Day Two and Three: MeredithMusic Festival @ TheSupernatural Amphitheatre

Wed 14th Dec, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Read Meredith – Day One review here.

A low and brilliantly hot sun greets the waking revellers meekly emerging from tents, caravans and ditches in equal measure. Even at 8am its weather that lends itself better to a beer than a toasty cappuccino, but it’s invariably the coffee stands that boast the long serpentine queues early on Saturday morning. Having successfully purchased hot drinks and egg & bacon sangas from the surprisingly speedy gang at the Community Tucker Tent, the Meredith faithful resemble something like elderly cats lazing dozily on couches and in the bows of the numerous trees around the amphitheatre. And to compliment this restful state of being, Aunty Meredith gives us… brass?

The Ballarat Municipal Brass Band have their work cut out for them to impress the large grizzled audience with their parumpa-pum-pumping take on some modern classics, but somehow manage to drum up an impressive amount of admiration. The Matronly master of ceremonies demands that we enjoy the band’s music and with a shiveringly similar intonation to primary school teachers past, it’s hard not to sit to attention and enjoy the fun covers of the Rocky Theme and We Will Rock You among others. It’s noisy stuff and no doubt rattles a few heads but with the cobwebs officially blown out all of a sudden the Festival is stirring back to life.

With its intricate, modern RnB-influenced pop Melbourne duo Oscar + Martin’s gorgeously crafted debut For You is a thing of real difficulty to replicate in a live setting, and the duo’s performances this year have been marred by some nervous missteps and a failure to translate what makes their recorded material so special. Where better then to prove themselves than before a sizeable 11am crowd in the Meredith Amphitheatre?

As soon as the stuttered beat of Recognise thudded out, it was clear the two were not going to let the opportunity slip. They have never sounded bigger than through the festival’s giant speakers, and rarely been so assertive. Songs were chopped up and extended where the need arose. Some emotional resonance was lost, such as during the markedly less restrained Chain Maille, but a more danceable aesthetic was gained. Friends were welcomed out, they nailed their harmonies and took their moments, but the communal nature of the set never veered towards self-indulgence. Grant Gronewald, who fronts the more hip-hop inclined Brothers Hand Mirror alongside Oscar, delivered some joyously earnest rapid-fire rhymes, while those who hadn’t previously encountered the talents of Bec Rigby were stunned when the disarmingly meek singer’s deep-soul voice rang out during What I Know. But for all the onstage collaborations (Two Bright Lakes’ sisters Hazel and Martha Brown also appeared), this was Oscar + Martin’s moment. And it was as much a joy as it was a relief to see them take full advantage of it.

Continuing a refreshing eclecticism for Saturday morning that was conspicuously dampened on Friday, rockabilly throwbacks The Rechords bring something different again to the stage. Retro styled jangly guitars and rumbling tom-toms offer a nice, dance worthy interlude between two of the festivals more hyped acts and while undoubtedly pleasant, the bands straightforward tunes offer little by way of intrigue to the day.

The same could not be said of Adalita who provides Meredith with one of the most enthralling sets of the day, notable in equal measure for its display of her disarmingly raw solo material as it was for the constant presence of the late Dean Turner’s two young daughters, who spent much of the set by her side or bouncing up and down on her thrashing, floor bound body. While the moment was a heartfelt one for many, it at times disconnected the singer from her audience; luckily then Adalita possesses one of the strongest vocals on display this weekend. Hammering on a sole, black floor tom as pulsing, looped guitar work plays in the background the former lead singer of Magic Dirt cuts a compelling figure onstage and has the chops to match, even as, cigarette and pint of vodka in hand, she continues to call attention to her miniature, dancing companions. But, beers lofted in response to her request, half of the gathered crowd gets it. The other half, well they just get back to their drinks and miss out on pearls of advice like, ‘Have a fucking good time and get fucking fucked up, yeah?’Adalita leaves us on a high with the stunning The Repairer seeing the entourage eventually, off stage.

If Adalita is polarising, OFF! positively tear opinions in half with a frantic set of hardcore punk. Their particular brand of chaos comes unencumbered by notions of complexity and solos or chords numbered four and above, but provides more energy in the same vein as Barbarion before them. It might be an angry, unpredictable energy that eventually gives security something to do, but it certainly provides a welcome shot in the arm as the suns ducks in and out of the slowly gathering clouds.

“We’re gonna hit up that party up on the hill today… yeah they arranged it for when Joelistics is on”. Poor old Joelistics, following a big punk band was hardly playing into his hip-hop hands anyway without pesky, subvertive campers providing yet more reason to go elsewhere for early afternoon thrills. But that’s the run of the mill for many mid-Saturday performers unfortunately and in actuality there still remains a good enough crowd to keep his Dolly Parton sampling beats enjoyable.