REVIEW BY: YASMIN MORRIS (Yazmindi), MONIKA OBERSCHEVEN-SMITH & THERESA WILSON

Day two saw the grounds of Bluesfest a little bit more muddy, the footwear from everyone varied from bare feet, to sandals to the good old trusty gumboots. The sky could not decide on what it was doing, opening up, showering down on us in short bursts or gently falling on us sporadically. People mostly came prepared with ponchos, or rain coats or ran towards some of the food or stage tents to shelter from the drizzle. One of the biggest days to shoot and review. The team filled with coffee ran from stage to stage and tried to keep up with Day Twos epic line up of acts.

Vika and Linda’s set was a little late due to the traffic delays for all the new arrivals to Bluesfest, due to this influx of new bodies, and camping folks to the site. As the legendary sisters ran on to the stage you could tell they were a little flustered by the delay and told us they were in the clothes that they had worn to the event making it a priority to get to the stage over getting changed, but despite that they looked absolutely stunning and no one would have noticed. The second that they opened their mouths to sing not a single person in the audience recalled the delayed start at all. Their harmonies and the individually powerful voices of these sisters wafted over the crowd melting everyone into the happiest of states.

Multi talented Indigenous Australian rapper, record label owner, comedy writer, actor, and author Briggs, rocked the house down at Mojo tent and got us all in the festive Friday afternoon spirit. His performance was full of passion with punchy lyrics and big energy while being a proud kid from Shepparton, he has come a long way with major success but hasn’t lost touch with his roots. From the crowd's response, it is obvious that he continues to inspire many Australians by being an advocate for a better future for all, which put a smile on my face after being in his presence. When Troy Cassar-daley joined him onstage for a song, it made the show even better with the complimentary blend of country and hip hop.

I could hear Kim Churchills crisp acoustic folk rock and blues tunes dance in the air as I made my way to the Jambalaya stage. This was a blissful sight watching families and young children happily dancing together to positive music that soothes the soul. A perfect afternoon set that suited the Bluesfest relaxed vibe, being a solo one man band with lovely chats in between songs, Kim was an invigorating and talented act to watch.

High energy, infectious riff and groove based blue-billy-grass-rockin'-roots band 19-Twenty rocked the night away when they jumped on stage at 9:30pm Friday night. These lads were absolutely electric! Many punters stayed in the Jambalaya stage during the headliner acts because this band had them on the edge of their seats wanting more. The band had 3 shows over the weekend, definitely a crowd favourite and will most likely play on the main stage in no time…

The Angels are legends in their own rights, the have made a name for themselves from the early day pub scenes to playing to massive crowds on huge stage. They are a staple in the Aussie diet and any time “Am I ever Gonna See Your Face Again” comes on we all vocally add the “No Way, Get Fucked, Fuck Off” and from my research even The Angels themselves could not work out where it came from. They did say perhaps it came from a blue light disco when a DJ apparently got the crowd to do the chant but I do like that the mystery may never be resolved. This raucous hard rock band are among the longest-lasting bands to have emerged from the Australian pub circuit. Having made their mark on generations since the mid-1970’s. The crowd at Bluefest not only lost their minds when this track came on but the people but the people from the barrier to the front of the crowd right to the back of the packed tent were bouncing around and eating up the incredible live performance from the rock stars watching Dave Gleeson’s seemingly never ending energy darting around the stage made the crowd keep up with him for the entire set.

Australia Rock royalty The Living End were greeted to an absolutely packed marquee. The crowd were amped as the day turned into night. Double J live attended and were live recording the session for the people who could not make it to the festival. Chris Cheney’s high energy and spectacular finger plucking genius melted the faces and souls of everyone present to catch these top rate musicians and long standing fan favourites as he rushed all over the stage. Scott Owen’s following their high energy as he climbed all over his double bass with the theatrics and adrenalin fuelled balancing act which traditionally pulls the crowd into even more of a frenzy. This band is not only extremely talented but as performers their energy, enthusiasm and happiness leaked out into the bodies that were non stop bouncing, singing to the band, to each other and they were probably the biggest highlight of the entire festival.

Tex Perkins the Man in Black, one of Australia’s Rock n Roll outlaws walked onto the Delta stage as the American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash. As a Bluesfest only performance he proceeded with a band in toe to delight his fans with an hours’ worth of covers, that of which he did a fantastic job in paying homage to the late Johnny Cash who passed away in September 2003.

L.A.B formed by drummer, producer Brad Kora after his split from much-loved New Zealand band Kora hit the stage with full fire in their bellies. Their eclectic mix of reggae, electronic, funk and rock sent out a groove that could be felt amongst the masses as everyone lost their inhibitions and danced like no one was watching. A sure crowd favourite and their most popular track ‘In the Air’ resonated on into the atmosphere. L.A.B have released an album every year since their first album debut in 2017 proving themselves to be one of New Zealand’s hardest-working acts, with no signs of slowing down.

Sydney rock band Hoodoo Gurus gave us a taste of what it was like to be a young impressionable human living in the early 80s. David Faulkner looking very much at home front and centre in his silver suit jacket. This was Hoodoo Gurus first ever Bluesfest and the crowd was very much delighted to see them play some of their best tracks such as ‘What’s my Scene’, ‘Bittersweet’ and ‘1000 Miles Away’.

Midnight Oil, were a huge draw card for the majority of the audience as they absolutely packed the tent and were spilling out all around the outside of the tent covering almost every inch surrounding the stage. Peter Garrett's iconic dance moves in real life definitely lived up to expectations. Almost everyone in the crowd was singing along to their famous songs and a lot of people had fresh T-Shirts that they bought from the merch stand. The long staying band kicked off a two-hour show stopping performance as a part of their World tour ‘Resist’. The show was electric as they gave everyone under the big top a full scope into their newly released album and as we edged every closer to midnight the crowd were quick to rise and sing along to some of their older anthems like ‘Beds are Burning’ and ‘Power and the Passion’. Midnight Oil have said that this tour will be their last, taking it to the World stages in June beginning in the U.S.A before Europe and New Zealand so if you’ve never seen them, now may be your last chance.

PHOTOS BY: MONIKA OBERSCHEVEN-SMITH

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