One thing I love most about festivals is stumbling upon acts you have never heard before. Especially those acts that completely blow you away, drawing you to the stage, whereas you might have just been on your way to get a sneaky beverage or trying to find your friends, or wandering around the festival site in search of nothing more than simply immersing yourself in the atmosphere.
It’s moments like these - after the sound emanating from the stage has governed your attention so much, that you find yourself standing amongst the thousand other strangers, evidently sharing this mutual discovery - that make me realise how important and powerful live music really is.
To cut to the chase, this happened to me a few months ago, whilst at Meredith Music Festival. I was waiting for a friend to finish her volunteer shift and I was wandering around the site. Upon being greeted by an endearing combination of oriental samples and melodic male vocals, I was intrigued to hear more and found myself gravitating towards the music. Watching the man on stage, I was immediately hooked. The interesting mix of samples, the looping vocals and instruments, paired with the beautiful outdoor amphitheatre of Meredith made my mood soar. He was this one guy one stage, but produced such a raw and complex sound, that it could have been a full band up there.
I asked a few members of the audience who he was, to which they told me was D.D. Dumbo. He was definitely my highlight for Meredith and even made it into my Top Tracks of 2013 list. So, if you check anybody else out this week, please let it be him. He really is one talented and original dude. One for whom I predict good things to come for, I do suggest keeping a close watch.