Kendall Elise’s Bluesfest Report: Day 3

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Acclaimed Kiwi recording artist Kendall Elise and her drumming partner Chris Kemp are spending the holiday weekend in Australia, attending the Byron Bay Bluesfest.

Fortunately for us, she’s sending The 13th Floor daily reports. Here’s what she has to say about Day 3:

After the Iggy party from the night before we were all feeling a little dusty, so we were slow to start. The day began with us wandering into the festival to find coffee and a feed. I ended up with a huge Greek salad with juicy pieces of rotisserie lamb.

Once we had stuffed our faces we went over to the Jambalaya stage to see what all the commotion was.

It was a live stage version of the popular Aussie TV variety show RocKwiz. I wasn’t familiar with it – I liken it to a pub quiz – a combination of comedy, music and quiz rounds where members of the audience get up and show off their musical knowledge as well as average but enthusiastic singing voices.

The beloved hosts Julia Zemiro and Brian Nankervis poke fun at the contestants and themselves and welcome special guests on stage to perform with their house band, which features members of Paul Kelly’s band. We caught Ian Moss of Cold Chisel fame and Casey Donovan. I am keen to check it out again today… who knows which artists they will bring out.

That’s the beauty of a festival like Bluesfest. You can wander in on something fun and spectacular and even get a chance to see the same artist play a completely new set from the day before, which was what happened when we were in the right place at the right time to catch Imelda May play her second Bluesfest set.

Dedicating her set to journalist Lyra McKee, the emotion she was channeling into her performance was intense. Her first Bluesfest set was more subdued, so the energy and intensity took us by surprise. Opening with ‘When It’s My Time‘ from her most recent studio album ‘Live Love Flesh Blood‘ she wasted no time in reminding us that she has a talent for much more than just rockabilly music as she is so well known for. Her music spans the genres of Americana, and her voice effortlessly navigates them all.

Other set highlights included ‘Black Tears‘ and the rockabilly number ‘Big Bad Handsome Man‘ as well as a cover of The Animals’ ‘I’m Crying’. Her band were slick and the song ‘Game Changer‘ ended in a version of ‘Teenage Kicks’.

We made sure we caught Larkin Poe’s first Bluesfest set before they come to New Zealand to play at The Tuning Fork on Friday. Two sisters that play Southern Roots rock and are totally badass!

Lead singer and guitarist Rebecca goes from crooning to growling all while shredding and playing heavy rhythmic blues riffs. Megan plays a mean stand up style of lap steel on a 1940s bakelite Rickenbacker lap steel guitar, fitted with a custom piece that keeps it from tipping up while she’s moving around the stage playing to the audience. Megan and Rebecca’s vocals blend beautifully and the band are pretty hot too. I can’t wait for their Auckland show!

The other outstanding act we stumbled across was Fantastic Negrito. He is charismatic and theatrical, bringing the audience to a frenzy and slamming them right back down again. Playing to the crowd, he told us how he has only met his daddy two times – “The first time, he said ‘I’m not your Daddy’ and the second time he said ‘Never go to Byron Bay Australia. And if you do, never look a women in the eye – Those women are scary as hell'” before cranking into his song ‘Scary Woman‘. In his performance I could see influences of Screaming Jay Hawkins which was apparent in the song ‘Honest Man‘, performed under blood red lights and smoke.

One of the acts I was most looking forward to seeing was Ben Harper, who has a long history playing at Bluesfest and you could see that the audience were excited he had returned. Unfortunately – and I heard other audience members echo this sentiment – it seemed he had lost a little of his fire. Highlights were ‘Please Bleed’ and also an acoustic version of ‘Amen Omen’. He got Kasey Chambers up for ‘Another Lonely Day’ (of which she has recorded a cover), but her voice was shrill and overpowering for the vulnerable track. When Ben tried to lean in to the mic and harmonise with her he couldn’t get close enough. Ben then told us he wanted to bring his brother up on stage and to the crowd’s delight welcomed Jack Johnson. They played ‘With My Own Two Hands’. The two have a really lovely rapport and I enjoyed seeing them play together. Earlier in the day Ben Harper got up with Mavis Staples which I would have loved to have seen!

Definitely feeling a bit tired and sore. But two more days left!

 

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