Benz World Blog » Photopea

Ruby Mills

Jason Benz — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 13:01:03 +0000

This is Ruby Mills singing with the Melbourne Ska Orchestra at Hotel Brunswick on Friday. They delivered a high-energy ska show with a huge dollop of reggae. The set was a mix of classics like Pat Powell’s famous version of “The Best Things In Life Are Free” and new stuff from their latest album “Monte Loco Rides Again” which continues their recent spaghetti western vibe. It was also great to see newer members of the band given the freedom to create fresh new takes on traditional MSO songs.

Hotel Bruswick hosted The Wailers earlier this year when Bluesfest folded and international artists found themselves with plane tickets to a festival that had been cancelled. The venue is unique and great for live music. There is a large open courtyard which faces the riverside park so the number of people who can enjoy the music exceeds the capacity of the venue.

Thanks to Ruby for a great night out and putting my name on the door. It has inspired me to dust off my camera after the vacuum Bluesfest left behind. If you are playing in a band within a bicycle ride of Mullumbimby, leave a comment and I could cover your gig next.

Valley Festival

Jason Benz — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 13:15:00 +0000

This is Kooii playing at the Music In The Valley Festival in Main Arm today. It was a beautiful day to cycle up from Mullumbimby. The line-up was impressive, almost every act had been recommended by someone over the last few weeks. I particularly wanted to see Kooii live, as their mix of reggae, afro-beat, and world music creates a very cool groove sound that makes you want to dance. The local brewery had set up on a deck overlooking the stage, so I took the chance to sample a few of their range. I discovered the festival is the main fundraiser for the local school, so every drink helped the kids. I did my best to do my bit.

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.