In its second year running, Meredith’s newest incarnation Golden Plains came rather close to matching the quality of its older sister, with its mighty slog of alternative rock and grooves inciting good times all round. The festival had both its ups and downs, though by the end everyone in attendance had something to leave happy about: from the massive headliners to the strangely placed mosh pits.
For those unaware, the differences between Golden Plains and Meredith Music Festival aren’t that major. Both are hosted by the magnificent Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre, both are essentially hosted in summer (yes, GP just missed that officially, but the heat was atrocious enough to warrant summer status), and both invite the cream of the alternative crop to perform. GP, however, is held over only two days and nights, allowing a more limited capacity and intimate vibe. Moreover, with stricter gate searches for the first time, less of those pesky cheapskates managed to sneak in.
By Saturday evening it had become clear for those not already familiar with the line up that GP had decided to eagerly randomise their array of acts. The reason for this was unclear, though by the end of the festival’s first day the single stage had been graced by garage rock, indie electronica, gracious folk, hardcore, soul/funk, reggae/hip hop and of course the late night DJs.
Early on, the mid afternoon slot didn’t seem right for Qua. His electronic instrumentals, delivered in broad daylight, were surely more suited to night time. Still, not every act would get their ideal slot. Holding the strongest sets for the afternoon, however were those on the rock front. Kamikaze Trio’s grunge let out some early fist-pumpers, as they played what would be one of their last gigs together. Sam Agostino offered his words of wisdom for camping at festivals, “If you’re going to sleep with someone you don’t like, remember you’ll be stuck with them for the rest of your weekend, perhaps the rest of your life.”
Melbourne boys British India followed in a similar rock fashion, adding their punk edge to provide an early highlight. Declan Melia noted that having recently played the Big Day Out tour it was so great to see more photographers down the front than security, something he believed to be a gesture of trust on behalf of the festival. Pretty spot on. Moshing ensued as Guillotine tracks were spilled out, and crowd surfers started popping up to begin something of a weekend trend.
The raucous crowd made room for the softer styling of Iron and Wine, who provided the most chilled out set of the whole festival, before Cardiff rockers Future of the Left had the rowdy punters returning for some hardcore, screaming action.
When Ween hit the stage just before eleven o’clock, it was clear that the mishmash of a crowd agreed they’d be worth seeing – with the whole amphitheatre packed with applauding onlookers. There was a lot of hype surrounding their performance for the night, sparked especially by the unusually long festival slot of two hours. Judging by the amount of singing along though, it’s pretty safe to say that the majority knew the Pennsylvanian rockers. With eleven studio albums in tow, Ween had a lot of work to do, and tried to feature material spanning all of their records.
A chant of “H.I.V.”, filled the amphitheatre for opener The H.I.V. Song, and from there on in it was a mix of new and classic sing-alongs. Michael Melchiondo, aka Dean Ween, had facial expressions that were a show enough in their own, with squinty eyes and tongue sticking out all over the place. New track Learnin To Love had dancers and singers galore, but Chocolate And Cheese track Voodoo Lady was by far the standout of the whole two hours, with thousands of voices yelling “boogie oogie oogie oogie…” over Ween’s pop greatness.
Pretty much equally hyped as Ween were the next headliners, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. By this point, there was no doubt that by close to midnight the crowd would be looking for a dance party, and the Dap Kings were the perfect choice for such a celebration. Fronting the band, Binky Griptite readied the crowd with calls for participation and dancing.
The Dap Kings sounded as tight as can be, as their eight piece funk/soul project jammed in preparation for Jones. Her entrance was massively received, with a mixture of preaching and ‘60s-inspired soul making GP go crazy. The self-obsessed idiot who got up on stage when Jones asked for a young man to dance with was the only letdown for the whole set, though most people were too busy having fun to care. The night belonged to Jones and the Dap Kings, and thoughts of rocking to Ween passed quickly as the groove set in.
