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Miss Velvet and the Blue Wolf
Hot lights and raspy rock vocals: Miss Velvet has the festival tent in her spell: billed as Janis Joplin mixed with Etta James and Mick Jagger, she brings a high-energy metal edge to Blue Wolf’s psychedelic rock.
I love Bluesfest!
Byron Bay Bluesfest, the annual five-day Easter long-weekend festival of blues and roots music from around the world, always includes a line-up of interesting international visitors. Some are big names that take me back to my youth (see, for example: Bring on the Big Names; The Soundtrack of my Youth; Musical Name-Dropping; The Sound of Sunshine); others are more contemporary favourites that I am familiar with thanks to their previous Bluesfest attendances; still others are completely new (to me) discoveries. Often, the performers that stand out most are those I wouldn’t normally seek out on my own: having five-or-more artists performing at any given time across the 120-hectare Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm site allows me to sample the unfamiliar without risk.
This year was no exception: I was looking forward to some big names and old favourites (see, for example: Old Rockers, Punk and Protest), but I also added some new finds to my list.
Of course, I appreciate the “looking” almost as much as the “listening”. I revel in the trials of shooting moving-objects-at-a-distance-in-low-and unpredictable-light-while-dancing. These shots are mostly taken on my old Canon 6D with a EF70-200 lens (with no Image Stabilisation!) at f 2.8 and ISO 1600 or 3200. That makes for interesting Lightroom processing challenges, but some of the results turned out ok.
Enjoy!
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Tent Tops
Evening falls over the Bluesfest tents, leaving the sky dull and grey outside; …
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California Honeydrops
… inside the modest Delta Tent, however, the colourful jacket and cheerful sounds of Lech Wierzyński – frontman of the California Honeydrops – have the crowd smiling.
Lech Wierzyński
Born in Warsaw, Poland, band leader and front man Lech is an accomplished vocalist …
Lech Wierzyński
… and multi-instrumentalist, with a cheeky smile, and a way with (English) words.
Ben Malament on Washboard
The California Honeydrops have come a long way since percussionist Ben Malament and Lech Wierzyński were busking in a Californian subway station.
California Honeydrops on Stage
The tent was packed and bouncing!
Melody Angel
The lighting can make photography tricky: Melody Angel is colourfully backlit in silhouette as I join her in the Juke Joint tent.
Melody Angel
She is – as I remember her (see: Blues Women Rock) – …
Melody Angel
… – fiercely Hendrix, with a mix of Prince and Chuck Berry.
Samantha Fish
This year’s festival introduced me to another kick-ass female guitarist: singer-songwriter guitarist Samantha Fish, who recorded and released her first album in 2009, and has won a raft of awards – for songs and albums, for vocals, and for guitar – since then.
Samantha Fish
Billed as a blues rock/roots rock performer, she embodies rock-chic attitude. The legendary Buddy Guy has recognised her talent on stage.
Samantha Fish
I thoroughly enjoyed her music, and returned the next day for another set.
Elephant Sessions
From the Highlands of Scotland, Elephant Sessions bring youthful enthusiasm to their modern take on traditional Celtic music; called “neo-trad” or “post-traditional” music, their mix of folk, rock, funk and electronica has won them numerous awards.
Elephant Sessions
Their sets were well-attended, high-energy, and lively. The lighting created extreme photo-challenges!
Irish Mythen
This is the very definition of “International”: singer-songwriter Irish Mythen hails from County Wexford, Ireland, and is now based in Canada’s tiny Prince Edward Island. I’ve enjoyed her cheeky humour and killer vocals before (see: Blues Women Rock; Blues all over the World; sound clip: Irish Whisky and Pewter).
“The Auld Triangle”
Irish finishes her set with an a cappella rendition of Brendan Behan’s “Auld Triangle”. I had chills and goosebumps.
“I’m with Her”
Sporting yellow jumpsuits that are apparently a branded American style item, rather than a Ghostbuster costume, the Grammy-award-winning American trio “I’m with Her” is comprised of Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aiofe O’Donovan: three successful solo performers in their own rights. They had their name a good 18 months before the Hillary Clinton campaign used the phrase as a slogan.
Ruthie Foster
Texan blues and folk singer-songwriter Ruthie Foster is the equivalent of musical sunshine! It was impossible not to smile.
Shakey Graves
I could listen to Shakey Graves – another (albeit very different) Texan – all day! Clearly, I am not alone: the massive Crossroad Tent is packed out.
Norah Jones on the Big Screen
It’s only 6:30 in the evening, but the crowd has settled in: the inimitable Norah Jones takes to the keyboard, and her voice wends its way around the packed tent. I had been excited to see/hear her, but truthfully, I was disappointed: a festival is not the ideal setting for her intimate songs. The stage was a long way away, people were crushed in, heads were everywhere – obscuring even the big screens – and the people around me never stopped talking or singing along.
Star Power
Miss Velvet and the Blue Wolf were a joy: metal-edged psychedelic rock with high-energy agro and a heart of gold.
Miss Velvet: Metal Attitude
Her faultless, screaming vocals have been compared with those of Steven Tyler from Aerosmith.
Miss Velvet and the Blue Wolf
Miss Velvet and the Blue Wolf in the Signing Tent
The band members were all delightful and charming to their fans at their signing.
I was actually lined up at the signing tent for an act other than Miss Velvet and the Blue Wolf – as much as I enjoyed their live sets, it’s not music I’d play at home except for vacuuming – but members of the band still chatted with me and posed happily.
Clearly, like us festival-goers, they are there for the joy of the music.
And that’s what it is all about!
Until next time …
To the Music!
Photos: 18-22April2019
[…] Easter long-weekend Byron Bay Bluesfest that I’ve broken my posts into sections (see: Spotlight on International Performers; Old Rockers, Punk and Protest) – and, there were many, many more I didn’t see. […]
[…] much as I love the opportunity to enjoy performers from around the world (e.g.: Spotlight on International Performers; and Dancing in the Dark), especially those I have loved since my youth (see: Old Rockers, Punk and […]