Meredith Music Festival preview

MMF


Meredith Preview

By Chris Mitchell.

The Meredith Music Festival is back again, and it is fast approaching. This year marks the 20th birthday of what may be Australia’s, certainly Victoria’s, best loved festival. Meredith has gone from strength to strength since its 1991 inception. Tickets for the 2010 festival, to be held on December 10, 11 and 12, sold out quickly once again, and organizers have locked in an epic lineup, one which does justice to the occasion.

By now you’ll have been sent your wristbands, unpacked the tent, repacked it, realised you left half of it at Meredith last year, bought a new tent, got jealous of your mates esky, bought a new esky, worked out a meeting spot for your convoy, decided who’s driving, visualized the ultimate camping spot, checked out the playing times, and you’re generally just running around exploding with excitement.

So, lets have a look at why we’re so excited.

The festival gates open early on Friday morning, and the music kicks off at 4pm with the Puta Madre Brothers. By the time Cloud Control hit the stage at 9:30pm the farm will be full and the amphitheatre will be in full swing. The J Award nominees look like being one of the highlights of Friday night.

Little Red will get underway a little after midnight, as look to step up into a headline slot. Their second album Midnight Remember is packed with a slick slo-fi sound that will perfectly match Meredith’s relaxed atmosphere.

Other Friday highlights include hip hop cult legends Clipse, and Revered Horton Heat, who will have the farm shaking at its foundations from 10:45pm.

Saturday is even bigger. At 10am, Meredith’s festival alarm clock, the City Of Ballarat Brass Band will provide the soundtrack to your egg and bacon roll. Hopefully the sun will be shining for Girls afternoon set, the warm weather hopefully complimenting the bands breezy pop sound. Custard will make a triumphant return to the stage on Saturday,
and Meredith regulars Combo La Revelacion will have everyone dancing as the sun goes down. Crowded House hero Neil Finn and pint size dynamo Sharon Jones and her Dap Kings will play, but Saturday night will be all about the Dirty Three. On their last visit to Meredith, the trio gave the festival’s defining performance several years ago. It was an incredible set amidst the backdrop of an electrical storm that people still talk about today. So it is fitting that they headline Saturday night on Aunty Meredith’s 20th birthday.

Sunday, the day of recovery and that slow, painful drive home, is still packed with highlights. Sally Seltmann, Those Darlins, The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble will all perform, Angus Sampson will MC, and of course, people will get naked and run. The Meredith Gift is almost bigger than the festival itself. Almost.

Tickets are of course sold out, so if you have one then get excited. If you don’t have one, find someone who does and rub them or touch them, just try and take it all in.