp being announced and the actual performance. Anyway, Courtney took to the stage with Dan Luscombe, Dave Mudie and Bones Sloane, laying the foundations for what would become the far rockier live Courtney.
Wowed many early risers. Guaranteed future invites.
Mac DeMarco pushed the dial on what a midday time slot could do. It was clear from the get-go that they were here to have a good time (“We’re from Canada, Vancouver, and this song is about smoking methamphetamine”) and would bring everyone present along with them.
Not far into it, Mac broke 3 strings, which he set about replacing himself whilst the rest of the band entertained the crowd with nonsense banter and a medley of Taking Care of Business, the Beatles’ Blackbird and Limp Bizkit’s Break Stuff.
The whole set felt completely out of control, and all the better for it, with Mac ending their time on stage by crowd surfing all the way to Front of House.
Several reports came in over the next few months of various encounters with the band getting amongst it in various parts of the site during the rest of the weekend.
After a dynamo set from Joey Bada$$, The Sup’ lost its collective shit during Hermitude, particularly when they played Get In My Life.
Almost as heartwarming was Nile Rodgers and CHIC dancing on stage to a superstitial rendition of Billie Jean whilst getting ready for their own turn as hit selectors.
Speaking of in-between, this was the first year that we had a loop of programmable LED festoons around the Amphi perimeter, which were used to humorous effect by Interstitial DJ Bennis, the lights changing colour according to the track played – Blue Monday, Purple Rain, etc. Not sure if anyone noticed though.
Later that evening it ran: Tranter > Tim Sweeney > Derrick May > Andee Frost, with the former pulling out the Notorious B.I.G/Miley Cyrus mashup, and the latter poking the early morning wound by playing Pachanga Boys’ Time, just as the first rays hit The Sup’ floor, in what was a rareish no cloud morning.
A truly excellent evening of late night wibbling.
Angus Sampson managed to find some time in his schedule to return to The Sup’ and MC The Gift on the Sunday.
And someone sent this newspaper clipping through to Aunty the week before:
Here is some of What Was Said about Meredith23:
The Age – Popular Meredith Music Festival Celebrates 23rd Anniversary – by Annabel Ross
The Vine – Report: Meredith Music Festival, Day 1, Meredith 2013 – by Marcus Teague and Jake Cleland
The Vine – Report: Meredith Music Festival, Day 2, Meredith 2013 – by Marcus Teague and Jake Cleland
The Vine – Report: Meredith Music Festival, Day 3, Meredith 2013 – by Marcus Teague and Jake Cleland
Mess + Noise – Report: Meredith 2013 Day 1 – by Doug Wallen, Lachlan Kanoniuk and Edward Sharp-Paul, photos by Katie Fairservice
Mess + Noise – Report: Meredith 2013 Day 2-3 – by Doug Wallen and Lachlan Kanoniuk, photos by Katie Fairservice
Faster Louder – Meredith Music Festival Day One – by Edward Sharp-Paul, photos by Katie Fairservice
Faster Louder – Meredith Music Festival Day Two and Three – by Edward Sharp-Paul, photos by Katie Fairservice
TheMusic.com.au – Meredith Music Festival – by Benjamin Meyer and Stephanie Tell
Pedestrian – The 10 Best Bits of Meredith 2013 – by Jack Haycox
Tone Deaf – Meredith Music Festival 2013: Day One – by Claire Francis
Tone Deaf – Meredith Music Festival 2013: Day Two and Three – by Claire Francis