Out On The Weekend 2023
The One Day Festival Of Americana and Country Sweetness
Out On The Weekend Festival
Williamstown, Victoria
October 14th 2023
They do know how to pack it in at Out On The Weekend. If you get bored at this one-day affair the only thing I can think of is that maybe this music is not your kettle of fish.
And although it is only a one-day festival, you seem to get more in that 13 hours than you get in a couple of days at most festivals. It is a feast for all the senses. The live music experience each year leaves me with another favourite artist or 3 that I will never miss if they come to Australia again. I may have heard their records but the proof of the pudding is always on stage.
This year that list included Nat Meyers, The Pink Stones, Melissa Carper, Watty Thompson and The Bures Band.
You may wonder what I am talking about when I say 13 hours of music when the festival runs from 1230PM to 10PM, but if you take the Cripple Creek Ferry to and home from the gig you get extra added attractions that start at 11AM and finish up after midnight.
You must have some stamina, some of the great food sold on site is a must (or bring your own ham rolls with chips as one punter had!) and a beverage in your hand to get through the day but you will never regret it. Taking to the high seas is the only way to get to and from the action.
Before I get ahead of myself, let’s just focus on the day at the actual festival. It as a typical Melbourne day with some bright sunshine, some dark clouds, a wee bit of rain and wind, so yeah, you know how it works, four seasons in one hour.
We have a thriving Americana/Country scene in Melbourne and around Victoria and everyone got out their country finery and since it was referendum day there were aboriginal flags on the stages and on people’s bodies. This was a day to be happy and let the music wash over us all.
The Bures Band from Western Australia love the sound of the psychedelic era and their music floated over the people at the outdoor stage. A Grateful Dead sweatshirt was seen, and it seemed to fit right into the jam they were into. The punters were still filing in and grabbing a cocktail and we cruised into the early afternoon.
Melissa Carper on the upright bass hails from Arkansas and her set got the honky tonkin’ happening. She was joined by her self-described good friend Brennen Leigh, and they shared vocals and harmonies. This was down home American music that shook me back to my roots.
Margaritas and vinyl and hats and two-step lessons were available for the entire day. Everyone seemed to be riding along and it was a just a perfect Saturday. Illegal smiles dotted the crowd and sunglasses hid the eyes that would have been the dead giveaway of whatever THC products some folks were prescribed. What I am trying to say here is that it was a jovial and loose conglomeration of cowboys and cowgirls.
Nat Meyers, a Korean American from Kentucky (wrap your head around that) had some serious stage presence. Besides that, he has one of the best blues records of 2023, Yellow Peril, and his guitar playing and singing took me back to many years ago when I would sit in clubs and hear others play this old-style blues. He is a poet and a raconteur that will be walking the floorboards of stages for years to come.
After a pulled pork sandwich that could not be beat, Watty Thompson kicked off on the large stage. He needed all the room he could get because on some songs he had a baker’s dozen of musicians filling in between his singing and six string playing. He was the bush preacher telling us to live our one beautiful life as we should, ride it for all it is worth and don’t let anything get in the way.
I loved when he talked about the beauty of this unique gathering of people and told everyone to look around because this would never happen again. His love of life was infectious. He even came through the crowd and sang and played. Did I use the word showman?
Having No Fixed Address performing on this day was an excellent choice musically and politically.
Their reggae-influenced indigenous music goes back to 1979 and got some of the crowd dancing along. As they played with an Aboriginal Flag backdrop the reality of the Vote and the outcome was starting to cross the gathering’s souls again.
But before the historic and depressing news was on everyone’s phone Ella Hooper took us on a ride down memory lane with an All-Star Tribute to Linda Ronstadt. I was a bit wary of a tribute set but Hooper and the musicians she had gathered pulled it off.
The crowd knew the words, and everyone was in fine vocal form. “Give me weeds, whites and wine….and I’ll be Willin”. Lowell and Linda are two of my favourite artists from that period and that song brought a tear to my eye. Music can build a community and I think we al felt part of something larger than ourselves during that set.
I was grabbed by a mate who told me The Pink Stones had just kicked off their set with Neil Young’s Cortez. As I was deep in a conversation with a jeweller, I missed most of that track. It made me wonder later, was that the only Neil Young song covered on the day at a Festival named after one of his songs? Let me know if anyone else pulled off a Neil that I may have missed.
The Pink Stones, from Athens, Georgia was a cosmic cowboy’s delight. They just fell into a fabulous groove that went for the entire set. Their youthful exuberance sparkled as they reassembled music that sounded like it was from 1972. The Pink Stones do one more show in NSW at The Eltham Hotel this Sunday and I will not be there. I originally thought it was Victoria and was so excited.
My arm was grabbed, and someone said to get to The Pirates Tavern. Luckily, I was able to catch The Pleasures last couple of songs. Catherine Britt and Lachlan Bryan front this rocking country band that I now want to hear more of live. Check out their release The Beginning Of The End and along with me you will want to catch them up close.
Jenny Don’t and The Spurs were the final band on The Outside Stage. Jenny and the band have been rolling and rollicking for over 10 years now. Jenny and Kelly Halliburton conceived the band one day and they produced a sound that mixes country and punk. Kelly looks like he is about to explode and bears a resemblance to Jeff Beck if you have enough ales. His strong-armed bass playing and with Jenny Connor up front on vocals and guitar, they make an interesting couple to watch and listen to. Add in their new drummer and Christopher March on guitars and we had a hot serving of cowpunk to make the chill of the evening disappear.
The crowd swelled into the Main Stage area to boogie back to Texas with Asleep at The Wheel. Original members Lucky Oceans and Ray Benson were joined by Brennen Leigh and Joshua Hedley and others to fill out this long-running Texas Swing outfit. Having seen them the night before and many times in America you could not wipe the grin off my face. Benson has been upfront for over 50 years and although the Wheel has to slow down some day this brief first (and maybe only) tour of Australia was something not to miss.
Lo and behold I think I hear BT of Love Police calling the ferry riders to our boat! The music continued, the drinks flowed, and everyone had a wide grin on their faces. Summer Dean, Watty Thompson, The Pink Stones and others motored us home with some fabulous country covers. We were also blessed, and were not worthy, of the steel of Lucky Oceans for almost every number on the way back to the Melbourne Docklands.
It was a miracle no one fell down the steps to the lower deck bar area as it was steep, it had been a long day and the beverages had had their impact. No harm, no foul!
Out On The Weekend is a one-day event where new friends are made, old friends gather and new and old music fills your heart and soul.
Put it on your calendar for next year and will see you there.
Happy Trails!