Craig Eriksson and Greg Phillips were back at Bluesfest to report on Good Friday proceedings. Photos by Jason Rosewarne
Putting an end to any doubt about the future of Bluesfest, signs side stage and in the bathrooms proclaimed that tickets are now on sale for the 2026 event. Was it ever really going to be the final Bluesfest?
We kick started our day at Delta tent seeing ROSHANI. Sri-Lankan born, Roshani was adopted and grew up in Tamworth, NSW. Roshani is a one-woman show, multi instrumentalist playing guitar and synthesiser and she has a huge voice. We watched in awe as Roshani moved seamlessly through her songs using loop pedals, foot percussion, guitar, double synths and harmonica, all in an entrancing set.
PIERCE BROTHERS were back again, this time at Crossroads. Jack and Pat have been incredibly moved by the reaction to their energetic folk rock mix. They even steppe by the media tent soon after to chat with us.
It was then off to the Mojo tent to see American singer-songwriter MARC BROUSSARD from Louisuiana, who sings a mix of blues, R&B, soul, funk, rock and pop. Marc is so relaxed up on stage with a charismatic voice and presence, displaying warmth and confidence. His songs tell a story with all the high and lows of the journey. He has a band of incredible musicians, each given the space and time to display their virtuosic talent, all playing as a coherent whole. I noticed Marc had Australian organ player Clayton Doley playing in his band. Clayton shone, displaying his amazing keyboard skills. Check out our pre Australian tour interview with Marc HERE.
Over to Crossroads to see Australian muti-instrumentalist ASH GRUNWALD. I’ve seen Ash an abundance of times and he is a master of his craft. He loves playing festivals and has such a great personality, interacting with the crowd like we’re in his lounge room. Ash changes the feel of a song several times as he pulls the tempo around, going slower then speeding up to great effect.
Australian country music singer and songwriter FANNY LUMSDEN was one of the standout acts on Day 2 with her fun, entertaining show which included compulsory line dancing. Fanny is quite a character and country girl, mixing up her show with a variety of music genres, storytelling, friendly banter with her family band which includes her husband on bass and her brother on backing vocals (wearing a kilt) and dancing around the stage with her. The crowd absolutely loved Fanny and when they played a medley (snippets) of various covers like Slice of Heaven (Dave Dobyn), Stop (Spice Girls), Give It Up (KC & the Sunshine Band) and a rockabilly version of You Shook Me All Night Long (AC/DC), the crowd soaked it up and sang along with gusto.
FOOLS are a 12-piece band consisting of an organ player, two drummers, brass section, synth, backing singers, guitarists who all looked like they were having so much fun on stage, jamming and improvising with various members taking the lead on vocals. It created a beautiful vibe and everyone in the Jambalaya tent was dancing.
Canadian singer-songwriter, musician and activist ALLISON RUSSELL was another standout artist on Day 2 with her powerhouse voice. Her sound was full and rich, coffee smooth with the ability to also cut through all the band instruments and transcend above. Allison plays banjo on some songs and in other songs plays the clarinet which adds yet another dimension to her sound. Allison is deep and philosophical when talking in between songs about all of us looking after our precious planet. Allison has an all female band that all sing too. Check out our pre tour interview with Allison HERE.
GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS absolutely smashed it in the Mojo tent which was packed to full capacity with many punters gathered outside the tent. We’ve never seen tent and its surrounds so full at Bluesfest. Hearing them sing their classics like I Drink Alone, One Bourbon One Whisky One Beer, Get A Haircut and Bad To The Bone was incredible with the crowd providing solid backing vocals. At 75 years of age, Thorogood proves age is just a number. Thorogood and his band have been playing for 50 years and can certainly still deliver a solid rock ‘n’ roll show.
We raced back across to Jambalaya to squeeze in a few songs by Australian comedy folk rock band, THE BEARDS who are hilarious with all their songs being about beards. With songs like If Your Dad Doesn’t Have A Beard, You’ve Got Two Mums. They are a bunch of very talented musicians with very clever and witty song lyrics about beards and had the crowd in absolute stitches.
Back to Mojo to see American guitarist, singer, songwriter and political activist, the incredible TOM MORELLO. Best known for his tenure in Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave and more recently a touring musician with Bruce Springsteen, his show was truly outstanding. Morello has a very talented band of musicians with several that can sing either lead or backing vocals. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire set from start to end as it had everything from RATM’s Killing In The Name which the crowd went completely apeshit to, Like A Stone (Audioslave) tribute to the late Chris Cornell, a guitar solo medley which included Bombtrack/Know Your Enemy/Bulls On Parade/Guerilla Radio/Sleep Now In The Fire/Bullet in the Head/Cochise that had Mojo punters completely losing their shit. They did a Springsteen cover of The Ghost of Tom Joad. Finishing with a cover of John Lennon’s Power To The People, this show was kick arse. Check out our pre tour interview HERE.
GARY CLARK JR then strolled into the Mojo stage like a dude, dressed in long coat and stylish hat and a look on his face that meant business. For the next hour Gary and band proceeded to leave us spellbound with his captivating take on blues rock. Concentrating mainly on material from his fabulous new album JPEG RAW, Clark also dug deeper into his catalogue to appease long time fans. As he told Australian Musician pre-tour, “ I think we’re going to mix it up a little bit. It’s been a while since we’ve been over there, so I got to give a little taste, little reminder and then into the present and maybe a little near the future.” His amazing band consisted of King Zapata on guitar, Elijah Ford on bass and keys, Dayne Reliford on keys, J.J. Johnson on drums and percussion, and Gary’s sisters Shawn, Savannah, and Shanan as backup singers. Check out our pre tour interview HERE.
Over at the Crossroads stage, Yacht Rock devotees clambered for a spot to see multi Grammy Award winning CHRISTOPHER CROSS. While maybe not the most charismatic artist on a stage, he lets his legendary songs and music do the talking for him and it wasn’t long before the hits began coming. Never Be The Same from his self-titled debut was performed early to a crowd who mostly likely had that green covered album in their collection in 1979. A new arrangement of I Really Don’t Know Anymore went down well with fans as did his impressive guitar skills. Sailing, Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) followed soon after, before Ride Like The wind had the Bluesfest audience singing strong.
We worked our way through the crowd and managed to get four rows from the front ready for TOTO. Toto are an iconic American band formed back in 1977 and these veterans exceeded our expectations. Opening with the epic instrumental Child’s Anthem, it became obvious very quickly just how good these musicians are. The quality of their voices has not been lost with them sounding just as wonderful today singing songs like Rosanna, Georgy Porgy, Hold The Line and Africa. All Toto members are talented musicians and have wonderful voices that harmonise so well together. Joseph Williams may not be Bobby Kimball, the original voice of Toto but he’s pretty damn good, and Steve Lukather’s vocals were amazing too, not to mention his unmatched guitar skills. An extended jam on Rosanna delighted all of the guitar nerds in the crowd. The band has played together for almost 50 years and the camaraderie, respect and love they have for each other was obvious on stage.
Day Two complete and can’t wait for Day Three to see artists like Gary Clark Jnr, Crowded House, The Cat Empire and Melbourne Ska Orchestra. Bring it on!
