The time of year has come and gone and has left us all shrivelled-livered, a little broken inside but still buzzing from an amazing week that was. After enjoying such a mind-blowing and amazing Byron Blues Fest 2 years ago, when I last went, this year was always going to be hard to live up to. With such high expectations, I was not at all disappointed, and the amazing highlights included:
Trombone Shorty
This was a band I didn't know before Bluesfest, but I tagged along with my new friend who promised me one incredible hunk of man and I was not disappointed. The performance was funky, jazzy and fun, and we were dancing from start to end. I was amazed at the diversity of the band, with skinny white nerd types playing next to scary looking fat, Cuban gansters. It didn't hurt either that Trombone Shorty himself was one of the most attractive men I have laid eyes on for a while. It's a shame they are headed back to New Orleans and won't be hanging around Australia for a bit longer; they are a very stalkable band that I would love to see again and again and again.
Sublime
At first I was hesitant to see a band which only had 1 of its original members playing, it was practically almost a cover band. The lead singer was fat and white and it had been many years since they had played. But as soon as the band started playing, I was amazed at the fact that they sounded so identical to the old Sublime. And they put on a bangin' show. And Sublime just rock. While it could have gone horribly wrong, Sublime were fantastic.
New Dance Moves
The only thing that is as much fun as dancing up in the front row, is having enough space up the back of the tent to really dance like a crazy. Until Bluesfest, I had always thought that my repertoire of daggy and weird dance moves were up to scratch and that there was little more to learn. Oh, how wrong I was! New friend Nessa, who it seems was the next wackiest person at that festival, pulled out her finest moves. The Christmas tree, the shower and the fire were all fabulous favourites that will be added to my routine next time the opportunity for a dance off presents itself.
John Butler Trio
Like any person who has ever been to a festival in Australia, I have seen John Butler play many a time. Despite that, and the fact that there were no better options at the time, I returned to see JBT and I was blown away. Last time I saw them, I was very underwhelmed by the performance, and I was rather pissed that the entire show was spent flogging their crappy, poppy bullshit album, April Uprising. This time, JBT was back to their original gold, playing really long intros and tunes that were strongly political. Everything that I love about JBT was pulled out this year at BF and it definitely made up for the last mediocre time I saw them.
Melbourne Ska Orchestra
Just the name of this band was enough to make me want to see them, and luckily for me, they did not disappoint. Despite playing the exact same set both times they played, I had so much fun the first time that I had to go back and have another dance fest. Unlike other bands, MSO (so many acronyms!) was the one band that even managed to get the old folk dancing. Sadly, I missed the free show bags that were being tossed into the audience, although skipping away happy, sweaty and exhausted made up for the lack of freebies.
Wedding Goon
About a month ago, my lovely friend Ashley got married. As the overestimated the amount that wedding guests would drink, there was leftover goon. That leftover goon was donated to yours truly and provided many good nights at Bluesfest. Unlike regular goon, wedding goon was of such high quality that, not only was it drinkable, but even enjoyable. Although it was a bitch to carry in a backpack and most likely caused some serious spinal issues, the goon even provided me with a pillow. Not that I really needed one, after the amount of goon I drank each night, I could have passed out on a concrete floor.
Great Volunteer Jobs
Volunteering is the best way to get into a festival for free, and on many occasions has proven to be a lot of fun for me in the past. Volunteer duties can range from horribly dull activities such as traffic control and garbage collection to sitting backstage and doing lines with the artists. Although there was nothing quite that cool in my job description, I was lucky enough to spend the majority of my time on the volunteer platforms as I watched bands playing for 5 hours. Officially the job was "facilitating access to persons with disabilities," although essentially I just did sweet fuck all except sit in a chair and tell abled people to fuck off. The raised platforms provided an amazing view of the stage and I was lucky enough to be on the good stage.
John Fogerty
Before seeing John Fogerty play, all I knew was that he was in Creedence Clearwater Revival and that they played the song have you ever seen the rain. However, as soon as he begun rolling through all of his top hits I realised that I knew him. All of those years of being forced to listen to 4TO FM (Townsville's bogan/old man radio station) had prepared me for that moment, and I found myself almost able to sing along to all of the songs. If you don't know who he is, you probably do. CCRbogan rock, and he brought with him flocks of over 50-somethings who were boogying away like it was 1969. I also happened to be breaking it down amongst them. Yes. I am a dag.
Stranger Danger
There seems to be something about Bluesfest that makes it go hand in hand with amazing people. I thought that 2010 BF would be impossible to beat, however this year came pretty darn close. From volunteer friends to camping neighbours and downright randoms, I found myself spending my days with inspiring, fun, interesting and downright awesome people. Coming back to the campsite every night after the music, sitting around the circle and hitting the wedding goon was probably the single highlight of the festival. The acro-yoga, goon drinking, guitar playing (not me) and bacon and egg morning sessions were experiences that I will not be forgetting any time soon. I even liked my festival friends so much that a few have passed through and slept on the couch here in Brisbane.
Bluesfest is just so freaking amazing that I get excited just ranting about it. 2013 anybody???!!!
This was awesome!! I remember it starting slowly, with nowhere to sleep, limited money and only a tent and a shitload of goon. But by the second night I sneakily found a place to stay, with great people and had the time of my life. It's hard to say if it compared to the first one I went to in 2010, but I still have fond memories of my time.
Sadly 2013 was less enjoyable. Even though having a car and more money should have made it easier, sleeping off the grounds of the festival, a bit of drama, and a rather unpleasant roadtrip companion, made it less enjoyable. That being said, I do have fond memories of drinking goon in the car, the stars from Mullumbimby campgrounds, and general festival festivities.
No comments:
Post a Comment