Live Review + Photo Galleries: Bluesfest Byron Bay enters Day 3

The penultimate day, Saturday, saw a few early technical issues overcome, before leading to a slightly later start which still saw me get around to a further nine artists for the day.

New festival favourites, 19-Twenty started out the proceedings, whipping the large crowds who now flock to their performances into a frenzy, setting the scene and mood for the rest of the day with their high-energy show and witty, laugh-out-loud banter.

Next up was probably my most highly-anticipated act for the entire festival, The Memphis Three. Having missed them at their first performance the day before due to an episode of operator error (not carrying a spare battery for the camera) I was more than keen to catch this act.

The Memphis Three is comprised of three (often) solo acts, who have, over a number of years since 2004, been the only three international acts to have won The International Blues Challenge, held annually in Memphis, Tennessee in the U.S.A. Fiona Boyes, Jimi Hocking and Frank Sultana have joined forces to showcase their undoubted talents whilst touring their show around the country, incorporating songs from each of the artists catalogues, and as is traditional with the blues, songs from across the rich history of blues music.

Next up was a rising star from my home state of Tasmania, Miss Kaninna. A proud indigenous artist from Bruny Island who seamlessly blends rap, soul and pop music with a fierce determination to confront the issues facing the first nations people of Australia, Miss Kaninna drew the crowd in with her polished debut performance.

Northern Rivers-born RY X caught my attention next, with his one-man show blending ethereal loops with a voice as smooth as velvet – yet another act who had me searching for physical copies of his music.

As a complete change to the relaxing ambience of RY X, Melbourne Ska Orchestra once again pumped the crowd up with their infectious off-beat tones and skanking good-time vibes, with lead protagonist, Nicky Bomba leading the way with this 20+ piece juggernaut.

More Bluesfest royalty was to follow with the immense talents of multi-instrumentalist Xavier Rudd who always draws an immense crowd of faithful fans to his shows at this festival.

Next up were Gold Coast locals, Hussy Hicks performing with their full band. I always catch at least one of their performances at Bluesfest, as this band was the band that profoundly rekindled my love of live music back in 2015 when I first saw them perform, their infectious joy for what they are doing on stage and the brilliance of the musicianship and song-writing hypnotizing me and giving me a renewed vigour for live performance, which I carry to this day. Ever the professionals, they brought out no less than four guests to collaborate with throughout their perfomance.

I also felt that I had to catch Gary Clark Jr again, as I had been mesmerised by his performance from the night before, and once again, he didn’t disappoint.

I finished the night by catching the wonderful 1920’s blues/jazz/folk of C.W. Stoneking, with this being the first time I had seen him with his band, and was a rare treat indeed.

19-Twenty Gallery: