From the moment Bluesfest director Peter Noble announced that 2025 would be the last of his beloved music festival, fans took to social media to express their disbelief. In support, they also took to the website to snap up tickets. Then came the rumours … was it just a ruse to attract government funding? Would the amazing ticket response now lead to a 2026 event? As of now, it’s still unclear if this will be the final Bluesfest or not but what is plainly obvious is that crowds have flocked to Byron Bay to celebrate this great music festival. Traditionally the crowds for the opening Thursday are slimmer but yesterday, music fans gathered in large numbers to the Tyagarah venue to soak up the vibe one more time.
Australian Musician’s Greg Phillips and Craig Eriksson made the trek up north to cover Bluesfest 2025, accompanied by the fabulous photography of Jason Rosewarne. As it’s Craig’s first Bluesfest, we’ll let him take the lead and offer his first time thoughts, with the occasional butt-in from editor Greg.
I finally ticked off another bucket list item attending the 36th Bluesfest in Byron Bay. Buzzin’ with excitement, which would be a huge understatement. I’m told that I will be in my element for the next four days of Bluesfest being a massive lover of music.
There were three large tents hosting the artists – Delta, Crossroads and Mojo. Jambalaya the 4th stage opens tomorrow. These enormous tents are spread out in the festival grounds along with an abundance of food and market stalls selling a wide variety of items. The merch stand was thriving all day. The grounds were bustling with people from all walks of life ranging from families, hippies or to just your average music nuts like myself.
The most challenging part of being at a Bluesfest is deciding which bands to see as there are loads of clashes with so many artists playing at the same time.
The festival opened with the traditional Welcome to Country at the Crossroads tent. Welcome to Country is always a heart-warming beginning to the festival, celebrating First Nations culture and opening the event in a dignified but celebratory manner.
We then power walked to Delta to see Indonesian blues rock powerhouse Electric Cadillac play a wonderful blend of soul and classic blues. I noted their keyboardist was blind and was incredible. The lead singer had a soulful voice and interacted well with the band and crowd.
We raced across to Crossroads to see the Sydney psychedelic band Velvet Trip and they were trippy and mesmerising playing a dreamy style of indie rock. Lead singer Zeppelin Hamilton in his sparkly purple top and velvet pants and has a wonderful voice singing falsetto showcased his high register. The keyboardist harmonises beautifully with Zeppelin and we loved hearing songs like Moving On, Harmony Blues, Get You Off My Mind and a brilliant cover of Black Magic Woman.
Dashed across to Delta to catch some of the Pierce Brothers. They certainly draw a crowd and have so much fun on stage playing their feel-good infectious vibes. The crowd gets involved and sings along to every song. Their interaction with the crowd is a sight to see and be a part of. Jack said they still get overwhelmed playing to large crowds and playing Bluesfest several times now still feels surreal and is a dream come true.
Budjerah means ‘first light’ and he certainly shone with his natural timeless and soulful voice backed by his 9-piece band. Budjerah is so comfortable on stage, natural, soulful, reaching high register with ease as he sings a beautiful blend of R&B and soul music. They performed a wonderful cover of Change Is Gonna Come. They captivated the audience and his three backing singers in gospel choir mode, harmonising beautifully with Budjerah as he moved seamlessly through registers, making it look effortless.
American singer, songwriter and pianist Neal Francis followed playing organ, synth and digital piano centre stage. Neal comes across as some psychedelic dude from the 70s and he and his band played many instrumental songs with the guy next to us saying they reminded him of early Pink Floyd and T-Rex. The jazz drummer blew me away!
Back to Mojo to see 15-year old guitar prodigy Taj Farrant perform and he was jaw dropping. The guitar is an extension of Taj like another limb, connected totally to his mind, body and soul and he makes the guitar sing. It was mesmerising watching Taj play so confidently as he commands the stage.Taj clearly has blues in his blood and I couldn’t help but notice how long his fingers were as they wildly and smoothly played the guitar. Taj raw energy and facial expressions shows how much he feels the music. Taj’s voice is way beyond his years. Hearing him play Aint No Sunshine, Wishing Well and Parisienne Walkways were highlights. His originals such as Crossroads and Freight Train were impressive too.
Next up was Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram, who said it’s his 3rd time playing at Bluesfest. He plays with such finesse and musicianship of a veteran of the blues. It’s a well-oiled machine, totally in sync with each other and the crowd appreciated the contribution from each band member. We enjoyed the light and shade in his playing. It takes you to the intense heights, then brings you back down gently. Kingfish went into the crowd for a solo that had the audience scurrying for their phones to capture the special moment. I was nice to see Kingfish kicking back in the VIP area later, casually chatting with fans.
We caught a few songs by the bombastic eight-piece band Cimafunk who play a blend of Afro-Carribean, Cuban funk grooves consisting of trumpet, sax, congas and bongos and everyone was salsa dancing and getting right into their music.
Back to the Crossroads tent to see groove masters Ocean Alley sing their infectious reggae fusion. It seemed like everyone at the festival had the same idea. It was absolutely jammed packed. They have so many great songs like Tangerine, Confidence, Bones and Knees and clearly a huge fanbase. The atmosphere was euphoric and it felt like New Years Eve. Everyone partying and singing along and having the time of their lives.
Tones And I, possibly the least Blues-like performer at the event preceded Ocean Alley and attracted a massive crowd too with her huge stage production.
Tom Morello wrapped up the Mojo tent for the evening with a powerful set, beginning with his latest song Soldier In The Army of Love from his upcoming new solo album. He then proceeded to take us on a sonic journey through his career performing songs from Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave, Nightwatchmen, Bruce Springsteen and more. He dedicated Springsteen’s Ghost of Tom Joad to record producer Nick Didia, who is now an Australian resident and was also in the audience tonight. A dedication to Chris Cornell was also a touching moment of the show. Recognising that he was playing a blues music festival, Tom showed us his amazing blues chops complete with Tom Morello signature space age effects. At one point playing with his teeth, he allowed us see an aboriginal flag on the back of his guitar, resulting in a huge roar from the crowd. The crowd had clearly come to hear Rage Against The Machine’s Killing in the Name Of and Tom acknowledged this by allowing the Bluesfest throng to handle all of the lead vocals. Lennon’s Power to the People ended he show and we look forward to another set from Tom tonight. Check out our recent interview with Tom HERE
Our evening concluded with the fun and energy of Here Come The Mummies, dressed as ancient mummies, faces wrapped in bandages so we don’t know who they are. Apparently they are quite well known sessions guys. They entered the stage all playing bass drums and then launched into an energetic, fun and lively show. They commanded the crowd from the get go and told everyone to get down and get funky and that we did. Songs like Freak Flag, Fenk Shui, Whip It Out and My Party had the crowd involved and they are a band not to be missed at Bluesfest.
Day One complete and cant wait for Day Two to see artists George Thorogood & The Destroyers, Toto and Tom Morello’s second set. Bring it on!
