BLUESFEST 2012
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| The Big Chief, Pat's old mate |
I must admit that I had misgivings about this year's Byron Bay
Bluesfest. I thought the governors of the fest had taken the easy way
and stayed with the tried and true. Len, Pat and I discussed this if
memory serves me and we concluded just that. If I'm wrong correct me.
My memory could be dodgy after the last 6 weeks.
Many of the major artists had performed in previous years – John
Fogerty, Keb Mo, Steve Earle, Justin Townes Earle, Angelique Kidjo to
name a few – and although their calibre cannot be denied I was
somewhat disappointed by comparison to the previous year's superb
line up. I was unable to attend the 2011 fest. I may have mentioned
this. Such is the measure of my sacrifice to the missus. I did enjoy
romping the hills and dales of Yorkshire, but Elvis (the true Elvis!)
Costello, BB King, Ernest Ranglin, Dylan, Los Lobos, Toots, Tull,
C.W., Irma Thomas, Mavis Staples...oh my aching conjones.
Regardless, we move on. Where was I? Oh yes, and YES, but
we'll get to them later. Now, despite the apprehension about the line
up I have to say that I did thoroughly enjoy it, as we all did and I
feel that it's the total experience, the vibe that
draws you in and gives you that finishing lustre.
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Len providing Justin with adviceAll photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/barry.mcgloin |
Len's most entertaining report for 2011 was delivered prior to the
deadline for this year's commencement, just. We waited and we were
not disappointed. No. It was probably the best report yet and would
be up here in Blog but for the PDF format. Anyway the man has
promised to send a word version and we can assume that it will arrive
when it does. You will not be disappointed when the report for
2011 is up there in 2015.
Total experience. Well Michelle's accommodation was top notch. It
certainly beats wading through streams of water in cyclonic
conditions trying to secure a tent when some angry beastie thrusts
its stinger into your toe and 13 feet of Carty lie secure, dry
and snug in their respective vehicles. OK move on.
Michelle's unit was smart, modern and glamourous in fact we all felt
like shampoo poodles according to Pat. The sleeping arrangements were
great and the Snore Factor was kept to a minimum by the
placement of various offenders, in fact I didn't hear a thing. Niki
being sober helped immensely.
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| sober Niki?? |
A dip in the Pacific each morning was the perfect balm for a
cobwebbed head, followed by coffee on the bustling Kingscliffe
beachfront, followed by the Blues Brekkie and a few primers and a bet
or two for Len and Michelle. A mangificent start to the day. My
phantom bets would have put Len in the $$$$$$ had he
not placed it on the wrong neddy. Such is life for the punter...,
precarious and exhilarating. The Blues Brekkie reached new heights
as Niki and I strove for new gastronomic visions with the gourmet
sausage and various other epicurean bangers.
The pub provided just the right ambient atmosphere for the sort of
philosophic discussions in which we all became engaged. Such as Art
being created through discomfort, pain. Discuss.
''Hat Fitz is losing his edge'' says Len,''too much comfort, marriage
is smothering the art. You've got to have that pain factor. Hat used
to come down from the interior in his horsehair shirt, bellowing his
blues, his eyes rolled back flailing on his guitar, pretending he
could see. What's in the next race Michelle? Now, he strums away
crooning behind Cara. Pain is missing... Another Snowy Mountains Ale
for me bro. As a motivating force discomfort can't be denied. What do
think about this race Baz? You don't have to say anything, just point
and nod. Just look at Donovan. Gone to seed mate. Lucinda. Another
one.''
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Guess the YES fan??
|
Then Lynelle dropped a real clanger when she said that she was a YES
fan. This was met with howls of derision by certain sections of the
troup. ''Bloody arty farty prog wankers'' was one
uncharitable comment, as I recall. But to give her her due she stood
by her allegiance and said that they were indeed prog rockers of the
highest order. Then, not one schooner later she proclaimed
herself to be a Saints fan. Well, this was unfathomable. We scratched
our noddles, glanced at each other, took a sup and looked at the form
guide. But apparently she went to school with a girlfriend of the
drummer, from recollection. So, more a fan by association it seemed,
and we started chatting again. An odd one. But she is a self
proclaimed 'nutter'. And she couldn't be sued for defamation or
definition of character (LOL!!).
Keef's autobiography brought some lively chuckles into the
discussion. My own favourite was the bit where Mick rang Charlie at
5am, against Keef's best advice, and asks 'Where's my drummer?''
Fifteen minutes later Charlie appears at the door dressed in his best
Saville row suit, grabs Mick by the lapels, ''I'm not your drummer''
and king hits Jumpin Jack Flash onto a silver salmon platter which
slides along the table towards the open window and canal below. Keef
was chuckling away at this conflag when he suddenly realises that
Mick is wearing his (Keef's) wedding jacket and grabs the jacket,
thus saving Mick from a watery demise.
Yes, the conversation was spirited and amusing and Len was keen to
maintain a polite level. Any wayward expressions such as 'poofs',
'wankers' or disparaging comments about seniors or women for example
were quickly pounced upon by this staunch arbiter of political
correctness. ''Bosoms mate...'' he'd correct with that
eyebrow arched. And rightly so. And Pat would reply ''Well, did you
cop the bosoms on that?'' And Len would admonish ''She's some
mother's daughter Patrick''. And Pat would say ''Well they'd both be
happy with those tits...''
Pat had suggested that we adopt blues names, he being Little Paddy I
think it was, which had a nice ring to it, Niki being Muddy Muddy
Murphy, me being Lightnin' (which I was quite happy with), Len being
Red Hot Ole Man Moses, Michelle being Wailing Sister Chelle, Lynelle
being Blues Belly Nelly or some such, and I think that's as far as we
got.
Talking about Pat, the picture at the top of this report is The Big Chief, a large portion of humanity who has his own post code. If you stand behind him, forget the performance, even the screens are blotted out. Well you've got to give it to Pat, the man has class - yells out ''Hey you, Shorty!'' Well the Chief turns around, looks to the left, looks to the right, shakes his head and looks over at Pat with disdain. I mean, Pat must be close to 6'6"', Chief close to 7' and about twice Pat's girth, all muscle. And then Pat lays the blarney on him, has him chatting. What a performance, what nerve!
OK, The Ratings
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| A drawing of our tired Monday enthusiasts |
The Highlight of this year for me
was The Pogues.
Also Len – see his report below, and Pat I think – Pat from
memory was enjoying it. I'd seen them play at the ANU in the early
90s, promoting the Peace and Love release. Shane promoted it for four
numbers then must have decided that the band could do a champion job by
themselves. Dressed in his long black coat he launched himself from
the stage into the crowd and was carried away and laid on his back on
a table where the roadies put coins on his eyes while the band played
the wake. The band appeared to be totally pissed off but showed what
a great group they were. One particular lady stood by the ante room
where Shane lay and berated yer man with non stop gob shite ''McGowan
you hopeless bastard get your slack arse back up there'' etc etc
infinitum. My cousin Chris McGloin's band White Nellie supported them
on the same tour in Adelaide where Shane-o performed the same
vanishing trick. According to my other cousin Andy this was assisted
by a ripe bottle of plonk being sent to Shane's table courtesy of
White Nellie. There you go. Be aware. Always someone ready to
sabotage your show.
There seemed to be some arrangement whereby Shane could shuffle off
after a few songs, probably to rehabilitate himself. Anyway, a jig
later and ole Shane-o would shufty back on again looking pleased.
He'd managed to do the business, whatever that was.
Len's
verdict: The Pogues...they were so good they
were almost ordinary; with Shane'o we expect the worst. The terrific
thing about the Pogues was the quality of the guys in the band; they
are so good that they take the focus away from McGowan;
Highlight act of this years Bluesfest.
More
Len:
The acts this year were up to the
expected high standards; as we observed, the big standout acts
(which means they have to be especially big) were not evident this
year (i.e. Bob & Elvis last year). However, the worst rating of
all the acts that I could give was a high 7; thus reflecting the
quality.
Top Raters max 10
Lucinda...she graced us
with a sensational coughing fit....instead of detracting from the
show, it did give us a human insight to the performer. Here 'Fruits
of Your Labours' brought tears to my eyes, perfect!
Justin Townes Earle...Justin
can do no wrong; wears the heart on the sleeve; but I did detect a
cunning sarcasm from Justin this time; his intro comments to some of
his songs appeared to be harsh compared/contra to his words of the
songs...was he challenging us?
John 'CCR' Fogerty...an
increadible guy; great to hear the full albums: 'Cosmos Factory', one
of my first/fav albums I ever had; and 'Green River', with it's
lesser known tracks...great, great, great!
9 Raters
Ziggy Marley; Trombone Shorty; Crosby
Stills Nash; Keb Mo: Ziggy, Trombone, & Keb are the ultimate
professionals and could do this stuff with their eyes closed. CSN was
a pleasant surprise, would go out of my way to see Crosby/Nash
individually but together they still have something.
Acts that we didn't see quite enough of
to rate but on what we saw were at least 9s: Kenny Wayne Shephard;
Zappa Plays Zappa; Seasick Steve; Seasick has gone up a notch since
we last saw him; the addition of John Paul Jones may have assisted in
this. Kenny Wayne Shephard was great and only wished we had seen the
whole show. Zappa Plays Zappa was a huge surprise...good!
Michelle gave 11 out of 10 for Melbourne Ska - I heard them, the tent was chokkers but...no way.
Also to Harry Manx and Foggo (see below). Old Harry never fails, he's such a comfortable sound, eloquent and cool - too cool for Hendrix's Voodoo child in my (humble) opinion.
Michelle gave 11 out of 10 for Melbourne Ska - I heard them, the tent was chokkers but...no way.
Also to Harry Manx and Foggo (see below). Old Harry never fails, he's such a comfortable sound, eloquent and cool - too cool for Hendrix's Voodoo child in my (humble) opinion.
Baz
– Ratings
Surprises
A surprise was that I missed The Specials – how? And I saw Crosby,
Stills and Nash who I didn't rate back then in the early 70s. That said, their
performance, despite a shaky start, and despite Nash's singalong
poppy songs, and despite Crosby's 'weird' (as he called it) pretentious meandering stuff, was
good. Crosby's vocals were excellent, Stills' guitar was good, Nash
thought he was McCartney, but then I have reservations about him too.
Have you read any interviews where Crosby,
McCartney, Beachboy Mike Love and Donovan are humble, self
effacing? Naaaaah.
These blokes are the biggest pump it up wankers ever, not counting
Liam Gallagher who is in a class of his own.
Zappa plays Zappa was very good, an ear cleansing on the final
day. It made me realise just how inventive Dweezil's dad Frank was.
Tight time signatures, turn on a note stuff, unpredictable harmonies
and great guitar. Of course all Frank's stuff was orchestrated – no
room for error.
Check Keb with Bonnie Raitt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iMadZk9o_U&feature=related
Bettye
Lavette.
Such a passionate voice, such a forceful personality. She performed
Sam Cooke's A Change is Gonna Come at President Obama's pre
inaugural Lincoln Centre concert. Check out her reading of Pete
Townsend's Love Reign O'er Me with Townsend, Daltry and Barbara
Streisland looking on. Masterful.
She performed All My Love one of Zepplin's songs, and Robert Plant
commented that she'd changed his lyric. She replied that
she'd done it so that adults could understand it!! Howl!! She said he was gracious about it. Len and I heard
her being interviewed by Rhythm's Brian Wise in the Q&A sessions, an intelligent feisty woman with attitude ''all my music friends are millionaires, sure I got attitude.'' Brian Wise seemed a bit overwhelmed.
http://oregonmusicnews.com/2012/04/24/sould-out-festival-2012-bettye-lavette-closes-the-festival-with-beauty-pain-energy-artistry/
Wow. Seth Lakeman from Cornwall or Devon – West country UK anyway,
is a fabulous entertainer, fiddle player, guitarist and writer. And
his band was tops, with a fine sense of dynamics. I saw them twice
and the joint was jumping each time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRoDe80_XPw&feature=related
Justin Townes Earle
Well we saw him in 2010 and Len and Pat saw him last year somewhere
and I think there were signs of health issues – also he sang downer
songs and 'looked like Hank Williams on the way out' anyway some
similar comment if my memory serves me. It may not. In fact it has
been awry in the past. Well Justin was truly on form here, we watched
him twice; fine finger pickin' with his two backing musos on double
bass and mandolin/guitar, he was just mesmerising. Such an animated
performer, facial expressions and his wandering about doing his
lanky, leaning shuffle forwards, back one, sideways. This is an
honest song writer, his heart on his sleeve as Len said, his defeats, his hopes,
his family and his memories, he 'tries to move on' but it just keeps
coming back. Len bought the latest with the longest title ever
'Nothing's Gonna Change The way You Feel about Me Now', and it is a
very good album. I think we decided Rick Nelson meets Hank Williams.
Check out the February Letterman appearance with different band plus horns:
YES
the band. Well,
what can you say and I think I've said it. Check my last blog.
We
were transported.
No
surprises
John
Fogerty
The old Foggo just keeps on
keeping on. Michelle gives Foggo 11 out of 10 and says that she and Niki were complaining because he was late, how rude of him, then discovered that someone in the marquee had died... 11 out of 10 is NOT ENOUGH MICHELLE!!
His vocal and guitar skills are better then ever and to hear him perform Green River and Cosmos Factory in toto was just great. There are so many tracks which are so good and just don't get played. Foggo was in his own class – and in his own shirt – the same one but this time ironed by his ever loving wife who was by the side of the stage ready with slippers, pipe and pamper. What more does a poor boy need?
His vocal and guitar skills are better then ever and to hear him perform Green River and Cosmos Factory in toto was just great. There are so many tracks which are so good and just don't get played. Foggo was in his own class – and in his own shirt – the same one but this time ironed by his ever loving wife who was by the side of the stage ready with slippers, pipe and pamper. What more does a poor boy need?
Lucinda was in a slightly larger
shirt but her voice is still languorous, vulnerable, bitter and
honey hued. She can rock with
'Joy', and she can ache with a tender melancholic mood.
A wonderful song writer and
singer, good band too! Bettye Lavette also sang a fabulous funky
version of 'Joy'.
Ziggy
Marley
Ziggy was Bob updated with
variations of reggae, ska and dub all thrown in to make a most
enjoyable performance.
Donovan
The Celtic Bohemian Manifesto
Man manifested before us. He came, he wafted, he blessed us and he
took us to his fairy castle and
did things with us. Not really. We departed before it all became too
much. His finger picking was good, as you'd expect from one who had
taught The Beatles. As he has often proclaimed in interview, his
finger picking is all over The White Album. All over it. His vocals with the
wavery affectation transported us out of there.
The
Bottom Line
A most enjoyable fest and I
agree with Len that a more relaxed approach increased the enjoyment
factor. Way to go. I do think that the organisers need to think
seriously about their future and incorporate more modern pop, rock,
roots acts. Tie it in with Big Day Out or similar. Their future is
the young, not a disappearing audience. My top raters this year were:
The Pogues
Justin Townes Earle
Keb Mo
Bettye Lavette
John Fogerty
Zappa plays Zappa
Lucinda Williams
Seth Lakeman
John Hiatt
Ziggy Marley
