Ah! air travel,the only way to fly!. Past trips to Byron Bay's Bluesfest have involved 2 to 3 days of bumper to bumper crawls up the Pacific Highway punctuated by nocturnal visits to northern towns. This year it was going to be different. An hour after departing Sydney we were touching down at Ballina Airport. The swarm of restored Morris Minors encountered outside Goulburn would still be motoring to that Easter encounter some spot north - Keep on Morrying.
Our holiday home on Carlisle Street is a verandah enclosed gem located in lush green gardens. Ruskin, Dylan, Carlisle - past and present holiday abodes are poetically located in Byron Bay's back streets, close to the town hub and near Blanch's Bluesfest Bus Service. Hail to the Bus Driver, bus driver man....
Enough scene setting, You cry! Let's have some music! Just inside the gates Jambalaya tent was packed to overflowing with fans enjoying a great set from a diminutive Joan Armatrading. Joan was enticing much hand waving with favourites like All the Way from America as we paused for a glimpse. Normally Bluesfest Thursday night is a cruisy journey up and down the midway partaking of old favourites and new discoveries. Not this year! The 5 day program is packed with more choices than you can point the proverbial stick at. It was only 7 o'clock and we had to choose from these offerings: Joan's distinctive synthesis of folk, reggae, soul and rock, smooth and dapper Robert Cray, one of the greatest Blues guitarists of any generation, Japanese ukelele virtuouso Jake Shimabukuro, Grammy wiining Shawn Colvin's passionate take on singer/songwriters or the Counting Crows single festival performance on the Mojo stage. The Crows it is!
Front man Adam Duritz and his distinctive nest of hair stood centre stage of the 7 piece band and cajoled the massive crowd with wrought interpretations of favourites like Mr Jones. Our resident Crow's fan, Jon, takes up the story: While not all my favourites from mega popular, multi platium album August and everything after were played. The song selection by the band left everyone grooving. Classics like Omaha didn't disappoint. For a moment Ï thought I may have been cast back to a 1970's Elton John concert when a the version of the sensational Rain King@ (4:16) turned into a 17 minute epic. While Adam may have put on a few kilo's he still sounded great.
Despite enticing colourful programs and interactive iPod apps, a Bluesfest rule of thumb is not too much planning and let your instincts decide. A rumbling stomach suggested my entrails make the next decision. Kim opted for salt and pepper calamari and I lucked onto an enormous chilly noodles with greens. Number 75 to the snackbar, that's me! A well spent $13. As 8.30 approached, our band of three headed off to the far-flung APRA stage to see my selection Tav Falco and Panther Burns. Other than originating in Memphis and being name-checked in Jim Jarmuch's Mystery Train, I was unsure of their pedigree and was intrigued. Nattily attired, and boasting a fine selection of guitars, the Panther Burns were rockin'! According to the Bluesfest app Tav was post modern when post modern wasn't cool. Their psycobilly performance seamlessly fused the aesthetics of Dean Martin and Jerry Lee Lewis, with harem-clad Giovanna (ex-all girl band The Hellcats) recalling Poison Ivy of The Cramps.
Normally Thursday night is the night for dipping in and out of tents getting a feel for the fest'. Holy Thursday was no exception with a linup guaranteed to please. Leaving Tav we headed off to catch Jason Mraz at Mojo, the Tedeschi Trucks Band at Crossroads and back to Jambalaya for Rodriguez. What a predicament! All were excellent with a brass-heavy Tedeschi-Trucks possibly the pick of the night.
As the closing act at Crossroads was Chris Isaak we stayed put by the mid-placed mixing desk. As Mr Isaak was not due for another fifteen minutes, I strolled towards Mojo where Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite were laying down some seriously good harmonica-tinged blues. Fred Wesley and The New JB's funky offerings were attracting a large Gen X&Y crowd at Jambalaya.
Ouch!, my eyes are bleeding. Chris Isaak's bright red embroidered suit was straight out of a Nudie Catalogue. Sporting a white Gibson ES355, he was the epitome of a stylish frontman, and what a voice! Wicked Game, Somebody's Crying, Dancing et al ~ You forget what a hitmaker he has been. His obsession with the Sun Studio recordings was to the fore with a great version of Ring of Fire. A quick change of costume and back into performance mode. Where do you go to buy a mirror-coated suit?. A fine line of patter highlighting his band and their perceived quirks kept us laughing. I've been excited all day long about performing in a tent, he drawled, änd my excitement was at an all-time high when I saw the earlier performance of my next guest ~ Wanda Jackson!!
Nuff said!!!
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