| Golden Plains (Ween) |
| 8/3/2008, Meredith Supernatural Ampitheatre. |
|
Well, I had an excellent long weekend just gone. I went to the second annual Golden Plains event, held at the Meredith Supernatural Ampitheatre, about 2.25 hours out of Melbourne. There's something to be said for seeing bands in the context of knowing that you can get completely drunk / fucked up and just wander back to your tent at the end of the night - no responsibilities of driving or looking after small children in the wee hours of the morning. As a result I had a great night - I can't remember the last time I saw a concert "drunk" (i.e. more than a few beers). Anyway, the focus of the weekend wasn't drinking - it was the bands, and boy did I get to see some great stuff in the short time I was at Golden Plains. I arrived mid afternoon on Saturday and left early-ish on Sunday. I only saw 5 bands, but they were all very different and all rewarding in different ways.
British India; This was the one "local" act I saw at the festival. I saw them very briefly at the Big Day Out this year, and thought they were "OK". This time round they left a much better impression - still, not the most amazing band I've ever seen, but lots of energy, a pretty good sound and very listenable. Their drummer was quite good I thought, and I think they have a fair bit of potential (they still look pretty young) Iron & Wine; I don't mind Iron & Wine, and although I had to disappear back to my campsite to get some more beverages during their set, I did enjoy what I saw. They had a great sound for the festival, although they were a little bit "samey" for their set, with the exception of the last song, which stuck out considerably. The bulk of the set was very laid back - the kind of thing you sit in a camping chair and enjoy the good weather and beers to (which I did). The last song was a bit more energetic - a good finish. Future of the Left; I hadn't heard anything about this band (or any of their songs) prior to the festival. Afterwards I went and sought out their album. They left a fantastic impression - with music that had all the excitement of At The Drive In or Refused ("way back in the day"). The crowd was really getting into them, and they had a massive sound for a 3 piece. The definite highlight of their set was a song called "Manchasm", which literally stopped me in my tracks. I was hypnotised by it. Definitely check that song out if you get the chance - and it was excellent live. Ween; Well, Ween was the band that I came to see and they delivered in spades. Ween were a band with a mission to deliver a rockin' set. Also you've got to love a band that starts their set with a song with only 2 words; "AIDS" and "HIV" (check out a live version of The HIV Song here). A few friends had seen a Ween solo show earlier in the week and had warned "it's for the hardest of hard core fans" and that there were "a lot of improvised jams". Thus I had set my expectations somewhere in the middle, and when Ween delivered a solid, rocking set with some pretty user-friendly songs and not too much extended jamming, I was thrilled. The setlist went something like this;
Ween demonstrated fantastic musicianship and a wide and varied list of musical styles (what else would you expect?) over the 2 hour set. The crowd loved it - there was a very positive vibe and a lot of dancing (as opposed to moshing). I'd had a few drinks at this stage, so was letting loose a bit more than and really enjoying the evening. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings: After Ween (around 11:45pm) we were graced by the presence of Sharon Jones and her funky, soul and motown influenced tunes. As a performer she was pretty flawless - great vocals, and with such fun music behind her, really getting into it. My criticism however, like Iron & Wine, was that it was all a bit the same. After about an hour I'd seen all the same highlights, lowlights and mediocre bits, so decided given my state, it was probably best to retreat to my tent. Finding my way back in the pitch black to my tent was fun, nonetheless I made it, slept reasonably well given the circumstances (i.e. that the music kept going until 5am and that every 20 minutes I'd hear someone returning to/leaving their tent). I woke up around 8am, wandered around the empty-ish site and just relaxed in the Sunday morning country sun. After some consideration, I figured I might as well leave just before lunch, as I wanted to be back in Melbourne with Steph and Aurora, and that there weren't too many bands of interest for me until late Sunday (which I wasn't going to hang around for). I gave a friend of mine, Mike, a lift home, so we talked the whole 2 hours about music, movies and generally had a good old chat. Overall, Golden Plains was a great experience. Had Ween not be there, it probably would've been "very good". Given Ween's performance, it will go down as a pretty good memory in my gig "hall of fame". I'd like to go back again (and hopefully will). |