Bluesfest Melbourne – MCEC, Saturday April 8, 2023
By Brian Wise| Images: Michael Mackenzie
Check Out the 2023 Bluesfest Byron and Melbourne Image Galleries Here
It’s just over two decades since the first attempt to run a major Bluesfest-stye event in Melbourne kicked into gear on the banks of the Yarra at the venue that has become known as ‘Jeff’s Shed’ (after a former State Premier). The event was tagged the Melbourne International Music & Blues Festival- as if blues was not considered music. (‘Blues’ was subsequently dropped from the title). It featured international headliners Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, John Mayall and Tony Joe White along with locals such as Billy Thorpe, Chris Wilson and Vika & Linda. A few years later, the event petered out at the Myer Music Bowl with Daddy Cool headlining a Tsunami Benefit show.
Bluesfest Melbourne, which as the name suggests is piggybacking on Bluesfest in Byron Bay, got off to a promising start in resurrecting a ‘roots’ music festival in this city. Set in the cavernous surrounds of the awkwardly named MCEC, the festival has three stages: two in large exhibition rooms and a much larger one in the purpose-built Plenary Theatre, where Neil Young & Crazy Horse played in March 2013. The corridors linking the halls and the theatre have plenty of food stalls and there are craft and other stalls.
As Kasey Chambers was to later point out the advantage of an entirely indoor festival: no mud! The advantage in Melbourne, of course, is that you don’t have to worry about the slightly unpredictable weather.
The music kicked off in the early afternoon on the NAARM stage with Rod Paine & The Full-Time Lovers, and I was initially reminded that the sound in these cavernous rooms at previous events was not great but it settled down after a few songs and all the acts in the two large rooms coped well.
Acts in The Plenary had the advantage of an international class PA and Mahalia Barnes started proceedings there with a powerhouse performance thane included a tribute to singer Betty Davis with the provocative ‘If I’m In Luck I Might Get Picked Up’, which she recorded with Joe Bonamassa, who is at Bluesfest Byron.
Barnes is a dynamo and her band The Soul Mates features Lachy Doley on keyboards.
“This is like my perfect musical festival,” proclaimed Kasey Chambers next up in The Plenary, adding that apart from no mud they were playing an afternoon show in a theatre and that she could be home in bed by 8 o’clock. She also pointed out that when she had mentioned this earlier to her band, one of the members said that it was the worst pre-gig pep talk that they had ever had!
In fact, Kasey’s band included her father Bill on guitar, a musician who has his own great albums out. Some of us first saw Kasey when she was a fifteen-year-old singing with Bill in his Dead Ringer Band. She pretty quickly graduated to guesting on stage with Steve Earle and Buddy Miller and then her career took off with the enormous success of The Captain.
Thirty years on from her Bluesfest debut Kasey Chambers has developed the almost perfect one-hour festival set: a mix of self-deprecating humour, personal stories and a selection from her acclaimed recordings. She also admits to leaving out songs from the albums she doesn’t like because we didn’t like them either and then invites those who don’t like her voice on the ‘screechy’ songs to take a ‘dunny’ break.
There are the sensitive hit songs such as ‘Am I Not Pretty Enough’ and ‘Pony’, an ode to her latest love (her caravan) in ‘Take Me Down The Mountain’ and a lagerphone solo from drummer Sid Green. But all this totally contrasted with an epic heavy version of Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ (yes, indeed). Closing with ‘The Captain’ was almost an anticlimax.
Speaking of perfect festival sets, Russell Morris showed that despite his veteran status he still has plenty of interesting new songs which he balanced nicely with some of his classics on the Music City Stage.
It was nice to hear selections from the album Sharkmouth and then hear ‘Wings of An Eagle’ and ‘A Girl Like You’ a great version of ‘Hush’ which he originally recorded with Somebody’s Image, a terrific reading of Dylan’s ‘It’s All Over Now Baby Blue’ (which I had forgotten Morris recorded). Of course, the closer had to be ‘The Real Thing’ which Morris embraces rather than seeing it as a millstone. It was an excellent hour.
Southern Avenue from Memphis followed Morris and put in a lot of energy to a small crowd (although in the two big rooms anything less than 500 people looks a small crowd).
The Backsliders on the NAARM Stage provided a couple of the day’s highlights with interesting versions of ‘Gimme Shelter’ and Creedence’s ‘Run Through The Jungle’ with Joe Glover providing some great harmonica work in the shoes of previous occupants of that role in the band. Dom Turner’s guitar work remains distinctive while you have to wonder how drummer Rob Hirst sees this gig compared to his work in Midnight Oil. Is this a busman’s holiday for him? Whatever, his work on the skins is always impressive.
New Orleans-born Eugene ‘Hideaway’ Bridges, a frequent visitor, recently celebrated his 60th birthday which means that when he tells us about his 57 years playing music, he must have started at the age of three. I believe it. “I didn’t come here looking for a party,’ he says, “I brought the party with me.” He is a mix of Sam Cooke meets BB King – a lovely voice and superb playing. Bridges does such a convincing version of ‘Sweet Little Angel’ that if you close your eyes, you might think it was BB. He also has a couple of killer ballads including ‘in Your Arms Tonight.’
“This is weird,” said Xavier Rudd closing the Music City Stage, “but it’s good.” He drew a good crowd to the cavernous room with a spectacular light show, impressive backdrop, billowing smoke and one-person show that sometimes sounds like a full band. A little later, Ash Grunwald closed out the NAARM stage. At the other end of MCEC, The Doobie Brothers played at a separately ticketed show at The Plenary.
Sunday April 9 at Bluesfest Melbourne acts include Buddy Guy on his final Australian tour, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Keb Mo’, CW Stoneking, Chain and more.
Check Out the 2023 Bluesfest Byron and Melbourne Image Galleries Here