UNIFY Gathering

As usual, lets begin this post at the beginning of the weekend.. Thursday 10th Feb.

So, some lucky punters purchased an early access pass to gain access to the festival site on Thursday 10th Feb. I was not one of those... Instead, I had agreed to go skiing with my dad and some family friends. Lucky me, I was up sick the night before and had a grand total of about 4hrs sleep.. then off to Eildon we drove. Before leaving for Eildon I realised I left my wallet in Geelong, with my ID, which I obviously needed for the festival.. SO. After driving home from Eildon (which I towed the boat home for the very first time!!) I then jumped in my car and went back to Geelong, got my wallet, and turned around and came back to Melbourne. The next morning, Friday 11th Feb, I made it to my friends place in Wantirna by about 8.30am, soon after we began our trip to Tarwin Lower...

Day 1. Friday 11th Feb

After trying to attach the gazebo to my roof racks, me being zero help, we gave up and put it back in my car... Packed up the rest of our gear and headed off to Tarwin. After the Ks I had travelled, I needed fuel.. so we stopped at a servo on the freeway and got some food as well.

Far out it was h o t.

Not as hot as Download, but bloody warm.

Once we made it to the festival site, there was no traffic on the roads, which was an improvement from last year, since they moved to a bigger site this year they created lines in the paddock and we began our wait. Honestly it wasn't even that long, maybe an hour? Not bad at all.

Once we parked the car we discussed how best to carry all of our stuff to our camp...

After a few trips, we set up, opened a drink and decided which bands we were going to head in to see.

We decided to skip Ocean Sleeper, as we had both seen them before and wanted to sit and relax for a little bit, headed in for Hand Of Mercy, then got some food during The Plot In You.. And came back for Dream On Dreamer, who I was very excited to finally see live after missing out for various reasons the last few years.. We stayed until the end of the night, enjoying the small relief from the mist tent (which wasn't working too well) and sitting in the shade when we could snag a spot.

As the night progressed the bands and vibe got better and better.

I really enjoy Hellions and In Hearts Wake live, but unfortunately couldn't enjoy much of Karnivool, who I was looking forward to, as some gal decided to come sit next to me and have a bit of a chat.. as I awkwardly tried to be nice, and listen to the music I was there for... She eventually got the hint and toodled off.. but by then most of their set was over.

Day 2. Saturday 12th Feb

As we gracefully exited our swags, we headed to the food trucks to see what breakfast we could find... then made our way in and saw pridelands. We floated around the campsite, arena and food vendors for a while, caught bits and pieces of bands, nothing really piquing our interest. We decided to sit in one of the bars, which was a cool circus tent and had a streamer kind of chandelier? Some kind of art display. Anyway, it was in the shade and we were happy to sit on the grass and kick back for a little bit. We could still hear the bands, but as none of them were really draw cards for us, we enjoyed not being down in the action. As the day progressed, we slowly made our way closer and closer to the stage. Trophy eyes were definitely the highlight of Saturday night and had by far the biggest crowd! Every Time I Die were up next and had less than half the crowd, easily. The night ended on a complete fizzer with Taking Back Sunday. Less than one quarter of the crows of Trophy Eyes, and as the lead singer decided to insult the crowd, that number grew less and less. We decided to leave after about 3 songs and twice as many insults between songs... sorry mate. You're a wanker. Would hate to have seen the remaining crowd at the end of their set, if there was anyone left...

Day 3. Sunday 13th Feb

We decided against the Sunday Sessions, as we were ready to head home and no bands were really drawing us in. We packed up the car in 2 trips, after the first one we moved the car to the gate, much easier! And even jump started someones car...

Then made our way back home. Minimal traffic, made great time and thoroughly enjoyed a shower after the heat and dust.

Until my next adventure,

Alex