=
Whilst most were at home chomping on eggs, over 100,000 free-spirited festival-goers breezed through the Byron Bay Bluesfest to experience possibly the greatest line-up in the events’ history.
The Bluesfest kicked off with real rock’n’roll swagger – Grace Potter and the Nocturnals sauntering across the stage in style with her knock-out raspy vocals. Looking like Bridget Bardot but singing like Suzie Quatro (what a combination), owning every inch of the stage. The crowd went wild as the whole clan started pounding different parts of the drums, creating an insane five part rhythm and finishing in style with “Medicine”. The Beards entertained with every song pertaining in some way to facial hair and how it is the greatest invention of the human body (“you’re growing one right now!”). “Sex with a Bearded Man” and “If Your Dad Hasn’t Got a Beard, You’ve Got Two Mums” sure went down a treat – however I presume their schtick would soon grow tiresome and repetitive. Wildly entertaining upon first viewing. A slight lowlight was Counting Crows – whilst lead Adam Duritz has a soulful voice their set was rather tedious, seeming like each song was the same tempo remastered with different chords and lyrics. But the energy was soon restored with the incredible talent of Jason Mraz. Re-invigorating and re-branding what it means to be a jazz musician, he grooved along with his incredible band, the songs always took an unexpected twist into a new tempo, with the switch spearheaded by his infectious brass trio. Filling the set with his classics and new tracks (“I’m Yours” of course gauged the biggest reaction), “The World as I See It”, “Butterfly”, even throwing in a feelgood cover of “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley. But it was his duet with drummer Mona Tavakoli of “You Fuckin’ Did It” that was an absolute riot – spitting lyrics at superhuman speed and throwing themselves into their music. Pure energy.
Day 2 saw Glenn Hansard and The Frames put in one of the most energetic performances of the festival – Hansard oozes a charming charisma then turns into a man possessed, at the end of the set (including a funky cover of Aretha Franklins’ Respect) managing to have broken all but one string on his poor guitar because of some ferocious strumming. Despite having a fantastic ensemble of brass, strings, guitar and percussion, the purest moment came when Glenn alone performed ‘Falling Slowly’ from the film Once – despite a few technical hitches. A true display of a musician throwing himself into his art. Ben Harper created a frenzy during the conclusion of his acoustic set – after crooning ‘Diamonds on the Inside’ he was joined by Xavier Rudd for a touching duet of Harper’s ‘I Shall Not Walk Alone’. Despite the watery conditions, the Steve Miller Band kept spirits afloat, playing their classics hits ‘Abracadabra’, ‘Rock’n’Me’ and closing with ‘Space Cowboy’ and of course ‘The Joker’ with as much ease as they did forty years ago – and easing the pain of ankle-deep slosh. The closing act Santana blazed across the stage with his Latin vibes and iconic guitar riffs – amping up the energy of the venue with his mastery of the guitar and his upbeat band. Bolting the pace out of the gate from the get-go, the latino tunes were perfect for damp spirits – the famous ‘Black Magic Woman’ proving a crowd pleaser.
We kicked off Day 3 with solo artist Thelma Plum – an acoustic artist with some serious attitude and a penchant for sordid language. The potty mouthed language of ‘Father Said’ didn’t seem real coming out of the sweet girl with a guitar, but definetely perked up ears and raised a few smiles. With a vocal style reminiscnent of fellow aussie Missy Higgins, further tracks ‘Dollar’ and ‘Birthday Sex’ were enjoyable for those in the mood for a subdued acoustic afternoon. With the cancellation of Christine Anu, the next highlight of the day and the festival was Status Quo. In the current era of pretty,eyeliner adorned rock-stars, it’s incredible to see some bona fide legends whose songs have stood the test of time. Strutting, jumping and pouting, they oozed a rock’n’roll swagger held by a select few – with Ricky Parfitt swinging his guitar between his legs like a phallus of rock , Francis Rossi springing up and down and the band bopping in time with their guitars. They smashed out “Caroline”, “The Oriental”, finishing with “Whatever You Want” and the iconic “Rocking All Over The World” with such gusto that John ‘Rino’ Edwards broke a bass string. Quickly catching the manic energy of Irish rock band ‘Dropkick Murphey’s saw them belt out ACDC’s ‘TNT’ and their own ‘I’m Shipping Off To Boston’ had the crowd performing a conglomerate of Irish dancing and Australian headbanging – but it was the next act that was the most memorable of the festival. As soon as Iggy Pop (and The Stooges) stumbled out half-naked, we knew that madness would ensue. Really it seems a miracle that he delivered his lyrics with such ease – knocking equipment over, having the crowd to storm the stage much to security’s dismay and causing havoc for all involved. A great rock set but I believe the crowd began to watch more for the train wreck spectacle.
X-Factor’s Karise Eden ushered in Day 4, her lacy white dress and well polished appearance in stark contrast to the ocker accent and Jim Beam can onstage. One minute she’d be rasping through a slow cover of ‘Hound Dog’, next she’d be laughing about ‘how she wanted to be down here with ya’s’. This was later transposed by an absolutely captivating performance by Rufus Wainright, gliding his voice and his hands like silk over the piano keys. His rendition of ‘Hallelujah’ in honour of the late Jeff Buckley highlighted was was an emotionally powerful set by the finest of male voices.
It was Rockhampton boys Busby Marou that signalled the beginning of the end, with a surprisingly high energy performance in comparison to their somewhat cruisy recordings. With Scott Owen from The Living End joining them on the double bass, they performed their Triple J’s Like a Version of ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ and ‘Biding My Time’ – with Jeremy Marou’s masterful skills on the ukelele on show. Newton Faulkner amazed with his guitar skills and attempted somewhat successfully to conduct the audience in a 3 part melody – his English wit making entertainment for both our ears and funny bones. Xavier Rudd then produced a touching performance – each song a story of mankind, neglect and protest. Accompanied by traditional aboriginal dancers and his own children, he soulfully performed ‘Spirit Bird’ and ‘Let Me Be’, ending with a heartfelt call to action for climate change. And then the headliner – the legendary Paul Simon on stage, a true icon in a 2013 line-up of many. Performing hits such as ‘The Sound of Silence’, ‘You Can Call Me Al’, he and his band rocked the stage with some crazy solos and brought Bluesfest 2013 to a memorable close.
Peter Noble, Festival Director was definitely on the money about the acts – “it’s one hell of a line up.” An incredible effort to get such an amazing array of worldwide icons and fantastic burgeoning musicians in one festival. With the 25th anniversary coming up in 2014, it’ll be hard to beat this years acts but I can’t wait to see what’s up their sleeve.
– Danielle Muir
