Byron Bluesfest 2023 – Part Two: Saturday and Sunday

Review by Nick Corr | Images: Steve Ford

A beautifully sunny Saturday kicked off with a similarly sunny set from Dog Trumpet. Brothers Peter O’Doherty and Reg Mombassa, best known as founding members of Mental as Anything, opened with ‘Mr Alcohol and Mrs Marijuana’ and are in great voice throughout the show. The touring line-up of Dog Trumpet includes Bernie Hayes on guitar and Jim Elliott (The Cruel Sea) on drums to produce a Sixties psychedelic sound.

The show includes songs from their most recent album Shadowland including the catchy single ‘Nina Simone’, and anti-military ‘F**cking Idiots’ which received a good response from the crowd, mostly for the swearing. The Auckland name checking ‘Great South Road’ features some BluesFest appropriate slide from Re. Highlight was a run through the great 1981 Mental as Anything single ‘Berserk Warriors’, before finishing with cover of fifties R&B classic ‘I Hear you Knocking’.

Jackson Browne and his eight-piece band work through a slightly longer set providing a good balance of material from his across his impressive career. Opening with the title track to his 2021 album Downhill from Everywhere, they move onto ‘Long Way Home’ which is performed as a duet with backing vocalist Chavonne Stewart to appreciative cheers from crowd. ‘Call It A Loan’ is dedicated to his long-time collaborator David Lindley, who co-wrote the song and sadly passed away last month. Jackson plays guitar for most of the show but switches to piano for ‘Fountain of Sorrow’ and a tender ‘Late for The Sky’.  ‘Doctor My Eyes’ includes an impressive guitar solo, before closing with a rapturous ‘Running on Empty’. 

Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit played two brilliant sets over Saturday and Sunday nights. Opening Saturday with ’24 Frames’ and Sunday with ‘What’ve I Done to Help’. Both shows included a few songs from their forthcoming new album Weathervanes, the menacing ‘Death Wish’ at both shows and a somber ‘Middle of the Morning’ on Saturday. A plaintive ‘Last of My Kind and acoustic ‘If We Were Vampires’, ‘Elephant’ and ‘Alabama Pines’ are also played. On Saturday guitarist Sadler Vaden takes lead vocals for a cover of Drivin N Cryin ‘Honeysuckle Blue’ from 2021 cover collection Georgia Blue.

Saturday night closed with a tender ‘Cover Me Up’ starting with Isbell solo before slowly joined by the whole 400 Unit. Sunday’s show was slightly longer which allowed time for Isbell to reach further into his catalog and include a riveting performance of ‘Decoration Day’ the title track he wrote for The Drive-By Truckers 2003 album. Inspired by his first performance at Bluesfest in 2010 when he got to meet long-time hero Peter Green, Isbell closes Sunday night with a blistering cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Oh Well’.

Closing the Delta stage on Saturday night Counting Crows provide a heartfelt overview of thirty-year career of mainstream roots rock. This includes almost half of their debut, and best-known album, 1993s August and Everything After opening with ‘Round Here’, a crowd pleasing ‘Mr Jones’ played early, accordion heavy ‘Omaha’, and late in the set ‘Rain King’. This was balanced with playing the entirety of their most recent release, 2021s Butter Miracle EP, in order with ‘Elevator Boots’ and the almost glam rocker ‘Bobby and the Rat-Kings’ sounding particularly good. A drawn out ‘Holiday in Spain’ closed the show.

Sunday started with Rockwiz Live, something of a Bluesfest tradition and always great fun. Musical guests included Mark Seymour who covered John Prine’s ‘She Is My Everything’ and performed a well-received version of his Hunters and Collectors classic ‘Holy Grail’. While Melbourne based soul singer WILSN and The Living End’s Chris Cheney dueted on a clever mashup of The Jam’s ‘A Town Called Malice’ with Amy Winehouse’s Zutons cover ‘Valerie’.

Nashville-based troubadour Steve Poltz mid-afternoon set on was a pretty even mix of music and comedy.

A lengthy version of the global chart topper he co-wrote with Jewel ‘You Were Meant for Me’ including a story of getting kicked out of a bar in the US south for correcting a singer who had the lyrics wrong.

His slow-paced cover of Paul Kelly’s ‘To Her Door’ was prefaced by reminiscing about the time Paul Kelly bought him breakfast. His crowd winning set closed with the upbeat ‘I Want All My Friends To Be Happy’.

With spirits starting to flag after three solid days of music, Femi Kuti and The Positive Force provided a perfect pick me up with their high energy set of interlocking rhythms, horns and enthusiastic backing vocals/dancers synonymous with Lagos Afrobeat. The eldest son of legendary Afrobeat founder Fela Kuti, Femi is carrying on his late father’s legacy of political activism via music. He is an impressive bandleader or self-proclaimed “flight captain” singing, playing saxophone, and directing his ten-piece band through an accessible mix of Afrobeat incorporating jazz and funk elements.

Kicking off with a funky reading of Buffalo Springfield’s ‘For What’s Its Worth’ which she originally recorded with The Staples Singers in 1967, Mavis Staples and her four-piece band treated Bluesfest to a great hour of tight playing and deep gospel and soul singing. ‘City in the Sky’ the title track from 1974 album is suitably funky. ‘Who Told You That’ from 2017s Jeff Tweedy written and produced If All I Was Was Black gives guitarist and band leader Rick Holmstrom a chance to shine with a blistering solo. As does a well-received version of The Staples Singers ‘Respect Yourself’ which they perform as a duet.

Next up is an inspired soulful take on Talking Heads ‘Slippery People’ before Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne join for a cover of The Carter Family ‘Will The Circle Be Unbroken’. The show closes with a great version of The Staples Singers upbeat 1970 single ‘Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom-Boom)’.

Bonnie Raitt opens her show by welcoming Canada’s The Bros. Landreth, who had performed earlier in the day, to join her for their song ‘Made Up Mind’ which Raitt recorded on her most recent album Just Like That and won Best Americana Performance at the 2023 Grammys. Her tight band, including one-time Beach Boy drummer Ricky Fataar, blast through a great set including John Haitt’s ‘No Business’ from 1991’s Luck of the Draw.

Mostly playing guitar, Raitt did switch to keyboards for ‘Nick of Time’.

A surprisingly low-key performance of 2023 Grammy Song of the Year ‘Just Like That’. A swampy run through INXS ‘Need You Tonight’ which Raitt recorded for 2016s Dig In Deep. A beautiful acoustic version of John Prine’s ‘Angel From Montgomery’ is dedicated to the late songwriter. A piano led ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me’, and ‘One Belief Away’ are also performed. Raitt closes the show with her brother David Raitt on harmonica and Mavis Staples bandleader Rick Holmstrom joining for shuffle blues of ‘Never Make Your Move Too Soon’.