The Perch Creek Family Jugband delighted festival-goers in the Kyneton Town Hall.
Review: Damien Welch
Kyneton is a great town for a music festival and over the weekend of March 1-3, beautiful Kyneton put on an excellent festival performance, playing host to 40 acts during the second annual Kyneton Music Festival.
Happy crowds enjoyed sunshine, a great festival vibe and the charm of the town's unique venues. The festival organisers again did a superb job of including local pubs, halls, churches, restaurants and galleries as an integral part of this special festival experience.
The punters were an assortment of ages, from the younger crowd who turned out for the all-ages show on Friday night to a slightly older set for the more established acts on the Saturday night. Providing free entry to under-eights proved a popular move by the festival as families with young tackers wandered the venues adding to the relaxed feel of the event.
Broadening the scope from essentially a blues and roots festival to a festival of all-comers, the Friday night at the Royal George Hotel brought the dub, funk and ska to the festival. The hotel heaved with people shaking it to the infectious rhythm of The Resignators who followed the effortless groove of Woodend luminaries Brother Johnstone.
Stonefield closed the Friday night all ages line-up at the Town Hall and showcased why there is such a buzz about them with a ripping performance of soaring '70s-influenced rock. Stonefield is made up of the four teenage Findlay sisters from Darraweit Guim. The young women have a very polished sound indeed, confirming their musical growth since winning Triple J Unearthed and touring internationally.
After something of a rest, the Saturday morning was a holy musical tour of Kyneton's handsome churches featuring the Celtic folk offerings of Anam Chara, the classic blues of Reservoir Frogs and Marty and the Mudcats and the sweet jazz of Norm Gray's Quartet. Roaming around town over the afternoon, festival-goers could move between the melodies of acoustic artist Sarah Wilkinson at the Country Cob Bakery and the pastoral balladry of Alaskan/Kynetonian collaboration Dirt Hollow at the Pizza and Wine Club.
Saturday night saw the majority of punters converge on the Town Hall for the rootsier night of the festival. This reviewer was in the mood for a bit of a jig and Kyneton duly provided. A large crowd revelled in the charm of the Perch Creek Family Jugband, another bunch of overachieving siblings with infectious tunes. There was jug, there was washboard and the peculiarly moving playing of the musical saw.
The two stages at the Town Hall on the Saturday night worked a treat. Cherrywood provided two fantastic short sets of rollicking danceable tunes that saw the crowd squeeze into the front section for a town boogie. A real knees-up. On either side of those sets the larger stage saw longer, more expansive sets by the soulful alt-country of the wonderful Ramblin' Van Walker Band and the expert songwriting of Mick Thomas and the Roving Commission. Good stuff.
Those who ventured down picturesque Piper Street to the Stockroom over the weekend were treated to a great open air stage at the rear of the gallery space. A special child-friendly event, Tiny Dancers, took place at the Stockroom on Sunday morning. Many tiny dancers and a few longer-toothed interlopers rocked to the child-friendly beats and dance floor decor.
Hilary Blackman and the Afternoon Philosophers played a thoughtful and time-appropriate set to start Sunday arvo at the Stockroom, which also played host to a fantastic rare performance from the Dead Salesmen, in this incarnation a duo. The Stockroom itself was a highlight of the festival, the shop-cum-gallery yet another intriguing and welcoming space to all punters over the weekend, with food also served from the Nola Poorboy food van out the back.
The 2013 Kyneton Music Festival ended how it began, bathed in sunshine and drenched in music and more music. Though the summer festival circuit has a lot on offer across Victoria, this distinctive festival's curve should continue on its upward trend again in 2014. Assuming that the artists and venues continue to be selected so expertly, K-town can count on my attendance and my peculiar dance moves next year and beyond.
Kyneton is a great town for a music festival and over the weekend of March 1-3, beautiful Kyneton put on an excellent festival performance, playing host to 40 acts during the second annual Kyneton Music Festival.
Happy crowds enjoyed sunshine, a great festival vibe and the charm of the town's unique venues. The festival organisers again did a superb job of including local pubs, halls, churches, restaurants and galleries as an integral part of this special festival experience.
The punters were an assortment of ages, from the younger crowd who turned out for the all-ages show on Friday night to a slightly older set for the more established acts on the Saturday night. Providing free entry to under-eights proved a popular move by the festival as families with young tackers wandered the venues adding to the relaxed feel of the event.
Broadening the scope from essentially a blues and roots festival to a festival of all-comers, the Friday night at the Royal George Hotel brought the dub, funk and ska to the festival. The hotel heaved with people shaking it to the infectious rhythm of The Resignators who followed the effortless groove of Woodend luminaries Brother Johnstone.
Stonefield closed the Friday night all ages line-up at the Town Hall and showcased why there is such a buzz about them with a ripping performance of soaring '70s-influenced rock. Stonefield is made up of the four teenage Findlay sisters from Darraweit Guim. The young women have a very polished sound indeed, confirming their musical growth since winning Triple J Unearthed and touring internationally.
After something of a rest, the Saturday morning was a holy musical tour of Kyneton's handsome churches featuring the Celtic folk offerings of Anam Chara, the classic blues of Reservoir Frogs and Marty and the Mudcats and the sweet jazz of Norm Gray's Quartet. Roaming around town over the afternoon, festival-goers could move between the melodies of acoustic artist Sarah Wilkinson at the Country Cob Bakery and the pastoral balladry of Alaskan/Kynetonian collaboration Dirt Hollow at the Pizza and Wine Club.
Saturday night saw the majority of punters converge on the Town Hall for the rootsier night of the festival. This reviewer was in the mood for a bit of a jig and Kyneton duly provided. A large crowd revelled in the charm of the Perch Creek Family Jugband, another bunch of overachieving siblings with infectious tunes. There was jug, there was washboard and the peculiarly moving playing of the musical saw.
The two stages at the Town Hall on the Saturday night worked a treat. Cherrywood provided two fantastic short sets of rollicking danceable tunes that saw the crowd squeeze into the front section for a town boogie. A real knees-up. On either side of those sets the larger stage saw longer, more expansive sets by the soulful alt-country of the wonderful Ramblin' Van Walker Band and the expert songwriting of Mick Thomas and the Roving Commission. Good stuff.
Those who ventured down picturesque Piper Street to the Stockroom over the weekend were treated to a great open air stage at the rear of the gallery space. A special child-friendly event, Tiny Dancers, took place at the Stockroom on Sunday morning. Many tiny dancers and a few longer-toothed interlopers rocked to the child-friendly beats and dance floor decor.
Hilary Blackman and the Afternoon Philosophers played a thoughtful and time-appropriate set to start Sunday arvo at the Stockroom, which also played host to a fantastic rare performance from the Dead Salesmen, in this incarnation a duo. The Stockroom itself was a highlight of the festival, the shop-cum-gallery yet another intriguing and welcoming space to all punters over the weekend, with food also served from the Nola Poorboy food van out the back.
The 2013 Kyneton Music Festival ended how it began, bathed in sunshine and drenched in music and more music. Though the summer festival circuit has a lot on offer across Victoria, this distinctive festival's curve should continue on its upward trend again in 2014. Assuming that the artists and venues continue to be selected so expertly, K-town can count on my attendance and my peculiar dance moves next year and beyond.
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