Meredith melts away the bad vibes yet again in 2025
I arrived at Meredith feeling like the grinch. Make no mistake, I love music, that's why I was there, and yet I was more than a bit grumpy, the reason why isn't important. What do you do about that? How do you kill the green goblin in your heart? The answer dear reader, is that you get won over despite yourself. You stop worrying and submit yourself to the excellent vibes of the most grinch proof-festival in the country.
Friday. Proceedings began with welcome to country, and a smoking ceremony conducted by Barry and Tammy Gilson. Meredith was held on unceded Wadawarrung land.
Melbourne scene legends Dr Sure’s Unusual Practice were the first act to grace Merideth’s Supernatural Amphitheatre, the festival’s only stage. The group delivered a pub-worthy set of hook-laden egg punk with a relentless energy. I say “pub-worthy” not pejoratively, but in reference to the band’s obvious commitment to DIY culture. Interspersed throughout the set were diatribes about what we, the audience owed each other, as well as a speech about importance of the people who’d surrounded the band over the years.
Community was a recurring theme. (It’s like they wanted me to stop being a solipsistic downer?) The set ended with a performance of the topical banger All My Friends Are All My Friends, supported by a team of ex-bandmates. Sick set guys.
Next up was Yolngu R&B artist Drifting Clouds.
Soaked in 80’s timbres, the music clearly draws a lot of inspiration from the sounds of the era, but is anything but uninventive. Vintage keys sounds and frequent sax solo’s peppered songs which combined a slew of influences, to timeless effect. Songs were sung almost entirely In Language and, as explained by songwriter Terry Guluya, drew writing inspiration from first-nations Songlines. Musically the (largely unreleased) tracks performed ranged from midtempo classic rock ballads, reggae inspired tunes, to pulsing electronic dancy numbers, such as debut single and crowd favourite Buwuypawuy - All were deeply affecting, one way or another. I can't wait to hear more from Drifting Clouds.
Photo: @chipmooney
Friday’s third act were red-hot Melbourne up and comers Folk Bitch Trio, or FBT for short.
This set was a highlight of the festival for me. The trio were backed by a band, and primarily played cuts from their 2025 debut LP Now Would Be A Good Time. Reserved band arrangements, which included atmospheric pedal steel ambiance and haunting three part harmonies provided a fitting accompaniment to the band’s mature folk songwriting.
FBT's writing consistently finds the profound and poetic in it's oft mundane inspirations, and manages to feel incredibly current without ever appearing disconnected from the traditions of the genre. As someone who shares both a generation (gen-z) and a home city with the group, seeing stories from our shared milieu rendered so compellingly was deeply gratifying, and affirmed to me that the future of the genre is in good hands. The hype around FBT is more than justified, go see them if you can.
Oh my god. I was so excited for this next one. Meredith is known for it’s goat’s cheese, but no one ever talks about the GOATs. I seek to change that. The day’s next act was canadian alt-pop genre bender Saya Grey. With a set primarily comprised of larger than life renditions of cuts from her recently released LP Saya, and a colourful outfit that somehow gave pirate *and* parrot simultaneously, Saya quickly dispelled any notion I had of her being a little known indie artist, Tragic. So many people sung along. For a moment, my “grinch green” was replaced with a green of envy, of the people closer to the stage, and of the people who’d snagged tickets for Saya’s upcoming headline dates - Saya grey is a must see.
Photo: @eloisecoomber
I only saw the next couple of acts Brown Spirits and Perfume Genius in passing, so I have less to say; Brown Spirits is a melbourne based instrumental doom-jazz jam band, That they are on the lineup of a major festival makes my muso heart incredibly happy. Diversity win.
Secondly, I have had a friend telling me to listen to Perfume Genius since like 2017(?), for whatever reason I wasn’t sure if it was my thing, Turns out it is. To have such a dynamic, introspective rock act usher in the night was an excellent choice. The sound of this set echoing through the festival quickly transformed my walk through a field into a walk through my “feels”.
Photo: @m.ridley_
Next up was Melbourne neo-disco-soul group Mildlife. These guys grooved hard. To my sceptical ear “Mild” almost suggests a certain level of timidity or perhaps a passive-listening kind of vibe. Rest assured they are neither. Toeing the line between genuine jazz virtuosity and boogie inducing danceability is theoretically kind of hard, though nothing about this set would have suggested such a thing.
The next artist I caught was up and coming EDM innovator Ninajirachi. Nina’s euphoric blend of hyper pop and throwback edm production, or as she calls it girl edm was just what I needed to actually start dancing, camera bag be damned. The set featured bespoke visuals throughout, which beckoned attendants into the digital, internet infused world of her songs - The irony of songs about being chronically online being played at a slightly hippy-coded festival in the middle of the bush was not lost on me. The set ran for a whole two hours, and consisted primarily of extended mixes of tracks from her recent LP I Love My Computer.
The first act I caught on Saturday was Radio Free Alice.
The Melbourne new-wavey indie rock group delivered a stadium-worthy performance, which, with the cooperation of the day’s dreary skies, saw the amphitheatre and it’s attendants completely immersed in the band’s imagery-rich, angst filled writing. The music was stellar, but the way the band commanded the stage was what really sold me. The gothic vocal stylings of frontman Noah Learmonth, which bring to mind new wave greats like Robert Plant, benefit from an excess of cultural legibility - There is a precedent that this is what the most worried man alive sounds like, he could say almost anything and it would still feel kind of, well… gothy.
Unfortunately, this effect is only so reliable on record. Live performances open artists up to a new level of scrutiny. A crowd can look into a performer’s eyes and tell when they don’t mean the words they’re singing. As far as i’m concerned Learmonth meant every single word that came out of his mouth that morning. The way he moved and emoted was raw, almost volatile, from start to finish. If this were theatre, I'd say he was a great actor, it wasn’t though, so I'm compelled to ask: does anyone know if he’s alright?
Dames Brown were fantastic.. The Detroit trio of vocalists, present on the discographies of a variety of artists throughout soul, R&B, house and other styles, gave a genre-bending performance that was just brimming with energy, and absolutely befitting it’s members prolific histories. The band backing them deserves mention as well, I am genuinely unsure if I've ever heard a bassist groove that much.
The next highlight for me was TV On The Radio. Apparently these guys are very well known, but I'd never heard of them. This kind of alt-rock doesn’t always do a lot for me, but the electric stage presence of their frontman, and the absolute engagement of the crowd had me sold.
Directly following TV On The Radio were Atarashi Gakko!. The zany J-Pop trio put myself and the rest of the festivalgoers in visibly high spirits. Tightly choreographed dance routines and the occasional confetti cannon eruption provided spectacular visual accompaniment to the group’s eclectic pop tracks, to raucous effect. Atarashi Gakko! seemed to be a crowd favourite, and were praised consistently by many of the attendees I spoke to.
The last act I caught on Saturday was RONA. The Kayteyte producer’s tracks, which blend prog-house influences with worldly timbres, and, deep, narrative elements about indigenous lives and liberatory politics, bought a lively, yet almost meditative tone to the dance floor.
Without being able to speak to the intricacies of the culturally significant elements of her set, like the sampling of the sounds and rhythms of Country, the main thing on my mind, as my body danced on, were questions about dance music as a political art form. At the risk of evoking discourses of “awareness raising”, or coming across as assuming RONA’s intent to do so (i do not), I could not help but note that the ideas touched on in the set’s samples bounced around in my head long after any dialogue ceased being played, animated by the trance-inducing quality of the track’s protracted forms.
I’d recommend RONA to anyone who doubt’s dance music’s ability to be artistically meaningful while remaining danceable, or anyone who doesn’t feel that way, and would just like some great tracks to add to a mix. RONA is one to watch for sure.
I woke on Sunday just in time to catch New-york indie folk group Florist. I approached the stage feeling sentimental, the band were part of the soundtrack to my teen years, and for good reason, they're great. Just a drummer and a vocalist with a guitar, the band appeared somewhat subdued, as if they too were in the last-day-of-a-festival daze that presented itself in the mound of sunglasses toting campers sat in the grass ahead of them. Maybe they were, it added to the performance anyway.
Had I not spent the festival trying to be responsible I imagine there’d have been no band I'd rather have had accompany my Sunday Scaries. Florist’s music has a tender, world weary, defiantly life-affirming quality to it that felt perfect for that slow sunny morning.
A few hours following florist, after beginning to pack up my tent, I found myself in a crowd watching swathes of naked people crawl, run, and skip their way through grass… all laid bare on the big screens. Sounds… weird? Well, it kind of was, but it was also really funny and sweet. I find myself grateful to be able to say that that’s how I ended up feeling about the whole festival, It was as kooky as It was lovely, and it *was* quite kooky. Thank god. The schedule calls that event in particular The Meredith gift, the secret is that it’s kind of like that all the time. Not necessarily as naked, but at least as whimsical, and incessantly friendly. Shoutout to our camp neighbours and the people at helper hut, who’s collective efforts singlehandedly saved me and my friend’s time there. I owe you guys my dry, rain proof life, and exactly one shoelace.
Closing the festival were another gang of Melb scene punk darlings, Rhysics. Armed with a veritable boatload of friends, and a guest appearance from exactly one reels famous certified chill guy, divorceddad65, the group delivered a fantastic performance, rocking out until the moment their time was up.
Songwriter and vocalist Rhys Renwick’s songs are endlessly charming, and manage to combine a sentimental transparency with an effortless sense of humour, without the two ever feeling at odds with each other. A highlight of the set was Dopamine, a hooky indie-punk track about the trials and tribulations of executive dysfunction, which briefly interpolates Oasis's Wonderwall. I've heard this track live two times now, and both times I did a double take when the band hit that point, It’s just as funny the second time.
Overall a fantastic time at the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre, MMF continues to be Victoria’s premiere music festival experience - and continues to be a favourite for all in the Sapling gang.