It’s Thursday, day 1 of the Festival, about 1pm, and we’ve been on the road for 8 hours to get here. As we join the queue, to our relief, it’s already feeling like Bluesfest is running like a well oiled machine. Hey, they have done it 33 times before so they should be getting the hang of it by now.
No need to exit the car. Tickets please. Festival entry, yep ($695 per person), 5 day camping ($295 per person), yep, Glamping tent, yep. VIP area, yep (and more on that later for those considering this next time). We’re in! Directions to our parking and tent, unload the gear, and we are ready to go.
Glamping was a godsend for those that want to travel with a minimum of camping gear. I’ve done this before in far less salubrious surroundings but, even though the price seems steep ($1600 for 2), it’s well worth considering. Tent is spacious, there’s a 6 inch foam mattress on a pallet base, there’s sheets and blankets, there’s towels supplied! Pure bloody luxury already. It got better, esky supplied, ice supplied (which was refreshed each day), soap, shampoo, conditioner, a rechargeable light, 2 camp chairs, charging stations for phones
etc, BBQ, wash up area, plates, cutlery, cups, BBQ utensils. Unreal! Toilets you can use without a gas mask, and showers, which were hot, you could turn around in, and came as an ensuite with your own toilet!
But to the most important part, the reason we travelled nearly 750km, the music!
We made it to the main Crossroads tent before 3pm to catch Nikki Hill, the opening act and our first artist for the weekend. Couldn’t ask for better. Energy enough for the whole tent, possibly enough to power a small town, and her mix of blues, soul, gospel, and rock was an absolutely cracking start.
Day 1 was a blast. The pick of the day was St Paul and the Broken Bones, an 8 piece soul band,
whose live show is something that should not be missed. Beg, borrow, and steal to get tickets to see them live, it’s that good. The live set is almost entirely upbeat, Paul Janeway (v) is an outstanding front man, and the presence of a talented brass section always lifts a good soul band to another level.
The rest of the day saw us checking out a variety of blues and soul artists but the best of the rest on day 1 was:
Eric Gales, blues guitarist extraordinaire, and for the guitar nuts out there this is a man not to be missed. Not without his past troubles he has moved from child prodigy to bona fide blues hero these days. A very personal show at times.
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats was as good a soul show as you could want to see ad without St Paul they would have been my pick of the day. Tim Freedman (yes, that Tim Freedman
from The Whitlams, who bummed a light from us) tells us they brought their own production crew for light, and sound and it showed. If you haven’t heard or seen the track SOB then look it up on YouTube. If it doesn’t get you moving and singing, then I’m afraid you may be dead!
Back to the tent. Praise Jesus for a short walk to the campground rather than being offsite, a mattress, sheets, and a blanket! Snoring like troopers from 1am!
OK, downside of campgrounds. Kids. Rugrats. Whippersnappers. Hellions. Bloody kids next tent over were up at 6am. Bloody hell. Weren’t these kids sinking tins until after midnight? Well, apparently not. Can’t do anything about that so up and at ’em. Coffee on the Italian stovetop, bacon, eggs, and tomatoes cooked, second cup of coffee and I’m feeling moderately human.
Day 2 sees Australian Blues royalty Frank Sultana giving us a top notch show as always. Make sure you get out and see Frank to support first class Australian blues. He is a must see. We catch Greensky Bluegrass for our fix of, well, bluegrass. Marcus King had some staging issues with his sound but that is a real interesting show which appeals to country, blues guitar nerds, and rock fans all at the same time.
Highlights were Vintage Trouble, a rhythm and blues band out of California and if there is a more high energy show around I’d like to see it. Infectious ain’t the half of it! Check them out for sure. We caught St Paul again
as they closed the night at The Juke Joint and even on the smaller stage this band put on a
killer show. Am I doing the fanboy thing on St Paul? You betcha!
The absolute gold standard highlight today though was Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. This man is the future of the blues, and at only 24 that’s a big future ahead. He ripped through 1 hour and 15 minutes of blues guitar greatness, and took cues from the legend Buddy Guy by playing out in the crowd for
an extended period. No tricks here, just a keyboardist, bass player and drummer and the Kingfish wringing every note possible out of that
guitar. Truly a pleasure watching him play.
Back to camp. 1.20am finish, 6am wakeup. Shit.
Day 3, supposedly our quiet day, given the lack of sleep was already taking a toll.
No such luck at a Festival though. The coffee did its job, and we were back on the grounds for a 12pm start. Bit of a double up day with some artists we had seen before and a couple of newcomers. Loose Content, a local Byron band that won the busking comp the year before and Clarence Bekker Band were the newcomers. We caught Marcus King again, and this show was much, much better. No sound issues, no equipment issues, and this man can really play. So glad I gave them the benefit of the doubt and got along again.
Buddy Guy played his last show in Australia and man, what a legend. Still got it at 86, and what an entertainer! His band do an amazing job and anything an 86 year olds fingers can’t quite manage these days they more than make up for.
The undoubted highlight of the day was Joe Bonamassa. If you don’t know who that is I’m sure you have been living under a rock. He opened for BB King when he was 12, played in the band
Bloodlines with a string of famous sons of guns, released a string of solo albums, and was lead guitarist for the rock super group Black Country Communion. This was just one helluva blues/ rock show. One and half hours plus of guitar mastery that even though I was on about 10 hours sleep over 2 days I was just mesmerised. We even got an Eric Gayles and Joe Bonamassa jam at the end. Brilliant.
Back in the tent at 12.30am, yay! Woken up by the kiddies next door at 6am, boo! Two cups of coffee, priceless!
As it turned out, day 4 was the quiet day. Although we saw some artists, including Australian acts Round Mountain Girls (brilliant), national treasure Rockwiz (how do you not love Julia Zemiro, Brian Nankervis and Dugald, the human scoreboard), and Steve ‘n’ Seagulls from Finland playing all your metal and hard rock faves in bluegrass style, let’s talk other Festival highlights, and lowlights.
Food. At a 5 day Festival there better be good food, variety, and plenty of it! Bluesfest ticks all those boxes. Vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian, carnivore, it’s all covered. I’m not sure I had a bad food choice all Festival and we sampled Malaysian, Indonesian, various dumplings, noodles, Filipino, vegetarian mushroom dishes, Caribbean BBQ, low and slow BBQ, and all were brilliant. Prices around $15 to $25. 10 out of 10 for food.
Drinks. Typical Festival fair. Lots of Stone and Wood(well I suppose it is just up the road at Byron) but at least there was more than just that Pacific Ale, with the Cloud Catcher Pale Ale, Lager, and Crisp available. RTDs were available from UDL, Jameson, as well as Seltzters. There were specialty bars for Jamesn and Casamigos tequila, with a couple of the worst margarita’s (standard and passionfruit) you will taste in your life. Steer clear. It was a little difficult finding a soft drink and a coffee as there were only 2 vendors that focussed on those offerings. All in all, 10 out of 10 for drinks. Prices were pretty steep but hey, that’s a festival.
VIP area. OK this area was a little shit, well more than a little shit, and it had the feeling that Bluesfest were just milking the cashed up Boomer/ Gen X as they cash cow they are. Yes, yes, I know that’s me. We paid handsomely for entry ($430 per person for the 5 days! Fuck me that’s steep!) but got, in my opinion, little value. Drinks were 50c more expensive even though we paid that exorbitant entry fee, and bottles were lower volumes than the cans of the festival. There was not enough seating. Adding insult to injury they removed a lot of seating for 3 hours so actual VIPs (think pollies and music industry types) could have a knees up in the same area. Yes, I know, cry me a river. But I won’t make that mistake again. It’s the first time I’d ever purchased that option and it will be the last. 1 out 10 for the VIP.
Grounds. The area is now ‘flood proof’ which means most of the grounds are gravel. No more lying around on the grass outside the tents listing to music. That is a bummer, but having been on those grounds in a torrential downpour that turns everything to mud this is probably the best alternative. Rock and a hard place for Bluesfest. The big mistake is the removal of the outside screens at the 2 main tents so that you can watch bands from outside the tent in the comfort of you camp chair that you inexplicably carry around with you all day bumping into people (I’m looking at you Boomers). This is shit as it forces those chair carrying Boomers inside the tents where there is not enough room. Looking at those with accessibility concerns, wheelchairs, crutches etc, and even prams and trolleys, the gravel made things a little hard to get around. As I said, rock and hard place for Bluesfest so 7 out of 10 for Festival Grounds.
We’re nearly there – Day 5. I’m starting to get very fucking weary!
Steve ’n’ Seagulls to start the day. We’re both knackered. Far too little sleep, too much beer, too much food but these guys bring out the best in you. Who doesn’t want to hear Iron Maiden’s The Trooper played in Bluegrass? Or ACDC’s Back in Black? Or Metallica’s Seek and Destroy? It’s a cracking show and well worth catching. We caught Jon Stevens just to watch the legend that is Tim Henwood (Palace of the King, Rogue Traders, The
Androids, among others) do his thing. Little did I realise how many Noiseworks and INXS tunes I knew! Bloody formative years and country radio has a lot to answer for. We keep the Australian feel going with Lachy Doley and the Horns of Conviction, an act not to be missed. Having seen him several times, with the big band, and as a guest artist playing
with others, he is a must see. The whole band is amazing.
The highlight on day 5, without doubt, was Femi Kuti and the Positive Force. An Afrobeat band out of Lagos. Femi Kuti has a great backstory in music and activism, including his
father Fela, activist, and the father of Afrobeat, and his grandmother, activist Funmilayo., and his brother Seun. The beats are infectious and, let me tell you, we both did a heck of a job dancing to the afrobeats. I’m pretty sure those around us were remarking on our abilities in the genre.
And, that’s it! In bed by midnight on day 5. Up at 6 (why break tradition) and out the Festival gates and on our way back to Sydney at 8am.
Any questions, let me know in the comments. There’s definitely things to do and not do, and things to take and not take so happy to answer any questions if next year will be your first time.
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Excellent article covering absolutely everything you’d ever need to know. Makes me sad I missed it this year!
Nice blog again Simon. Can't wait to get there one day.