Meadow may have just bumped itself up to the number one contender for Victoria’s best boutique festival.
Although, that statement seems like it’s been a long time coming. The last six years have seen Meadow (f.k.a- ‘By The Meadow’) craft an incredibly solid reputation amongst Victorian festival punters as an event that not only fosters and promotes local up and coming talent, but also as one that really puts in the effort to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
In 2022, they took that to the next level. For starters, I’m not sure if I’ve ever attended an event that was so conscious of the environment and its natural surroundings. No doubt every event under the sun is now making a conserved effort to encourage their crowds to discard their rubbish correctly, but none of them has taken to giving their crowds dinnerware that gets returned, washed and reused. Not only is it a move that gets a big green tick of approval, but it also highlights the level of trust that the organisers put in their crowd. This was quite evidently a level of trust that was also reciprocated by the punters, who at this point have complete faith in the organiser’s bookings and will go and check out the acts that they may have not known previously. It felt refreshing to see so many music lovers actually discovering new music through an event, and not hanging at the campsite waiting for the most notable bands to begin.
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After work commitments forced my weekend to start on a delay, I, unfortunately, missed Mod Con, an act that I was incredibly excited about. As bummed as I was, at least I made it in time for Karate Boogaloo, whose brand of downtempo jazzy lounge vibes proved to be the perfect sunset act. With so many fans rocking up and leaving their campsite setup duties to later on so they could make it down to the stage for the Melbourne based group’s set.
During his time fronting The Drones, Gareth Liddiard established himself as one of Australia’s most revered and bohemian songwriters and guitarists, but his work in Tropical Fuck Storm has really allowed him to artistically flourish. With frenetic chaos to their music that at times feels akin to The Birthday Party; as well as drone heavy rhythms and ominous vocal harmonies, TFS have an energy that simply can’t be matched. Especially considering such an integral part of their sound comes from Liddiard’s unparalleled ability with a guitar, often hitting it to attain the desired tones. Although at this point I feel like Liddiard could record himself flossing his teeth with a piece of guitar string and it would turn out a modern-day psych-rock masterpiece. Erica Dunn and Fioana Kitschin both performed with incredible prowess on guitar and bass respectively and Lauren Hammel absolutely blew my mind on drums. As a massive fan of her previous group High Tension, I couldn’t help notice Hammel’s metal roots shine through in both style and tone. Donning a whopping 24” kick drum and what looked to be an 18” crash symbol (it was fuckin’ huge), her overall tone was massive, adding so much power to the psych heavy riffs of tracks like Antimatter Animals and the twangy off-kilter Braindrops.
The hip-hop collective 1300 have recently been turning heads with the Triple J Unearthed crowd and after witnessing their live performance, I can see why. With all five members performing on vocals and the lyrics often swapping between English and Korean to seemingly match their ever-changing beats, 1300 are an absolute spectacle live and the crowd were loving it. With hits like Old Boy and Smashmouth bringing in the party vibes of the night and the group’s newest single Rocksta showcasing live sampling and looping to create elements of the song’s backing, 1300 well and truly made their mark, with many commenting over the course of the weekend that they were the highlight act.
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Placement were another act to really catch my eye due to their combinations of 90’s post-punk riffs with an added layer of psychedelic dissonance and a clarinet player that also used distortion pedals to add more of a theremin soundscape. With a sound that could be compared to a mix between Sonic Youth meets Hideous Sun Demon, Placement immediately won me over and really pumped up the crowd as the Saturday sunset in.
Clamm are one of the coolest punk acts in Melbourne at the moment so getting the chance to see them again the week after their killer set at Goomfest was an absolute treat. Opening with the previously unreleased ‘Buy’, the three-piece made a clear impression on the crowd, who adapted to the riff driven and distorted guitar tones immediately to form a mosh. Whilst some may be scared of being the heaviest act on the lineup, Clamm clearly were not. The trio absolutely owned the stage as they tore through fan favourites like Confused, Suckerpunch and Liar, before finishing off with another unreleased track that really highlighted why they are an act worth keeping an eye on.
Sampology’s new project Middle Named Dance Band ushered in slow dancy grooves and the lounge vibe of Melbourne’s emerging nu-jazz scene, but with more of an orientation towards techno through their combinations of bass, mpc and keys.
First Beige also had a similar contemporary jazz vibe. Clearly, experts of their craft, their combinations of dual synths, interesting and unexpected drum fills and a vocalist that reminded me of 30/70’s Allysha Joy were absolutely mesmerising in a live setting. In particular when they busted out a groovy cover of Todd Terje’s Strandbar, with the bassline absolutely tearing through the crowd. As an act I was previously unfamiliar with, I left the festival thinking, ‘I need to check out everything by First Beige.’
As a large scale group that is adorned by Triple J listeners and was booked as the headliners of Saturday night, many were expecting Methyl Ethyl’s set to be comprised of their most notable pop bangers. What people weren’t expecting was an avant-garde use of syncopated melodies and jagged post-punk riffs reminiscent of Devo or The Cure’s ‘Jumping Someone Elses Train’. Merging each song with linear patterns between the synths and rhythm sections, their show felt as fluent as a DJ set, with the group almost never stopping before flowing into the next track.
At this point it seems like Meadow continues to step it up and get better every single year, this time around was their best yet.
Thanks for having me back Meadow, I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us in 2023.
Keep up with future updates from Meadow here. You can view more of Kirsty Renee Hill’s photography here.
