Music & Mahem
Trip Start
May 28, 2010
1
29
32
Trip End
Ongoing
Peats Ridge, New South Wales, Australia
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
so we couldn't be boxed in, and set up our tent for what we knew might be the last time until Canada.
We spent the first part of the afternoon wandering around the festival and getting our bearings. There were ten official music and performance venues scattered throughout the festival, as well as countless art installations, sculptures, circus platforms, roving musicians, massage tents, workshops and vendors sprinkled in between. Each venue was different, from the main stage Bellbird, to the bright-yellow bigtop Lyrebird, to Wonderland, which was hosting a real-live, topsy-turvy wedding! There was a children's festival, face painting, recycling and composting stations and an inflated sculpture made of abandoned tents, blow-up chairs and other odds and ends from festivals-gone-by. The whole place was a wonder to behold! The festival grounds were ringed by a little river, complete with swimming holes, beyond which were the masses of vehicles and tents in six camping areas.
We tried to meet up with Ben and Tessha, but they were super busy. We got some food and then dove right into the music. The were over 150 acts playing over three days, so there was a lot to see. We found that the acts were scheduled so that you could see every one for at least 15 minutes if you wanted to, and since we weren't really familiar with any of them and we only had one day, that's what we tried to do. Our afternoon went something like this...
- First, Canadian Jason Collett and his band Zeus. Very redneck-canadian-looking,
suspenders and mustaches and all. Our first but not our favourite.
- Next, Pear and the Awkward Orchestra, in the Chai Temple. Everyone sprawled on the floor on cushions, drinking tea and loving their quirkiness.
- (Megan) Washington, on the main stage. Ridiculously incredible voice.
- Daniel Lee Kendall. Young, good looking, amazing falsetto.
- Chris Assaad, back in the Chai Temple. Another Canadian, and a favourite, awesome awesome awesome! Kind of Jack Johnson-ish, with a beautiful, honest voice. We stayed way longer to listen to him, and missed a bunch of other people.
- Big Scary, in Underworld. We caught the tail end of this duet, who played every instrument and every genre.
- A smidge of The Jezebels and Shout Out Louds, both very well known.
- Georgia Potter, super sultry rocker, a surprising favourite.
- Horrorshow, in the bigtop. What energy, what a crowd! Awesome, thoughtful hip hop. People went crazy when they finished, demanded an encore: they had no song of their own prepared, so they sang someone else's!
- Finally, the grand finale: Angus and Julia Stone. A brother and sister from Australia, with the most amazing voices and style. She is like nothing I have ever heard before. But don't take my word for it - youtube them! Try 'Big Jet Plane' and 'For You' and 'You're the One That I Want' (yes, from Grease!) and you will be hooked. A warm summer night, a stage full of floating hot air balloons and a crowd full of adoring fans... it was glorious.
On our way back to the tent for the night, we stopped to fill our water bottles. The tap was leaking profusely, and there was a huge puddle around it. Curtis wiggled it a bit and bam! the whole pipe came out of the ground and water started gushing out like a geyser! Before I could even muster a shocked face, Curtis had whipped his shirt off and plunged right in there! He managed to reach down into the mud and shut the valve off, and there was this stunned silence... and then applause! The girl standing next to me was very impressed with him, and so was I. He came wading back out, soaking wet, put his shirt back on, and we carried on our way. Another plumbing crisis averted. All in a day's work, hmm Curtis?
We slept well considering the mass of potentially rowdy people around us, and we were up early. We packed up, then took a walk along the road bordering the festival before heading off. What a fantastic reward for three days of visiting friends, aka "volunteering"!
