Byron Wrapup Pt 2

follows on from this post

Day Two: Friday
Had a big sleep in and got to the festival about 2:00. It rained intermittently all day, but so far the grass was holding up reasonably well under the feet of the stampeding masses, and muddy patches were sparse. My ears had warmed up on the Thursday, and I was suitably receptive for a day of sensational music.

Paolo Nutini (Andrew's discovery of the festival!)
Didn't know anything about this dude. He was on early, so I wasn't expecting much. Despite his (stage?) name, he's actually Scottish, and sings as if he's impersonating an old Scottish man with a lisp. It took me a while to get over this and realise that his songs actually kicked serious arse. His band were good too, and soon the crowd were loving it. I've since listened to his album, and he mutes the whole old man impersonation considerably on his CD. I strongly recommend having a listen to some of his stuff (ugh, MySpace). Next time I'm in at JB, I'm buying his album (which was an exhorbitant $35 at the Bluesfest).

Rodriguez
If Bob Dylan and Nick Drake had a baby, and that baby grew up to be a 60ish year old musician, he would sound like Rodriguez. Apparently he was big in the 70's. Seems as though he's run out of steam in the 21st century. Definitely one for the die hard older fans, who seemed to dig him. The most interesting thing about his performance was that he spoke to the audience only in cryptic, rhyming couplets. Oh, and he couldn't remember the name of his band members, so he had to ask his bassist to introduce the band. One day I want to be so famous I don't have to remember names.

Gomez
I'd really only heard a couple of tracks by these guys before the fest. They're the kind of band that seems to crop up pretty frequently on chillout compilations, so I was expecting something pretty laid back. Actually, they know how to rock. They're about a seven piece, with three guys up the front singing, and two drummers. An impressive setup, and an impressive sound. Left me wanting to hear more of their stuff.

Joss Stone
She's prrdy. Well, about as prrdy as British girls get, anyway. The music was... inoffensive. Well, maybe that's a little harsh. She started off in a fairly poppy kind of vein, and it was only really in the second half of her set that she let the band (which was extensive and talented) do their thing. She does have an amazing voice, but like Vanessa Amarosi among others, some purists might question what she was doing at the Bluesfest in the first place.

Animal Liberation Orchestra (Most mind blowing surprise of the festival!)
I almost wasn't going to stay around for these guys, because I had half a mind to check out Terrence Simien and the Zydeco Experience. Laziness won the day, and I stayed at Mojo. A good thing, too, because these guys are my type of people. They're a guitar/piano, bass, and drums trio that kick out the jams mellow-wise, if you catch my drift. They kind of sound like if Donovan Frankenreiter came from a good middle class family in Boston, and formed a band with two of his clones.

Anyway, about a third of the way through their set, they call out a good friend of theirs - Jack muthafuckin Johnson!! JJ wasn't even playing at the fest, so I don't know if he happened to be in town, or what. At that stage, Mojo was about half full, but as word spread, you could see people literally sprinting from the other side of the festival to get to the tent. The rest of the set was about a 50-50 mix of Jack Johnson and ALO songs. It was all good. I've now got their album, and a memory of a great performance I won't soon forget.

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Bela Fleck is widely regarded as the world's best banjo player. He teams up with the Flecktones, comprising a guy who could be the world's best bass player; a clarinet/sax player who can play two saxophones at the same time; and a guy in a pirate hat who calls himself the 'future pirate' or something similar, who weilds a homemade guitar-shaped looking device, which is actually a drum machine.

There's no pretense of organisation here - Bela and the Flecktones don't play songs so much as 10 minute long solo opportunities. I heard a helluva lot of bass solos over the five days - some good, some bad - but the Flecktones' bassist was the best.

Ziggy Marley
I'd been looking forward to this all day. I'd seen Jr. Gong Marley at last year's Bluesfest, but Ziggy is probably the true heir to his father Bob's legacy. I was right up the front of the Crossroads stage, and the smaller tent worked well to get everyone on their feet and packed in tight. Marijuana smoke filled the air and put everyone in the right frame of mind as Ziggy came out and launched in to a few of his own songs. Over the course of the set he probably played about six or seven Bob Marley tunes, which was what the crowd was there to see. Fantastic stuff.


Miscellaneous Reviews
Langos - 9/10: Langos is hungarian fried bread, topped with garlic sauce, sour cream, goulash and cheese. Kind of like a pizza without meat. Reasonably priced and very filling, it's the ultimate festival food. I was walking up to random strangers and shouting 'get one of these!'

Byron Bay Mud - 6/10: It pretty much rained off and on for the five days, which meant the festival grounds got muddier and muddier each day. I didn't bring waterproof shoes, and was extremely worried about contracting trench foot. Byron Bay mud has a curious consistency, though. It's thick, and if your shoes get muddy and then have time to dry, the mud sets and actually serves as a waterproof coating. The mud loses points, though, because now I'm back home I can't get it off my shoes.

Jim Beam - 10/10: A drink for bogans, you say? Well... yes. But for some reason my time at the festival has converted me into a Jim Beam fan...