BluesFest 2011 Byron Bay

I have been at BluesFest 2011 from Thursday to Tuesday this Easter , shooting from the media pit for the Home Brew Radio team.  Heading the bill :-    ZZ Top, Grace Jones, Leon Russell, Paul Kelly, Ben Harper, Elvis Costello, BB King, Osibisa, Mavis Staples, The Cat Empire, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Jethro Tull. 

... "every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man" according to ZZ Top .. just look at them ..

 

Some performers just excelled in their imagery and presentation, including "Bond Girl", Grace Jones ..

... Grace Jones, well, spectacular and always entertaining

 

... Hussy Hicks .. one of the best bands at the Festival ... sensational, just sensational .. also enjoyed Marshall's cameo appearance ..

 

 

.. Ian Anderson leading Jethro Tull, an elf dancing and singing his Songs from the Wood ... excellent .. the magic of Aqualung and Thick as a Brick remains

 

.. I think I first saw Osibisa in Sydney in 1974-75 ... whereas the lineup has changed, the electronic criss-cross rhythms of their Afro-Caribbean jungle music that explodes with happiness has not ... possibly the best band at Bluesfest this year

 

.. the Snowdroppers, ... plenty of colouful banter, I loved 'em ... and then from the entertaining to BB King ...

 

.. BB King ... well, he is BB King ...

 

.. as always, Kate Miller-Heidke, pretty, vocal acrobatics, funny stories, polished .......

 

... Mavis Staples is still belting it out ... I thought she was terrific ..

 

.. Ben Harper, famous, talented ... international ... the crowd thought he was great ...

 

More photos of these acts and other great bands and artists on the bill can be found by clicking on the Bluesfest 2011 link at the top of the sidebar ....

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See my pages on Band Image, Photographic Gear, Posters and CD Artwork ... plus all the photos from Bands I have shot - links at top of this page or in the sidebar

Calling Mayday - Back at The Hornsby Inn

I caught up with Em and Maggie plus their new band members Aika and Nicky at The Hornsby Inn.   The band is tighter with a fuller sound.  The two new members fit in well with the driving sounds of Calling Mayday.  Here are a few shots taken with my new Nikon D700 and f/2.8 24-70mm lens ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carmen Townsend

The best of the Canadian insurgents this year without a doubt, has been  Carmen Townsend.    Get to see her if you can while she is in Australia.

Hailing from Cape Breton in Nova Scotia, Carmen Townsend is a pocket power house.  She'd make Melissa Etheridge, Bonnie Tyler and Sinead O'Conor run for cover in terms of her talent and full-on performance.  Top stuff !

Chase The Sun

On Richard Glover's "Thank God It's Friday" tomorrow 11th Februay, appearing is my fave rave band of the moment, Chase The Sun.  I think highly of this band  ...

 

Pro Guitar & Sound

The Rock 'n Cafe {home of Pro Guitar & Sound} has held its official Opening Celebrations, fittingly on Australia Day !

Some great performers, including Phil Emmanuel, Smokin' Joe Robinson, Steve Edmonds, Stu Marshall, Ella Freestone,  Jesse Emmanuel, the Floorboards and Anno Domini were on hand throughout the day to support the new guitar and quality gear shop in Hornsby. 

 

 

Click on the thumbnail in the sidebar to see the photos of the celebrations.

Here are some of the other artists helping to celebrate the best guitar, drums, keyboards, PA and amps store in Sydney - manned by real musicians and current performers.

Here's Stu Marshall of Empires of Eden - guitarist and songwriter best known as a member of Dungeon for four and a half years and now the leader of Paindivision. Apart from these bands he also played on the album Fear No Decay by Japanese band Cerberus. In late 2007 he released a solo album entitled Altered States.

 

A bluesy set was played by the Steve Edmonds Band  - Steve has played guitar for  Jimmy Barnes, Renee Geyer, Richard Clapton, Matt Taylor,  The Australian Idol Band, Shannon Noll and Delta Goodrem.

 

The delighful Ella Freestone played in the lounge - this 18 year old from Manley has a lot of promise and talent ..

 

 

Down from Coffs Harbour and with quite a dynasty of talent in her forebears and rellies, Jesse  Emmanuel reckoned it was more fun playing and singing in Hornsby than spending Australia Day getting wiped on the beach ... she was terrific .. loved that green Fender acoustic !

 

... and then there was Joe Robinson .. for a young lad, this winner of the Australia'a Got Talent 2008 has played at a lot of places including London, New York, Helsinki, Budapest, Sydney, Berlin, Milan, Vienna, Bangkok, Rome and Amsterdam.

 

Finally, there was a the great wall of sound from Anno Domini ... striving for the death metal gong in Australia, like Dred, Templestowe,  Aeon of Horus and I guess the famous Behemoth from Poland ... just the job for Hornsby on a hot Australia Day arvo

On New Year's Eve 2010, I was delighted to shoot  Kate Miller-Heidke. 

Here is  Johnny Wishbone from the ever-so-colourful and disrespectful Snowdroppers.

 

 

... and here she is, star of TV's Spicks 'n Specks, Megan Washington performing with her great band Washington at The Bellbird, where I shot her for Home Brew Radio ...

 

 

 ... you may recognise both Martin Rotsey and that battered Fender Jazzmaster from Midnight Oil, now reformed after pointing Peter at the Parliament, as The Break ... wipeout, halfway between  The Chantays and the Beachboys .. which I guess is where The Oils started, in surfrock.  

 

 

 

 

.. and Ella Freestone, 18 and as talented as she is delightful, at Pro Guitar and Sound where you can buy the best guitars and gear in Sydney from the people who play them ...

 

 

At Thompsons Square Gardens, I shot the legendary Kevin Borich ...

I was lucky to find  bassist Suzie Bambach (pictured) and Ellie Plummer (daughter of well-known festival photographer Noel Plummer) from Paul Greene and The Other Colours at the Illawarra Festival.  

 

.. - and here's Phil Eammanuel at the opening of Pro Guitar & Music in Hornsby

 
  

.. adding some glam, Phoebe Juskevics on the drums and tinkle for Adam Hole & Marji Curran Band at the Fitzroy Hotel

 

... and in the blue light, Jan Rynsaardt of my fave rave band of the moment, Chase The Sun at The Macquarie Arms ... one of the best bands in Sydney .. get out and see them

One of the very best acts at the Peats Ridge Festival was Love in the Circus.

Strange and eerie, fronted by the sultry Leanna Rachel, who also swings a big bass, this is a hybrid act with a lot of front including dancers and bizarre presentation. To me, the band sounds like The Motels, sprinkled with Sade.  I like this stuff.

The music is a sort of gentle soul {like Martha Davis' Total Control} within a multi media performance. Regan Remy, on the harp {see her in the photos in the album in the sidebar}, creates a bizarre sight and sounds, with her great makeup and mask - and then there is troupe "Tuju Taksu" dancing around - plus trumpeter Johan Asplund. Excellent.

 

 

... and here's the Delta Riggs,  performing at The Underworld, led by the oh-so-colourful, smoking brave, Elliott Hammond

 

.. more photos as they happen by going to the individual band photo albums listed in alphabetical order in the sidebar.

Illawarra Folk Festival

I was down the south coast at the weekend .. great drive .. to shoot the festival at Thirroul, at the bottom of the Bulli Pass.  Click here to see images of the Illawarra Folk Festival.

To whet your appetite, here's Ami Williamson, doing her famous "Boil the Bunny" stunt while singing "Woman in Love" - great stuff ... she is just terrific ..