Byron Bay Bluesfest
March 28 – April 1, 2013
This
year was my tenth Bluesfest, the culmination of a decade of magnificent musical
memories all melding into one, each year adding to and expanding the canon,
Bluesfest’s 24th incarnation certainly being no exception to that rule – truly an exceptional way to
celebrate a tin anniversary.
 |
| Go Jane Go |
First
up was Go Jane Go, Americana in its
purest form – Kieran Kane on guitar and vocals, his son Lucas drumming, David
Francey singing. Simple and effective, it held me captive on the Thursday
afternoon, a perfect way to begin proceedings.
One
of my absolute highlights was one I hadn’t banked on – Tav Falco & the Panther Burns. Man, grease up your hair, put on
a sharp suit and get awn down to this country/blues-a-billy punk ‘n’ roll. I’d
heard these guys had been a big influence on one of my favourite bands of all
time, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, so I hot-footed it over and became
enraptured. Despite the Friday rain, these guys ran red-hot, kicking and
screaming their way into my heart – killer stuff.
Another
of my favourites, who I saw snatches of three or four times, were the Music Maker Blues Revue cats, who I had
the pleasure of meeting and also interviewing. Man, they may be ancient (in
some cases), but they can rock and they damn well had the blues – and this
wasn’t just blues by numbers either, but a hellstorm of pounding good times, an
almost desperation being displayed,
these guys loved this music so much. This was so real, the players themselves just real people, they really hit a chord and I hope they come back
again and again.
 |
| Chris Smither |
Another
who I loved and also had the good fortune to interview (in fact, I’d rate it as
one of my favourite interviews of all time), was Chris Smither. His blues-tinged folk is so simple, but this man has
such a knack for drawing you in through song, and so I sat spellbound, just
listening, letting it all wash over. ‘Love You Like A Man’ has got to be one of
my favourite tunes ever.
Others
who stood out included the legendary Tony
Joe White, who turned the fuzz up to 25 and just stomped on it, his drummer
backing him to the hilt. William Elliott
Whitmore held crowds in the palm of his hand too, his music also simple,
and yet so raw and real, field songs for The Now – there’s nothing fake about
this man, make no mistake.
 |
| Percy |
And
then of course, there was Robert Plant. I’m a huge Zeppelin fan, so I
wanted to see what he’d do to these songs that defined a lot of my childhood
(indeed, a lot of my whole life) – I knew it wouldn’t just be a faithful
recreation, and he didn’t disappoint. He took these old Zep songs, plus a few
blues tunes, and rebuilt them from the ground up with his African-tinged band.
This was a real music lovers set.
Many wandered away, dispirited, but they lost out in my mind – this was one of
the greatest sets I’ve ever seen at Bluesfest, easily.
 |
| Iggy |
I
did duck away for twenty minutes or so to catch a bit of Iggy Pop. I’d lamented in the lead-up to the festival that it’d be
impossible to tear myself away from one or the other, and while I dug what Iggy
was throwing down (and I also appreciated getting more stoned, passively, than
I have for years), it just wasn’t as captivating as Percy – perhaps if someone
else had been playing at the same time, I’d have stayed with Iggy and loved it.
In fact, I know I would have, but I got lured back to Plant, and man, am I glad
I did. His version of ‘Whole Lotta Love’, with Willie Dixon’s ‘Who Do You Love’
woven into it, was a masterpiece, and one which for me, summed up Bluesfest
this year.
So,
a year of surprises, a year of discovery, a year of fantastic music that will
be (as I say every year) damn hard to top come my eleventh festival. We await
next year’s 25th anniversary with baited breath.
Samuel J. Fell
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