Festival goers blew superstar Neil Finn away with a full-throated, finely-tuned call and response at Golden Plains festival this weekend, organisers said.
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Finn, who first performed at the Meredith festival six years ago, played the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre under a veiled full moon on Sunday night.
“He had a fantastic time, he looked very much at ease and he seemed to very much connect with everyone out in the crowd,” Golden Plains co-organiser Greg Peele said.
“He might have been a little bit blown away by the quality of singing that was coming back to him from the crowd when he invited them to sing-along.
“It was pretty amazing, it was loud and in tune and people were really there to make sure they sang to Neil.”
Joining Finn over the three-day festival were punk rockers The Damned, American singer-songwriter Kurt Vile and Melbourne pop singer-songwriter Olympia, whose Sunday afternoon performance earned several hundred boots in the air.
Golden Plains’ organisers, who also oversee the Meredith Festival in spring, are happy to keep both events boutique, Mr Peele said.
“We understand that there is demand but at the moment the tickets are getting into the hands of the right people and that was borne out this weekend.
“The feeling among the crowd and the respect, the general sense of joy and happiness that was there over the weekend was really inspirational.”
Me Peele said the lineup for every event went beyond “who’s obvious and who’s around”.
“We never rest on our laurels, there’s an enormous amount of work that goes into preparing a lineup like that.
“What people have come to trust in our lineup is it will always be a really high delivery. We choose artists and acts that are going to be absolutely fantastic on the day, in the setting and that might not always be obvious to everyone else.”
Officer in charge of Meredith, Leading Senior Constable Greg Kitchen, said organisers had “every box ticked”.
Nine people were processed for trespassing – about 25 per cent less than the year before – and there were “no significant drug issues”. “It was outstanding, it seems to get better every year.”
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Jessica Black
Ballarat journalist.
Ballarat journalist.
