18 April 2025 – Bluesfest, Byron Bay – words by Bec Harbour – pictures by Clea-marie Thorne
Today is about revisiting what i really liked from yesterday if they’re doing another set. But with the likes of Toto and Christopher Cross doing sets today the stage has been set for tonight’s must sees.
I grabbed some lunch and sat to watch The Pierce Brothers. Jack and Pat have been doing this for a while and this is not their first Bluesfest rodeo – in fact I predict them becoming a festival staple if they can fit it in around their touring schedule!
I then went over to the Mojo stage to catch the tail end of Melody Angel – I need to catch a full set because they are amazing!
Marc Broussard – Bluesfest – photos by Clea-marie Thorne
I stayed for Marc Broussard, because finding new music is what you do at festivals – Broussard had a much more funk inflected blues (and one hell of a scream on him), until the 3rd or 4th song then the blues became much more blue. Then switched up again – this is the beauty of the blues genre – there are so many sub-genres and inflection that work.
Today is the day that is likely to be the busiest of the weekend. This means shade and seating are at a premium. Big thumbs down to the couple who had fold up chairs which looked far more comfy than the plastic ones we were in, who folded up their chairs and took the plastic row chairs. Dishonorable mention to the wagon menaces again today.
Fanny Lumsden was one of my must sees, having appeared at Glastonbury and pocketed a couple of Arias. First song had Tom in a kilt whirling about and then she told a story about the next song costing a cow and two piles of wood to be played at a funeral ‘When I Die’.
Fanny Lumsden – Bluesfest – photos by Clea-marie Thorne
Lumsden is a great storyteller between songs, not because they are a riveting storyteller, because of the way the story is woven in the set with humour and relevance. A must see becoming a favourite (even when she stumbles on the words). There was even a fantastic cover of Gotye’s ‘Somebody I Used to Know’.
After a bit of down time and a bit of dinner, I wandered down to the Delta stage to check out Allison Russell while waiting for George Thorogood over on Mojo.
Allison’s hypeman was a hypeman in the true sense announcing them like they were entering a wrestling ring. Then we were met with smooth clarinet and an absolute belter of a voice. The maturity in performance shows years of finding the niche and honing the craft making for a wonderful sound and a new discovery for me. Unfortunately scheduling interrupted and I needed to be elsewhere but an artist to try to see more of over the weekend.
The crowd trying to get into Mojo stage for George Thorogood and the Destroyers was massive (judging by the number of shirts, it was always going to be popular) and since I have already seen them and would be likely seeing them again next month, I wasn’t fussed that I could not be close enough to see or really hear. The banter was his usual and you can tell Thorogood loves his Australian audiences and they love him back.
George Thorogood & the Destroyers – Bluesfest – photos by Clea-marie Thorne
Toward the end I went over to Crossroads as the final two acts I’d be seeing tonight were both here. I snagged a seat (eternally grateful for this!) and settled in to listen to Maoli. Here’s an act that dresses in country outfits but play reggae with country, is it a contradiction? Maybe, but plenty of people were enjoying the music and having a groove along for this to work. Then they threw some wild covers together in a medley, ‘Smells like teen spirit’ ‘thunderstruck’ ‘enter sandman’ then followed up with ‘could you be loved?’ And a few more reggae covers.
Christopher Cross came out to a voice over intro that was a bit game show introducing a contestant then went straight into ‘it’s alright’ – these shows by Cross are supposed to be his celebration of 45 years of the self – titled album from 1979.
The crowd kinda did what my parents did with this music, put it on as background music and yapped over the top of it, I guess it’s great dinner party music? What people don’t realise is truly how talented Cross is, who never quite recovered from a difficult second album that did not reach the dizzying heights of his debut – Cross has been steadily releasing albums over the years and has a loyal audience.
Christopher Cross – Bluesfest – photos by Clea-marie Thorne
He intros his first album as “that green one you might have at home” and says you’ll recognize the next song ‘I really don’t know anymore’ which has an epic sax solo. He played a newer song off a recent album.
‘Sailing’ got a huge reaction and half the phones in the place with their little flippy out covers went up. A couple more songs then ‘Arthur’s Theme’ caused a choir moment.
Then came the finale ‘Ride like the Wind’ with the guitar solo it should have always had – Christopher Cross what an amazing show!
Now Toto – while we waited for the stage turnover they played ‘(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight’ over the PA and I will always be impressed with the Australian festival goers ability to sing along with what ever is presented to them on the PA between sets. And because ‘Kyrie’ is too damn hard to sing along with, the choir resumed with Tom Petty’s ‘Freefallin’ with extra gusto mostly on the word free. Intermission music crowd karaoke will never not be entertaining.
Toto – Bluesfest – photos by Clea-marie Thorne
Anyway back to Toto – they open with sweeping spotlights and some very triumphant sounding intro music. Then launched into ‘Carmen’, then everyone was crowd karaoke again for ‘Rosanna’.
A lot of people left after ‘Rosanna’, potentially they heard the song they wanted to hear? The rest of the set was a journey through the pretty extensive Toto catalogue including ‘Stop Loving You’ and ‘Don’t Chain My Heart’. They did save the best two for last after some band introductions (which was super interesting to hear about their work outside the band), ‘Hold the Line’ and the one I’m sure they all know ‘Africa’.
Singing along to ‘Africa’ was a pretty nice way to end day two.
Day 2 highlights
