Byron Bay Bluesfest Day Five: Bob and Elvis
Trip Start
Dec 28, 2010
1
56
57
Trip End
May 04, 2011
Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia
Monday, April 25, 2011
Many of their own songs have a Tom Waits' feel, speaking about everyday life and issues of the day (e.g., Robbins wrote a song dedicated to a 22-year old Iraqi War veteran's experiences). The rhythm and harmonies, however, sounded similar to Canadian icons Blue Rodeo with catchy harmonies and moving ballads.
In addition to playing their own songs, the band played some covers, including a very good version of Johnny Cash's "At Fulsom Prison", which began with a slow blues rhythm and finished with a rocking, honkeytonk sprint. Tim Robbins also paid tribute to his parents, who have since passed on. He led the crowd through "Mary Don't You Weep", which his mother sang to him as a young boy, and played a snippet of his father's band's live performance at MIT in 1963.
First Nations and Canadian living legend Buffy Sainte-Marie was next on the bill. She expressed her appreciation to the festival organizers for inviting her back, and she was smiling during her entire one-hour performance that was simply excellent. Her setlist had a great mix of old and new music which were sung in Cree and/or English. She also played "Up Where We Belong", which she co-wrote with Jack Nitzsche and was performed by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes. The song was written for the movie "An Officer and a Gentleman" and won Ms. Sainte-Marie an Academy Award.
Her performance was focused around messages of social justice, peace, and environmentalism. Her classic, "Universal Soldier", was well-received by the crowd. While the song was written close to 35 years ago as a protest song against the Viet Nam War, it remains quite relevant today.
The Warren Haynes Band had the enviable 7:00 time slot. Unbeknownst to us at the time, Warren Haynes is a member of Government Mule and a long-time member of the Allman Brothers Band. Haynes played mostly songs from his upcoming album, which will be released in May, but the crowd appreciated watching his superior guitar skills at work.
The last two performances were saved for two of music's greatest all-time acts. About 30,000 or 35,000 people (maybe more) packed themselves inside the Mojo Tent to watch Bob Dylan. Dylan was at his groveling best during the 90-minute show, and the audience hung onto every word and every note and cheered loudly during the start and end of each song. Dylan responded by playing with a lot of enthusiasm and smiling often throughout the show (a surprise for us since he rarely grinned during his Ottawa Bluesfest appearance in 2008). The opener, "Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking", set the tone while the encore saw Dylan sing "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Forever Young", which were the perfect endings to this great performance.
Elvis Costello and The Imposters were the final act this day (Dylan closes on Tuesday with Costello leading off). Many people left, but about 15,000 people stayed to watch the multi-talented artist. The set began with a huge bang, as Costello and The Imposters opened with "Pump It Up" followed by "Watching the Detectives" and "Good Year for the Roses".
While there was no Diana Krall sighting, Costello did ensure there was a female presence on stage. The Secret Sisters, who are from Alabama and sing traditional country songs, have toured with Elvis Costello in the past, were invited up on stage to sing a couple of songs, including Hank Williams' classic, "Why Don't You Love Me".
And with that, our time at the Byron Bay Bluesfest came to an end. It was also a great experience for us and a great way to wind down our trip, which only has a few days left. We met some great people, including a few Canadians, at the festival and the music was fantastic. This is a festival that we will definitely attend again, hopefully in the near future.
