Weekend Wars

I'm going to confess something, I don't really like music festivals. I mean, I love the idea of them and I LOVE working at them but as a punter they're not really my thing. I find them a bit too hectic. A bit too trashy. A bit too difficult to see anything, either because the only bands you really want to see are almost always on at exactly the same time, there's always a dickhead standing in front of you and the sound isn't always great. I love the fact that music festivals bring my favourite bands to town and then I go to their side-shows.

I also don't really like camping.

So it follows that I don't really dig music festivals that involve camping. Except the magical Meredith Music Festival in Victoria, and it's recent kid sister spin-off Golden Plains. There's something about this festival that is just excellent. Maybe it's the good music, the size [it's not huge and there's only one stage so no timetable clashes], the location [it's in a beautiful natural amphitheatre, far enough away from Melbourne to not be attractive to the usual fools you find at festivals. It's BYO, which also means you don't hemorrhage cash there over the weekend, and they have a 'no dickheads' policy.

Whatever it is I'm a fan and pretty much every year for a while now I make the pilgrimage down there and relish in the experience. And over the years there's been plenty of experiences. Like the first year that I went, checked the forecast, saw it was for around 28 degrees and packed accordingly. No one told me that it gets unspeakably cold down there at night and I spent the next three days with bronchitis, desperately trying to stay warm at night, wearing all the clothes I'd brought with me. I have vivid memories of crawling into my sleeping bag, fully clothed, holding my feet in my hands because they were so cold and crying myself to sleep. And after this I still went back for more. A couple of years later there were bush fires raging across 80% of Victoria, it was upwards of 40 degrees, the surrounding valleys were on fire and the whole place was covered in thick ash-filled dust which was being spread around by burning, hot winds. Another year it rained so much on the first night that half the tents got washed away, everyone was thoroughly soaked and then the next day it was so hot that everyone got seriously sun burnt and heat-stroke... Although my favourite crazy weather year was when there was a wild electrical storm, one of the most extreme in over 60 years, and this took place in the valley behind the stage while the Dirty Three played the most amazing set you could imagine.

And they always get good bands at Meredith, that helps. If I run through them all it'll be a boring roll-call but it's a good mix, pretty much a music-lovers lucky-dip.

So I've had some amazing times at Meredith. I've seen some great bands, had some great conversations, read some great books and every year look forward to hanging out, relaxing under the trees listening to amazing music, having a nice nap, catching up on some reading, enjoying a few pink flamingos [vodka and pink grapefruit juice], staying up late and at some stage indulging in an ice cream from the amazing Irrewarra farm - all natural, made from happy cows who eat chemical-free grass... generally relaxing after a crazy year and hectic end-of-year-beginning of summer period.

This year however Meredith had another idea. Or, mother nature did. It rained constantly. Like, from the week before the festival started until the day it ended. It's probably still raining.

I know it's good for the farmers who've battled an intense drought in the area for the best part of a decade, but boy oh boy...

Before I get to the photos, which will do a better job of putting the mud in perspective, the highlights of the festival.

Holy Fuck were AMAZING. I don't even really know how else to describe them. I think they're one of my highlights for 2008, they were that good.

Tame Impala were great too, as were Mountains in the Sky. I didn't see as much as usual, as I was taking shelter in the bar, the only under-cover area. I heard a lot from there, and everyone was solidly great.

The other highlight was easily MGMT, the whole crowd piled into the amphitheatre and sung along to every word of every song. It was pretty special, as it was the last night of their 16 month tour. And then at the very end they played Kids, everyone lost their shit even though the rain had started again, the whole crowd was moving, jumping, singing the instrumental bits and it was entirely worth the 30 hours of being damp, covered in mud, just to experience that.

Two other special moments came while everyone was waiting for MGMT to come on - the dj played ACDC 'Thunderstruck' as the rain stared to get heavier. It was pretty funny. As was when they played YMCA and all the bogan Aussie blokes started singing and dancing in formations, again, in the rain, wearing their garbage bags and plastic ponchos in the bush. Must've been quite a sight for the bands, they must've wondered where the hell they were. They drive 2 hours out of Melbourne, through the sprawling suburbia, through the small towns, through the farm-land, into the bush and then hit this crazy mud-filled warped reality with people covered in plastic dancing in the rain to bad disco tunes.

And then there was the mud. I know I keep going on about it but it was amazing. I've never seen or felt anything like it. It became a fun past-time to watch people dealing with the mud, from the safety of the bar, with the warmth of whiskey. The best bit was watching this guy get a huge handful of mud and throw it at the back of his friend, who was wearing a pristine white jacket. She turned around, he went to flee, but slipped and lost his balance, and then managed to pour his entire cup of beer over his head before face-planting into the mud. Below are some photos, to put it in perspective for you.