Kendall Elise’s Bluesfest Report: Day 4

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 4:

On day four, the enormity of the festival finally hit us. Muscles were sore and lower backs were aching but we carried on, even if there were a few more naps and snacks than rock and roll!

Throughout the festival grounds there are a few food places that you can guarantee will be busy. But none so much as the organic donut stand, with queues that snake right through swarms of people heading from stage to stage. The moment the festival gates opened on day four we took the opportunity to get in there and see what the fuss was about. I got the caramel filled donut and Chris chose the plain round one. I could see why they were so popular! Deep fried while the filling is inside, each donut is warm and crispy – and the inside is soft and fluffy. So good!

We also made a beeline for the shake stand that had been super busy and had a delicious banana and peanut butter shake made with almond milk.

One of the only acts I managed to watch the whole way through was Tex Perkins and The Fat Rubber Band. The set started off with the standard Aussie pub country rock sound which didn’t catch me at first, but as they went on I was drawn in. I recognized and enjoyed the The Cruel Sea songs he played – The Tony Joe White song ‘Woman With Soul’ and, dedicated to James Cruickshank ‘This is Not The Way Home‘. His band was made up of some legends of Aussie music – ARIA award winning Matt Walker on acoustic / twelve string, Steve Hadley on Bass and Tony Pola on drums.

We wandered around and caught a few songs of Shakey Graves who hails from Austin, Texas. I really enjoyed one of his songs ‘Dearly Departed’, an upbeat number with a catchy clapping rhythm and an old country and rock sound. We also saw the last couple of songs of Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats and their mixture of Soul, Gospel, Blues Rock, and were lucky to hear the popular song S.O.B..

By 8 PM I was spent and went back to the tent for a nap. I woke up at 9:20 PM to touch up the lippy and eyeliner that had smeared on my face and stood in line to meet with Larkin Poe. They were lovely!

As the evening drew to a close we saw George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic who were solid intense funk. Super tight and you couldn’t help but dance!

We then headed to Jack Johnson who I initially wasn’t too fussed about seeing but surprisingly enjoyed his set, recognizing most songs. He got Lukas Nelson (the son of country music legend Willie Nelson) up for an awesome rendition of Tom Petty’s ‘You Don’t Know How It Feels’. Beautiful harmonies and just effortlessly well played tunes.

Final day! I’m feeling good. Will try and jam in as much as I can today!

Kendall Elise