All Bluesfest festival-goers know that feeling… being on a massive high for five days; it certainly has its ramifications. Especially after a bloody brilliant festival like Blues and Roots in the quaint coastal town of Byron Bay. High on life, clean air, epic sunrises and dreamy sunsets, and this year didn’t disappoint.
The traditional preamble and anticipation leading up to the festival consists of who you want to see and the weather forecast generally dominates. Almost everyone becomes a meteorologist, and rightly so. As opposed to last year’s hot, hot days and balmy nights, this year took the form of a drowned rat – Literally.
By day three the hordes had trampled and created an accumulated mud bath, so much so that some patrons gave up on shoes altogether and took part in the free-spirited vibe the emanates throughout this chilled-out festival. And that is part of what really makes it so successful year on year. The vibe was high and the air was filled with the scent of humbled and delightful folk coming together to enjoy the epic line-up that was the 26th year and these are my ten top moments from this year:
With the traditional Arakwal opening ceremony bringing the tribal history of the original custodians of the land to the fore with traditional dances and music that has echoed through the region since long before the blues was discovered. it set the way for a remarkably energetic and spiritual experience.
A Shake, Rattle And Roll With Alabama Shakes
A seductive and powerful performance from lead singer and guitarist Brittany Howard. This woman is an unstoppable force of nature and captivates the audience with sheer passion and emotive expression released in a true soul revival sound. Volcanic build-ups mixed with composed and soft lyrical undertones this girl delivered the shit outta Blues. You pay big bucks these days for a music festival, but its acts like Alabama Shakes that make the ticket price invaluable. Performing twice over the five daysthey withheld nothing and shook the ground in the festivals most overruling performance.
A Serve Of Hozier For Me Please
Irishman Hozier delivered a delicious set filled with beautiful harmonies and powerful ballads. He had the audience completely in love, you just wanted to grab the hand of your lover and melt away in a Irish Folk lullaby. Adorning pure acceptance from a packed main stage crowd his music is filled with operatic double bass beats and acoustic ensembles. Each song rang with noted emotion and technical perfection. Humbled and composed and easy on the eye, this beauty had me at “Hello Byron Bay.” A sexy deliverance of powerful passionate tunes and soulful melodies. Yum!
Gary Clark Jr. Eat Your Heart Out
Old Bluesy grooves delivered in a unique charismatic performance from bonafide Texan star Gary Clark Jr. He commands the stage like a god. So much, that I would of happily licked up the sweat dripping from him to the floor in all its glory. Tall, dark and handsome with a reverberating sex appeal had the audience mesmerized and crying for more. Arguably one of the best Blues acts I’ve seen to date. He presents himself in a way that is captivating with charisma and charm and it seemed not a single cent of effort required. This guy’s in a league of his own, with sounds inspired by the likes of Zeppelin, Hendrix and Clapton he’s surely one to watch.
Boy & Bear Charmed Through Exhaustion
With over 160 shows under their belt, these guys gently rumbled along the evening in what felt like a summer holiday. Calm and nonchalant in their delivering of ever smooth sing-a-long tracks and charismatic style. Although, exhaustion was pretty apparent for Lead singer Dave Hosking. It was difficult to fault their tight performance and soothing vocal delivery. With apparent exhaustion the crowd slowly dispersed to the bar to take a back seat and enjoy the show without needing their liveliness sucked out of them.
Stand Up With Xavier Rudd & The United Nations
The highlight of Blues and roots was Xavier and his new crew the United Nations. Uplifting, heart warming, and beautiful are just a few words to describe these guys that deliver messages of peace and gratitude, harmony and diversity. It was an opportunity for the audience to reflect on current political situations and reflect their deepest feelings on spirit, land and community in the deepest of truths.
Featuring Indigenous Australian, South African, Samoan, German and Papua New Guinean descent are the roots of what made this experience so unique. Together their sound is tribal and Joyful and they play every bit to the crowd. Drumming up heartfelt anticipation and releasing moments of truth and reconciliation, as a storyteller and lyricist, Xavier’s strength lies in his ability to transform the negative into something uplifting and enriching. The crowd was a fine spectacle of human love and compassion who came together to stand with each other and unite as one people.
Smiles ear to ear spread across the face of each and everyone, and literally brought people to tears. A pure celebration of music and culture. With women on the back-up vocals it created a heavenly feminine energy that was present amongst the group, complimented with the tantalizing fun and punchy drumming of Bobby Alu. A multi-instrumentalist experience drawing on genres of reggae, folk and blues. A sheer pleasure to be apart of this all time ‘One Love’ experience.
Rodrigo Y Gabriela Lay It Down
Hearing this duo on a soundtrack is one thing, but a their live performance is outta’ this world. Gabriela plays the guitar at an unfathomable speed with complete accuracy and finesse. Havign the audience completely enthralled in the flourishing bursts of guitar riffs delivered in melding and melodic rhythm. Half the crowd couldn’t move it was like they were stuck in awe, like me, completely inspired at the talent and the other half moved and shacked in spectacularly fierce movements of Spanish inspired dance and skips. An absolutely captivating instrumental duo, although the one off vocal performance from Rodrigo seemed to downgrade their overall performance.
David Gray On My Dashboard
An absolute pleasure to be in this artist presence. Comfort music, reminiscing of a bygone time, music for the heart and soul of emotions. And what a passionate performer demonstrating remarkable charisma with his distinctive and inspiring vocals and lyrics, backed by the soothing sounds of a cellos and double bass beats. Busting out his timeworn classics tracks kept the audience in a gentle chorus of sing-a-long and softly swaying hips. Featuring his weirdly iconic boggle head movements at times he emanated a dashboard toy but a strangely handsome one that I thoroughly enjoyed watching.
Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals Onstage Spectacle
With an absolutely rammed main stage, the crowd was itching the edge as close as possible to get a fix of Ben and his innocent criminals. I was mesmerized with his ability to play such soulful deep music with renditions of heartbroken lyrics in his signature high-tenor voice. He dramatically captivates his audience, silently begging and pleading for more with all their physical force. He Dominates the lap slide guitar with moments of a Hendrix spirit and aggressive vocals played back to a sensual rhythmic harmony. Together they strung together moments of brilliance in true bluesy vibes.
Mad Dog Ash Grunwald
What a bloody perfect Sunday arvo beer drinking and bad ass rock session. These guys play some of the earthiest, grungiest shit around. Punchy and infectious guitar hooks mixed with a distinctive distorted vocal twang that had me screaming ‘Shiiiiiit Yeh!’ The crowd were moving and shaking, some in real bad unco-ordinated overly frequent movements that would often spasm into passer byers but with the happy stoner vibe on this muddy muggy afternoon these outbursts were welcomed with high fives and bloody oaths. A fully rad crowd! I felt silently encouraged to singlehandedly neck my beer and crush it with my bare hands while being cheered by my tribesman. An electrifying performance filled with passion and the sick gruff style backings of a rock bluesy band.
Angus & Julia Stone Bringing It Home
There is something about Julia that is just so enthralling, the way she sings with those raspberry lips and her coaxing full powered voice. Its great bedtime music, but with the joint talent of these two I found myself begging for them to just let rip and rock out, but no, composure is there middle name with an electric undercurrent. This is their style. Angus was his usual quiet self and almost too muffled at times, maybe a bit off his game, but Julia had it covered. Always a pleasure to be amongst their magic and old school fave tracks.
So, next year, be prepared with boots on standby and anticipation brimming to the top, because if next year is anything like this year, then it’ll be one not to be missed. A 5 day festival is a rarity and to do it in Byron Bay makes it all the more special.
Photo credit: Seshanka Samarajiwa and Cassie Ringstad
