Day 1. Warm and windy.
28 degrees, 60k an hour winds and tents becoming sails.
There was a point when we were preparing to move our Event Control Centre owing to the forecast winds. And in the Amphitheatre, you’d hardly know it was windy at all.
Nonetheless, we did have to pull the pin on the Smoking Ceremony, owing to the risk that the wind would send embers flying.
Not that Barry and Tammy were too fazed, quickly rejigging what they had planned and captivating everyone as usual.
Things kicked off with a reprise Meninyan set, Uncle Barry’s band going full Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival in comparison with their previous appearance.
Miss Kaninna, from Bruny Island on Lutruwita, arrived on the back of two releases and a ton of momentum. She drew a huge crowd, who got very into it, and placed the spotlight firmly on Gaza and other injustices, before ending with a rousing rendition of Bob Marley’s One Love.
Pigs x 7 followed and were met with one of the fiercest mosh pits seen in the modern era. For very obvious (insurance) reasons, moshing is outlawed. But here we were. Getting hot together.
Also getting together were Alex G and Caroline Polacheck, who warmed up for her later set with some backing vocals during Alex’s Mission. Alex’s guitarist had managed to lose a guitar in Meredith town, which someone from the pub found on the side of the road. True story.
Caroline seemed to have some kind of uncanny affinity with the place. The record had held our attention all year, and it felt like a real moment hearing it amongst the radiata pines.
Your admirable ooos during Sunset taking the prize for best crowd participation (followed closely by the singalong to Alvvays’ Archie, Marry Me).
Daphne had clued everyone into how good Flowdan is when they dropped the yet-to-be-released Rumble the previous Meredith. This time we had the real thing, who blew us away with some proper dubstep, as DJ Karnage tried his hardest to blow out the mids.
Was a highlight for many.
Day 2. Wet, wet, wet.
The rain had threatened the previous evening and then began falling incessantly around 4am. And then it didn’t stop till well into the evening, after dousing us and the ground with 36ml of rain in a bit over 12 hours.
We knew it was going to rain, but certainly didn’t expect that much.
The theme then for day 2 was ponchos (and mud).
And many ponchos turned out early to catch Mary Lattimore revive hearts and spirits. The rain was uncomfortable, but as it would a few times on the day, it somehow elevated what was happening on stage.
Soggy and soaring.
This proved to be the case for the double-act of homeground heroes that followed, when the heaviest rain of the weekend fell. Which gave plenty of cover for all the tears that were shed.
Watty Thompson (with his Total Fire Band in tow) has a long and distinguished relationship with The Sup’. He and a gaggle of mates have been installing the white tape you see demarcating roads and paths around the site since 2008, with the 2023 edition being Watty’s 27th consecutive attendance across Meredith and Golden Plains.
In all the years on the tape he never once set foot on the stage during bump in. Something told him he’d be up there one day with guitar in hand, and he didn’t want to jinx or spoil it. Many things were felt during Watty’s set, which at one point became a giant cuddle. Hasn’t been back to put up tape since his set mind you.
Bumpy, who followed, has a similar history with the place, with various members of the band having worked in different roles over the years (“We’ve worked in the corners and finally worked our way onto that beauty of a stage”).
With the whole band wearing custom made outfits designed by POC artists, Bumpy ascended, seeming to float on the sea of love emanating from the very wet crowd.
One member of that wet crowd was Linden Scholes, who set up their easel and canvas over near First Aid, capturing some of the action whilst that action ran down the canvas.
Should have asked him to paint the grass back on.
They Hate Change arrived, all the way from Florida, and charmed the pants off the backstage crew with their kindness and enthusiasm. They dressed as Kraftwerk for Halloween earlier in the year and took to the stage wearing ponchos in solidarity with the crowd.
They just seemed to get it (whatever it is), which led to a joyous set for performers and crowd alike.
Kuniyuki, taking to the now semi-permanent afternoon Meredoof slot, started his set in silence before pulling out a flute, shades of Andrew WK back in 2007.
It built and built and built until finally reaching some kind of crescendo when he began looping the live crowd singing along and dubbing it out with lots of reverb. Well played Kuniyuki.
When the rain finally let up, Cable Ties played what may be one of the shows of their life in full prime time.
Did you check those visuals?
Woweee.
Cable Ties into Kraftwerk. Yes, makes sense.
Getting the latter onto the Meredith stage was no mean feat. We love the stage, but it has its limitations, and dictates to an extent who can play at Meredith and Golden Plains. One of the most important acts of all time put together a show built just for it, which included the spaceship showing up in their visuals zooming in on Meredith and then touching down in The Sup’.
It was momentous, it was funny, and it was Kraftwerk in Meredith. Nuts really.
The rest of the evening took many different paths. Sneaky Sound System hitting it out of the park with songs that many of us didn’t know we knew.
Milo Eastwood being Milo, and Moktar taking us all on a journey deep into the evening.
In the lead up to Meredith, Aunty received a few emails asking for Eris Drew & Octo Octa to play earlier. A fair enough request really. But geez it worked well.
Likely the biggest sunrise crowd to date, with hardly a soul leaving the dance floor between 4:30am and 7. Four-handed mixing techniques, moving as one, a show of shows.
Sunday was defined by two things.
One being the appearance of the legendary No Fixed Address, who, as the name suggests, weren’t so easy to get a hold of and invite along.
The other thing was The Gift. With the entire Amphitheatre a swamp, the decision was made to run it as a walk – a power walking event to be precise.
Which was hilarious, aided by the ‘what the hell have I got myself into’ look pasted on the face of MC Zoë Coombs Marr.
The weekend closed with a group of attendees from WA (not realising that things had wrapped up) appearing in the Amphitheatre at the conclusion of Dragnet with a giant cheese platter that they hoped to share with their new Victorian buddies.
In the end, there was some mud, and one vehicle in particular that managed to find it.
Bravo to the occupants for keeping spirits high when things got quite low.
The same crew returned to the same spot to ‘pour one out’ at the following GP in honour of their sunken bus.
The weather made us do some funny things.
Here is some of What Was Said about Meredith Thirty One:
The Age – The local acts that almost upstaged Kraftwerk at a mud-soaked Meredith – by Karl Quinn
Beat Magazine – Diversity and dedication at Meredith Thirty One – by Lucas Radbourne
Music Feeds – Meredith Music Festival Review – A Little Rain Never Hurt Anyone – by Billy Burgess
Double J – Meredith was filled with icons, legends and gremlins – by James Brennan and Courtney Fry
The AU Review – Meredith Music Festival shines on despite the rain – by John Goodridge
Stew Mag – Review of Meredith 2023 – by Max Melit
to Be Magazine – Meredith Music Festival’s Wet and Wild Thirty-First Edition – by Rachel Weinberg
Ramona Mag – An Ode To The Sarong: Meredith 2023 – by Laura May Grogan
Golden Plains Times – Sonic sounds brought to Meredith grounds – by Tim Bottams
VICE – ‘So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings’: Hot Moments and Hot People at Meredith – by Aleks Bliszczyk
