2024 — Meredith History

For the first time in forever, Meredith took place on the first weekend in December rather than the second.

Which led to much consternation in the office – what if it pours rain the first weekend and is perfect the next?

Turned out to be unfounded worries.

The weather wasn’t great, but it was certainly passable, with some rain on the Friday and overcast conditions for much of the weekend (except when Leo Sayer had the clouds moved on Saturday).

2024 was dedicated to the Golden Sun Moth, which many of you will have seen around the site over the years.

It was also the year that Outer Outer Space upgraded it’s status from weather-induced-overflow-campground to officially-on-the-map-campground, complete with new roads and fibre to the tent NBN.

Much work was also done to Front of House and the various loading and storage spaces around the stage to cater for the bigger and better gadgets that artists are now bringing along.

First up were Frenzee, who decided to hit the thing out of the park, providing a nice incentive to get amongst it and share some warmth as the drizzle fell from above.

It was hard not to think of Diogenes and the debasement of coinage during this one.

Good Morning followed, the set both a return for the currently OS based band, and a “final” show that saw them bring many friends on stage to bring it home.

From there the evening was brimming with goodness. MIKE on mic into an unsurprisingly wild set from Fat White Family, Mk.gee and band seeming to transmit via mycelium network, before Waxahatchee pulled off the treble of visiting the Gift Shoppe (Meredith trucker cap), the DJ Booth (dropping a Waxa Charli XCX remix) and the stage for a prime time revue.

After that, Glass Beams debuted an entirely new show they cooked up just for Meredith, and Genesis Owusu returned for a second visit, having undergone some kind of metamorphosis since his last appearance in 2018.

Things had certainly been going well so far, with most feeling considerably entertained. That was until Mainline Magic Orchestra pulled the rug out from under everyone and put the oddity back into space odyssey.

Wowee they were fun, and something rather unexpected for many of us assembled.

The band also managed to ditch their eye-catching outfits and spend the rest of the weekend partying away in The Sup’.

Saturday.

Those who were up celebrated the Ballarat Brass Band’s 20th year (of waking people up).

A little later we had the honour of hearing Keanu Nelson perform in Victoria for the very first time – wearing sunnies, hands in pockets, unassuming, captivating.

After lots of jumping up and down and screaming in unison during Mannequin Pussy, it was over to Leo Sayer, who turned out to be the sleeper hit of the weekend – which is astonishing for someone who’s been doing it since the 70s. Leo’s brother went to the trouble of putting together a powerpoint presentation of stills of Leo’s huge career that made a nice slide show for the screens.

Cue dancing and singing and hugging and maybe even some crying.

Early evening the atmosphere became charged as BARKAA took command of The Sup’. Bars bars bars sent out with ferocity and conviction, leaving most riled up and also a bit blown away by the talent on display.

She even made time for a meet and greet with Wadawurrung crew post set.

Angie McMahon was next up, with hundreds of copies of a lyric sheet for Making It Through passed around in the crowd by eager fans. This was the kind of set where a friend or tree was needed to keep you upright as Angie (repeatedly) tapped straight into the collective nervous system. Which nearly became too much when Lauren and Simon played Good Luck, Babe! in the Interstitial straight after.

Later on we had the exquisite joy of seeing Zapp turn up the funk, before, a later later on, Jamie xx hit the decks and the books with something of a history lesson on the house and techno that he dines out on.

In a nice touch, he brought the d-floor and stage together, dancers and cameras getting down amongst the crowd, with footage beamed back onto the stage screens.

Saturday also featured Uncle Barry making his MC debut when he jumped in on Housekeeping, singing a few of the messages to drive the point home – “don’t forget to slip ♩slop ♪ slap 🎵, etc.”

Other things that happened were the introduction of the stern suggestion that hard coolers be removed from the Amphitheatre once the sun goes down (or at least taken back to where the couches are). And a horse named Cleo Cat that Chris Nolan had a meagre share in winning its fifth race from five starts in Ballarat, right around the time many folk were jockeying for position down the front for Mannequin Pussy.

It was also the 15th anniversary in the International Food Court for Raph Rashid and Beatbox Kitchen, which may be why Dido’s Thank You hit so hard as the denouement to the Sky Show.

The Ecoplex was a late withdrawal after tweaking a hamstring during warm ups.

Who Played?

Jamie xx Waxahatchee Genesis Owusu Mk.gee Zapp Angie McMahon The Dare Glass Beams Mannequin Pussy BARKAA Fat White Family Leo Sayer Essendon Airport Party Dozen Olof Dreijer MIKE Good Morning Frenzee Mainline Magic Orchestra DJ PGZ Maple Glider Precious Bloom Ayebatonye Keanu Nelson IN2STELLAR YARA Billiam & The Split Bills Cool Sounds Don Glori Hot Tubs Time Machine Sez City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band

Poster

Playing Times

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