Billy Bragg 
Meeniyan Town Hall, Meeniyan, Australia 
Tuesday 4 December 2018
Recorded by eckythump
Source: Nokia Lumia 930 (called Lumia Icon in North America) w/built-in HAAC mics > Audio Recorder Pro app > 16bit/48 KHz PCM/WAV 
Encoding: Trader's Little Helper > FLAC (Level 8) 

Track List: 

00 - Intro
01 - Sexuality
02 - The Warmest Room  
03 - Billy talks 
04 - King Tide and the Sunny Day Flood
05 - Billy talks 
06 - I Ain't Got No Home 
07 - Billy talks 
08 - All You Facists Are Bound To Lose  
09 - The World Turned Upside Town 
10 - Billy talks 
11 - A Lover Sings
12 - Billy talks
13 - The Man He Killed (Thomas Hardy poem) 
14 - Between The Wars 
15 - Billy talks 
16 - Why We Build The Wall 
17 - Billy talks 
18 - Levi Stubbs' Tears 
19 - Billy talks 
20 - She Came Along To Me  
21 - Billy talks 
22 - Handyman Blues 
23 - Billy talks 
24 - Greetings To The New Brunette 
25 - The Milkman Of Human Kindness 
26 - Billy talks
27 - I Keep Faith 
28 - Billy talks
29 - There Is Power In A Union 
30 - Encore Break 
31 - Billy talks 
32 - The Time's They Are-A Changin' Back   
33 - Tank Park Salute
34 - Billy talks 
35 - A New England  

Billy Bragg - vocals, acoustic and electric guitar
CJ Hillman (on selected songs) - Slide guitar, electric guitar

Show Notes: When it was announced Billy would be playing Meredith Music Festival in Victoria, my expectations were high we'd get 1 or 2 Melbourne sideshows as well. What I didn't expect when the sideshows were finally announced was that Billy would only be playing in regional towns, 2 shows at Meeniyan and 1 in Castlemaine, both a few hours drive from Melbourne, and all of them mid week. I've seen a number of shows at Meeniyan before and I knew how great shows were there, and how tiny the venue is, and how quickly these shows would sell out. Luckily I managed to get tickets to both shows (no auotmated online ticket sales for this venue, you have to send them an email, then they eventually reply and give you bank transfer details!)

Meeniyan is a tiny, but lovely town. As you drive in, a sign informs you the population of the town is 645. The town hall holds 300 people. The region is well known for its art galleries, gourmet food, antiques, and being somewhat quirky. The venue hosts a lot of live music, from well known Australian acts to large international acts as well (past shows there included the likes of Calexico, Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, and Jason Isbell, to name but a few). The shows always sell out. It only holds 300 people, who sit around rectangular tables seating 8-10 people. Locals bring in their own alcohol, food, and treat it like a picnic basically. And everyone shuts up and listens to the music and respects the artists. It's an awesome place to see a performer. If you can, put seeing a show at Meeniyan on your bucket list.

Onto the show now. I'm a huge Billy Bragg fan, he's one of my all time favourite artists, and this show did not disappoint. Classic Billy banter (eg 'sorry I dropped a chord in that song, I just saw a car drive past'), great songs, and the unexpected addition of CJ Hillman on a number of songs really added something to them. And any show that features Tank Park Salute is a winner in my books. For those who downloaded my Adelaide recording last year, it was a different kind of show (Billy even referenced that show at one point), no crazy 27 song setlist, but still a 1 hour 50 minute show including all the banter. Here's hoping to another Billy tour to Australia sometime in the near future!

Recording Notes: Sounds excellent, a very quiet audience around me. If you've downloaded any of my other Billy shows from Dime, you'll know what to expect. Enjoy!