Benz World Blog » Music

Rob Hirst

Jason Benz — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 07:23:52 +0000

This image is musician, songwriter and producer Rob Hirst playing with the Backsliders on the Mojo stage at Bluesfest 2023.

Rob also played Bluesfest in 2022 with a band he founded called Midnight Oil. When they played the first three notes of his song “Beds Are Burning”, I saw the crowd move as one as far as the eye could see. It was an amazing experience I will never forget.

After it was announced the Backsliders would be back for Bluesfest 2026, I downloaded their latest album “Bonecrunch” It is an old school electric blues album, full of rhythmic energy, and perfect for getting your Blues on.

I was listening to it when I read the tragic news that Rob Hirst had lost his battle with cancer. After the initial shock, the music community and Bluesfest responded by announcing a tribute to Rob Hirst to be performed at the festival by a range of musicians. I suspect “Beds Are Burning” will echo around the festival in 2026.

UPDATE: Bluesfest 2026 has been cancelled and the Backsliders Rob Hirst tribute has moved to the Byron Theatre on the 4th April.

Many of the artists from the cancelled Bluesfest 2026 line up are continuing with revised gigs, including….

Sublime:
Wednesday, April 1st – Festival Hall, Melbourne VIC
Saturday, April 4th – Hordern Pavilion, Sydney NSW
Wednesday, April 8th – Wolfbook Arena, Christchurch NZ
Friday, April 10th – Trusts Arena, Auckland NZ
Saturday, April 11th – Brewtown, Wellington NZ

The Black Crowes:
Thursday, April 2nd – The Forum, Melbourne VIC
Friday, April 3rd – The Forum, Melbourne VIC
Monday, April 6th – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane QLD
Wednesday, April 8th (NEW SHOW) – Enmore Theatre, Sydney NSW
Thursday, April 9th – Enmore Theatre, Sydney NSW

Pogues:
Wednesday, March 25th – Fremantle Prison, Fremantle WA
Friday, March 27th – Hindley St Music Hall, Adelaide SA
Sunday, March 29th – The Forum, Melbourne VIC
Thursday, April 2nd (NEW SHOW) – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane QLD
Sunday, April 5th – Sydney Opera House, Sydney NSW
Monday, April 6th – Sydney Opera House, Sydney NSW
Wednesday, April 8th – St James Theatre, Wellington NZ
Thursday, April 9th – Christchurch Town Hall, Christchurch NZ
Saturday, April 11th – NZICC Theatre, Auckland NZ

Marcus King:
~~Wednesday, April 1st – Powerstation, Auckland NZ~~
~~Wednesday, April 8th – Enmore Theatre, Sydney NSW~~
~~Friday, April 10th – The Forum, Melbourne VIC~~
~~Saturday, April 11th – Hindley St Music Hall, Adelaide SA~~

The Wailers:
Wednesday, April 1st – Drifters Wharf, Gosford NSW
Thursday, April 2nd – Metro Theatre, Sydney NSW
Friday, April 3rd – Finnians Tavern, Port Macquarie NSW
Saturday, April 4th – Coffs Hotel, Coffs Harbour NSW
Sunday, April 5th – Hotel Brunswick, Brunswick Heads NSW

Split Enz:
Wednesday, May 6th – TSB Bank Arena, Wellington NZ
Thursday, May 7th – TSB Bank Arena, Wellington NZ
Friday, May 9th – Spark Arena, Auckland NZ
Saturday, May 10th – Spark Arena, Auckland NZ
Wednesday, May 13th – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne VIC
Thursday, May 14th – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne VIC
Monday, May 18th – TikTok Entertainment Centre, Sydney NSW
Tuesday, May 19th – TikTok Entertainment Centre, Sydney NSW
Friday, May 22nd – RAC Arena, Perth WA
Monday, May 25th – Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide SA

The Living End:
Saturday, April 4th – Hotel Brunswick, Brunswick Heads NSW

Marcus King

Jason Benz — Sat, 29 Nov 2025 22:24:41 +0000

This is Marcus King, a Grammy-nominated artist, in a captivating performance under his own name on the Crossroads stage at the 2023 Bluesfest. Since then, Marcus has reformed with his original band, who describe their music as soul-influenced psychedelic Southern rock. The Marcus King Band was booked for Bluesfest in 2026 before it was cancelled. Bluesfest had a long history of supporting bands in a music industry which increasingly focuses on solo artists.

Note: After a boot SSD failure, I took the opportunity to ditch Windows and Photoshop in favour of Ubuntu and Photopea. This is the first image created on the open-source platform. Thanks to Alex and Paul for facilitating the switch.

Nicky Bomba

Jason Benz — Sun, 20 Apr 2025 13:17:49 +0000

This is Nicky Bomba leading the awesome Melbourne Ska Orchestra on the Delta stage on the final day of Byron Bay Bluesfest. I saw their previous set on Saturday and was impressed that they had enough quality songs, they did not repeat the same set. This is unusual. In my experience, the larger a band gets, the harder it is to produce more than 1 tight set. MSO is no ordinary band, In 2018 they recorded one new song a week for a whole year, producing 4 albums.

Credit must also be given to the backstage crew who keep every performance running like clockwork, no matter how big the band. The success of the sold-out Bluesfest 2025 has guaranteed the future of live music festivals in NSW for now. However, this great festival is only made possible by people buying discounted early bird tickets, so Peter Nobel can book more great acts for Bluesfest 2026.

Miss Kaninna

Jason Benz — Sat, 19 Apr 2025 13:25:50 +0000

This is proud and unapologetic Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Kalkadoon, and Yirendali woman, Miss Kaninna, on the Mojo stage on the 3rd day of the sold-out Byron Bay Bluesfest 2025. She reminded me of seeing Lady Saw in Jamaica 20 years ago. Full of raw, angry, in-your-face energy and raunchy lyrics. Later in the set, she told stories about her family, who had suffered at the hands of police in Australia. She urged everyone to use their vote to stop the opposition leader and ex-cop from becoming Prime Minister in 2 weeks. The crowd responded with a big cheer. In fact her political message went down better than Albos attempt on the same stage 3 years ago, which was met with boos for the same vote appeal. Maybe Miss Kaninna should write the Prime Minister’s speeches from now on. It would certainly liven up the election.

UPDATE: Due to the success of Bluesfest this year, It’s future has been confirmed. Discounted early bird tickets for next year are being sold during the festival via this link.

Lachy Doley

Jason Benz — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 13:52:17 +0000

This is Lachy Doley on the Jambalaya stage on the second day of Byron Bay Bluesfest. He has been called the Jimi Hendrix of the Keyboard, and when you see him live, there is no better description. It is like a wild guitarist is fighting to get out when he bends notes on his Whammy Clavinet. Keyboard players typically don’t have much ability to move compared to other musicians, but this does not stop Lachy from putting on a dynamic performance. He was like a golden retriever who ate the instant coffee when he sprinted around the stage between songs. The Lachy Doley Group has a second set on Sunday. All tickets have now sold out on the Bluesfest Website.

UPDATE: Due to the success of Bluesfest 2025, its future has been confirmed. Discounted early bird tickets for the 2026 festival are available here.

Melody Angel

Jason Benz — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 13:45:00 +0000

This is Melody Angel on the Delta stage putting the Blues in Bluesfest on the first day of the Byron Bay music festival. It was the most powerful performance so far, and there was a lot of competition, such as Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine) At the time of writing, Melody Angel has 3 more shows over the weekend, a few ticket options are still available via the Bluesfest Website.

UPDATE: Due to the success of Bluesfest 2025, its future has been confirmed. Discounted early bird tickets for the 2026 festival are available here.

Electric Cadillac

Jason Benz — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 13:55:33 +0000

I have never seen a guitarist and bass player switch instruments so quickly mid-song. This is Electric Cadillac on the Delta stage, kicking off the music at the pre-party party of Byron Bay Bluesfest 2025. All the festival goers who camp onsite are treated to a sneak peek on Welcome Wednesday before the festival officially starts on Thursday. Festival director, Peter Nobel, briefly chatted with the crowd after their set and hinted there may still be a future for Bluesfest as ticket sales have broken records. At the time of writing, a few ticket options are still available via the Bluesfest Website.

UPDATE: Due to the success of Bluesfest 2025, its future has been confirmed. Discounted early bird tickets for the 2026 festival are available here.

Nahko Bear

Jason Benz — Tue, 31 Dec 2024 13:01:20 +0000

Happy New Year 2025. This is Nahko and Medicine for the People playing on the Jambalaya stage at Bluesfest Byron Bay in 2017. He is wearing a “Make America Native Again” cap. Then, as now, the world is facing uncertainty about the future. One thing is certain, Nahko Bear is returning to Bluesfest in 2025, this time he is billed as just Nahko without his band. This is a trend in music, the industry is putting money behind solo artists over bands. This is something Bluesfest has resisted. You will always find bands at Bluesfest.

I cannot think of anything worse than paying hundreds of dollars for a festival ticket, only to watch someone press play on a laptop. You can pay even more money to watch elaborate costumes and dance routines to hide the fact that there is someone backstage pressing play on a laptop. Bluesfest is committed to supporting musicians making music with instruments rather than computers. It is a live music experience like no other.

Nahko will return to the festival with an unnamed band in 2025, tickets are available via the Bluesfest Website.

UPDATE: Due to the success of Bluesfest 2025, its future has been confirmed. Discounted early bird tickets for the 2026 festival are available here.

Mummy Cass

Jason Benz — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 22:42:14 +0000

This is Mummy Cass charging up before the 2024 Byron Bay Bluesfest. The 5000 year old reanimation process harnesses the energy from a perfectly timed bolt of lightning to bring the ancient party spirit back to the future.

There have been 70 mummies in the last 20 years. Mummy Cass is 1 of about 10 roaming mummies. They are a rare wild breed of mummy who have passed through the boarding gate. After thousands of years in a sarcophagus, most mummies are unwilling to be sealed into a jumbo jet.

This was overcome when it was discovered if 10 cats are wandering free for each mummy, they would become relaxed enough to get onboard. Once the simple process of herding 100 cats on a plane was done, the fun-funk band of coffin dodgers could go on tour.

It was suggested, if 1000 mice were released on the plane, cats and mummies would follow willingly. When Australian Boarder Force heard about this plan they deployed a highly trained team of drop bears to meet the plane on the runway.

By then the cats had taken control of the plane and were refusing to negotiate with everyone, except royalty. It was resolved when the drop bears had lunch with the mice, in return “Here Come the Mummies” and “The Cat Empire” will bring the party to Easter 2025. Tickets are available via the Bluesfest Website.

UPDATE: In 2026 Bluesfest will be the last in a line of major festivals closed from increasing headwinds. This began before covid, with the previous state government’s legislative “war on festivals“. The new government risks letting this trend continue through inaction. However, you can change this. If 20,000 signatures are received, the NSW Parliament must debate Bluesfest’s future. #savebluesfest if you live in the state Sign up here. For everyone else, there is an international petition on change.org Sign up here.

UPDATE: Due to the success of Bluesfest 2025, its future has been confirmed. Discounted early bird tickets for the 2026 festival are available here.

Velvet Trip

Jason Benz — Sat, 12 Oct 2024 00:56:44 +0000

Frontman, Zeppelin Hamilton with Velvet Trip on the Jambalaya stage at the 2024 Bluesfest in Byron Bay. The following day Zeppelin did an overlapping set on the Delta stage with Dan Sultan on the far side of the festival site. Thanks to an efficient backstage shuttle service, he did both sets without any problems. Bluesfest has a global reputation for running like clockwork. Regulars are used to artists onstage the exact time they are listed. In 10 years the only delay I remember was the Prime Minister who delayed Jimmy Barns by 2 minutes to give an election pitch. No politician will risk that again as the boo’s made the news.

If you like the French bands “Air” and “Daft Punk” but prefer your psychedelics home-grown “Velvet Trip” is for you. They are part of a growing psychedelic pop scene in Australia along with “Tame Impala”, “Parcels” and “Pond”. Maybe there is something in the water? Velvet Trip is a good description of this retro-chill-pop band. Dreamy reverb vocals, guitar jams and a sprinkle of synths. Imagine “Pink Floyd” without the deafening crescendos.

The last frontman to do earnings and tattoos with this much style was Prince, and even Prince did not show off his tatts like Aussies do. Few have the confidence to make such a bold fashion choice, but when you have a name like Zeppelin, anything is possible, so the gold chain and shades are essential to turn the Rockstar look up to 11.

Velvet Trip have been confirmed for the final Byron Bay Bluesfest at Easter 2025, tickets are available via the Bluesfest Website.

UPDATE: Due to the success of Bluesfest 2025, its future has been confirmed. Discounted early bird tickets for the 2026 festival are available here.