Witch Hats - Meredith Music Festival

Witch Hats were a last-minute replacement for San Diego’s Crocodiles, who had to cancel their Meredith appearance due to a death in the family. Being more used to playing in dingy pubs than huge outdoor stages, it would have been understandable if Witch Hats had struggled to translate their dark low-life vision to an afternoon festival crowd. But to the surprise of many, they delivered an impressively tight and powerful set.

From the opening chords of ‘Stomach In Your Hair’ it was obvious just how much this band has grown in recent times. Other songs from their most recent EP Solarium Down The Causeway, such as ‘I Am Parolling’, took on monstrous proportions live and became even more manic and forceful than their recorded versions.

Singer Kris Buscombe commandeered the stage with equal amounts of authority and self-deprecation, and the banter was flying thick and fast. “Hi. We’re Paul Kelly,” he wryly joked. “It’s a real pleasure to be here at the Pyramid Festival.” Meanwhile his brother – bassist Ash Buscombe, a man with a highly individual fashion sense and a predilection for psychedelic touches – made liberal use of a bubble machine. On the other side of the stage, guitarist Tom Barry appeared to be in some private reverie, bordering on catatonia, when he wasn’t ripping shards of fierce noise from his guitar. The edge he brings to the band is immeasurable, but it is Kris Buscombe who is clearly a star in the making. He combines a brilliant knack for writing highly original songs with a stage presence that recalls the likes of Bob Dylan (circa 1965), a young Kim Salmon and Peter Fenton from Crow.

Despite the 11th hour nature of their performance, Witch Hats showed up a lot of the more highly touted international acts in intensity and commitment. A finale that saw Kris play his guitar with his arse and Ash pitch his bass off the edge of the stage may have seemed like a dismissive gesture, but it was all in the spirit of rock’n’roll.

by René Schaefer