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Music

How Goner Fest Has Captured the Hearts of Australian Rock Fans

Now into it’s 30th year, the Memphis festival continues to attract Aussie music fans drawn to excellent lineups and good times.

Images: Don Perry

I watched the 2010 AFL Grand Final in the small office of the Hi-Tone in Memphis, Tennessee.

Upstairs, as the New Bomb Turks were tearing it up on stage as part of the seventh annual Goner Fest, members of the UV Race ,Total Control,  Super Wild Horses and I crammed around a small TV screen to watch St Kilda battle Collingwood in a nail biter.

I'm not sure if this says more about the Australian obsession with football, or the quality of Goner Fest's lineup that year, because although it was the first New Bomb Turks show in ages, all of us in the office knew that we'd still have time to race upstairs to catch Tokyo's mighty Guitar Wolf who were closing out a long couple of days of wild rock n roll that had already included Destruction Unit, Ty Segall, the Oblivions, and the Australian bands I was watching the game with.

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Now into its thirteenth-year, Goner Fest has hosted close to 30 Australian and New Zealand acts and continues to draws a considerable number of Australian music fans who come to hear loud rock r roll, drink beer (so much beer), eat BBQ, and party hard.

Eric Friedl booked the first Goner Fest in 2004 to showcase some acts on Goner Records, the label he co-owns. It's since grown into a multi-venue festival that takes over Memphis' Mid-Town neighbourhood and over the years has hosted the likes of Black Lips, The Reatards, Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Cheater Slicks, Guitar Wolf and Mudhoney.

Australian bands first arrived in 2007 when the Ooga Boogas, Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Digger and the Pussycats played Goner Fest 4.  Since then Royal Headache, Total Control, Straight Arrows, Deaf Wish, Ausmuteants , and a bunch of others have played the weekend festival.

The Australia and New Zealand crews will continue to arrive at Goner Fest XIII in September when Chook Race, Power, Zerodent, Bloodbags and Opposite Sex join a lineup that includes Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds, Black Lips, Reigning Sound and Spray Paint.

We caught up with Eric to ask him why Australians love his festival so much.

Kitchens Floor

Noisey: Why is there such a strong relationship between Aussie bands and Goner Fest?

Eric Friedel: We figure it's the down to earth attitude that these bands all share and the low-key nature of Memphis. We try to put on a festival that's for the bands as well as the fans. Most of the bands playing are fans and friends and that spirit just resonates. But more probably, Bruce Saltmarsh puts on a killer barbecue for the Aussies.

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Deaf Wish

Eddy Current Suppression Ring, the Ooga Boogas and Digger and the Pussycats played Goner 4. Had you seen Eddy Current play before?

I'd not. Like so many bands, we just booked them on the advice of people we trusted. That night they were incredible, and people reacted to them immediately. But they were playing in a sweet spot on a Friday night. We challenged the Ooga Boogas to play the next day around 1pm, and they were nothing short of mind-blowing. Mikey Young all over the place.

Royal Headache

At what year did you realise that a bunch of Australian music fans were turning up to the fest?

When UV Race came there were like 60 Aussies, both in bands and just fans. It was nuts. At that point, we figured we should be getting money from some Australian Embassy or Tourism department or something. Plus the same people were coming back year after year. It's a long ways from Melbourne to Memphis. Now that's dedication.

It's more than just rock n roll. For many it's their first time to experience the American south, the amazing food, and Graceland. What is your tip for any Aussie coming to Memphis to check out? 

I think Payne's Bar-B-Q is a great cultural window into Memphis. It's a family run joint in a brick converted mechanic's garage in a not-great part of town, but the food and the vibes transcend all barriers. It's an honest DIY spirit that I hope the festival carries forth as well.

I've been to a few Goner Fests but my favourite was 2011 when Royal Headache, Straight Arrows, Kitchens' Floor, Deaf Wish played alongside acts such as Ty Segall, Icky Boyfriends and James Arthurs Manhunt.

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That was an amazing year, all those bands were fantastic- I had no idea how the off-kilter, broken down punk rants of Icky Boyfriends would go over but people loved them. I especially remember Straight Arrows tearing up the Buccaneer parking lot and selling all their merch instantly, James Arthur's complete demolition of the Groundhogs' epic "Cherry Red," and the Rev. John Wilkins bringing tears to many hungover, jaded rockers as he closed the Saturday afternoon show with his full band and backup singers bringing down home Memphis Gospel to the festival. Total Gonerfest moments!

Ausmuteants

You've been to Australia and you'v played the Tote. How do you describe the Melbourne music scene when you go back to Memphis? 

I tell them that it's unlike anything you've ever seen. People are dedicated to rocking and drinking and there's a push to create original sounds that's unique to the place. The Tote seems like just a perfect place for the music and people  to come together. It's a special place, for sure.

Richie Ramone
Scott and Charlenes Wedding

What is the future for Goner Fest? 

There's all kinds of Memphis stuff we'd like to tie into the fest- we've always wanted to do a riverboat show, but haven't figured out how to make it work yet. We'd love to get better if not bigger- some sympathetic sponsors who "get it" could help out there. We never wanted to be big and lose the intimacy- once your set is done, you're one of the fans again, sweating and drinking and cheering.

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Gooch Palms
The Stevens
Angie

Goner Fest 13
Sept 29 - Oct. Memphis, TN

Black Lips Atlanta, GA
Reigning Sound (Original Lineup) Memphis, TN 
Fred & Toody, Clackamas, OR
Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds Los Angeles, CA
Nots, Memphis, TN
Chook Race, Melbourne, Australia
Control Freaks San Francisco, CA 
Counter Intuits, Columbus, OH
Reverend John Wilkins Memphis, TN
Midnight Snaxxx, SF, CA
Zerodent, Perth, Australia
Spray Paint, Austin, TX
Trampoline Team, New Orleans, LA
Couteau Latex, Geneva / SF, CA
Useless Eaters, SF, CA
Sick Thoughts, New Orleans, LA
Opposite Sex, Dunedin, NZ
Archie & The Bunkers, Cleveland, OH
Aquarian Blood, Memphis TN
Bloodbags Auckland, NZ 
The World, SF, CA
Power, Melbourne, Australia
Buck Biloxi & The Fucks, New Orleans, LA
Blind Shake, Minneapolis, MN
Iron Head, New Orleans, LA
Oh Boland, Tuam, Ireland
Fire Retarded, Madison, WI
Bloodshot Bill, Montreal, Canada
Kool 100s Kansas City, MO
Casual Burn New Orleans, LA
Bloody Show Columbus, OH
LSDOGS New Orleans, LA
Hash Redactor Memphis, TN