2017 — Meredith History

27 is the radix of the septum vigesimal positional numeral system,
and also the year of the Anoplognathus.

Weather was pleasant – almost perfectly mild, with no rain.

This was the first Meredith without Jack Nolan, who passed away shortly before Golden Plains earlier in the year.

It was very strange not having him there, as it has remained each year since.

Here’s a snippet of what Mary wrote in the Owner’s Manual:

“The second happened with Jack’s sudden death on 23 February in St V’s. After tripping on concrete at the farm while fuelling his beloved new blue tractor a few days earlier, he was on the way to recovery and laughing with nurses, when he said he had chest pain. Chris and I arrived soon after he went and stayed with him for several hours – precious time. Jack never wanted to leave the farm or be incapacitated, so we feel an OK’ness for him – he did it his way.

Amazing funeral at the farm, made possible by festival people and all. Such a tribute to our beloved man whose presence we feel not least through the myriad of Jack stories, but whose absence leaves us bereft.

‘The life and death of each of us has an influence on others’,
and Jack’s influence reached far and wide.”

Can’t be said better than that really.

Here’s to Jack, the wise old owl.

For the 27th, plenty happened on the roads and paths.

A new bus stop was installed in Top Camp, allowing bus takers to be dropped off a little deeper into the action.

Two new roads were laid through Hong Kong, splitting the landmass into Kowloon, New Territories and Hong Kong Island. The notorious traffic jam spot at the back of Bluegums was also reconfigured, with Here We Go extended to connect up with Happy Endings (which is no longer an end).

And there were roadworks on the Midland Highway, which cut the speed limit to 40k/h and may have led to a long line of traffic extending all the way back to the Westgate. Which just happened to be the very song that Amyl and the Sniffers kicked the whole thing off with.

Yes, kicked off with the Sniffers and ended with Suss Cunts on the Sunday.

Solid bookends.

2017 was also the year that the Meredith Supernatural Ticket Centre began transacting, bringing the all important ticket buying experience in house.

The reopening of the Electric Possum Bar in Southbank also eased the burden of walking back up the hill to the Can Bar when parched.

The Can Bar (which had been known as Electric Possum for a few years) was also renamed the Toucan Bar.

The Gift moved from two participant categories to three with the introduction of ‘all-in’, a category open to all genders.

This was also the first year without The Town Bikes as hosts, a wonderful chapter in Meredith history closing after 14 years and 14 absurd and matching outfits.

Gabi would continue on without Carla, nonetheless, this time with the assistance of The Huxleys.

John Diffey also handed over the reins of the Meredith Community Tucker Tent for this one, after myriad years of running a very tight and successful ship.

A massive thanks from all for your work there John.

If you were at this one, you’re probably still reeling from having had Aldous Harding stare into your depths.

A magic hour when artist met audience and both ascended to a different plane.

The best kind of abundance, done via reserve. ‘Hey’, we all shouted in unison.

Friday night also featured an appearance from the seminal of the seminal in ESG; a wild show from Total Control that ran dangerously close to dangerous in terms of crowd safety; Warpaint turning their intricate album tunes into full blown danceable jams, and Various Asses blowing out the PA, the latter a moment seized by Interstitial DJ David Boyd Smiley when he hit play on Shouse’s Love Tonight to bridge the temporary gap.

There was a lot of buzz in the air all weekend in anticipation for Todd Terje and the Olsens, but there would be plenty of other magical moments leading up to it; the prime ones being RVG (featuring none other than Chris Nolan’s then-carer Marc Nolte on drums) showing the proper use of dynamics, which culminated in many boots being raised aloft during closer That’s All; Big Thief playing as a three piece and losing nothing in depth; The Senegambian Jazz Band wowing massively and showing that there are many ways to dance (including to the kora); Downtown Boys shooting straight from the hip and telling it how it is; and Pissed Jeans opening (and closing) with the same Eddy Current cover.

Noname was anything but anonymous with an early Saturday evening set drawing a big audience and plenty of adoration.

Mark Seymour and band went overtime and ate into the Future Islands’ set, before Terje lulled, suggested, teased and went to the precipice several times before providing waves of release.

And no, the CleanUp song from the previous year doesn’t preview any bookings for the following year (well, sometimes it does, accidentally).

Late Nite Tuff Guy also led us all through one of the truly great discoed late-nite DJ sets.

Almost matched by Big Rig playing Kylie’s I Believe in You interstitially, which created scenes of love and joy and wild abandonment.

The owning of Sunday would be shared by two; Emma Russack’s total control of stage and audience, and Japanese Breakfast impressing mightily (despite wondering why it smelled like yoghurt).

Who Played?

Silence Wedge Todd Terje & The Olsens Noname ESG Total Control !!! Future Islands Warpaint Downtown Boys Mark Seymour and The Undertow Aldous Harding Harvey Sutherland & Bermuda Amyl and the Sniffers Big Thief Pissed Jeans Various Asses Japanese Breakfast RVG The Teskey Brothers Sleep D The Senegambian Jazz Band Rings Around Saturn Kikagaku Moyo Late Nite Tuff Guy Miss Blanks The Stevens The Exotics Ross McHenry Trio Emma Russack Moopie Suss Cunts Meredith Sky Show City of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band Master Song Tai Chi Gabriella Bartonova The Huxleys MC: Fee B2

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