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Paul Janeway

Jason Benz — Sun, 23 Apr 2017 23:06:26 +0000

This is St Paul and the Broken Bones on the Crossroads stage at Bluesfest 2017. Lead singer Paul Janeway is a force of nature. His passionate performance of authentic southern soul led a band with a massive groove factor.

UPDATE: St Paul will be back at the 30th Bluesfest in 2019. It is guaranteed to be a great show.

UPDATE: The band will return to the festival in 2023, tickets are available via the Bluesfest Website. A few days after the Easter festival they have shows in Melbourne and Sydney, tickets from Bluesfest Touring

This image is available for download here.

Neil Finn

Jason Benz — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 13:33:49 +0000

This is Neil Finn playing the Crossroads stage on the final day of Bluesfest 2017. Neil is a prolific songwriter, guitarist and singer. He was awarded an OBE for services to New Zealand music in 1993 with his brother, Tim Finn. He was joined on stage by bandmate and Crowded House bassist, Nick Seymour. They played many of their classic songs to an appreciative audience who sang along to hit after hit to close a wonderful festival. Crowded House will return one last time for the final Byron Bay Bluesfest in 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. Neil Finn will join his brother Tim Finn for a special reunion of Split Enz at Bluesfeat 2026. Tickets are available via the Bluesfest Website.

Byron Bay Bluesfest 2026
1st artist reveal

Complete Madness

Jason Benz — Sun, 16 Apr 2017 13:58:09 +0000

This is the Suggs from the band Madness playing the Mojo stage at 2017 Bluesfest. This was the final performance in their tour of Australia. I was thrilled to see them play as Complete Madness was the first vinyl record I bought with my brother more than 30 years ago. It was a their first compilation album and they played the same songs in the set tonight. Suggs is just as funny as he always was and the band messed around on stage like a bunch of school kids as they did one hit after another.

This image is available for download here.

Buddy Guy

Jason Benz — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 13:59:21 +0000

There are blues men and there is Blues Royalty. This is, without question, one of the last original Kings of the Chicago Blues. Bluesfest 2017 was honoured to have Buddy Guy playing on the Crossroads stage tonight. It was hard to believe he is 80 years old as he strolled around like someone half his age. Guy has been called the bridge between Blues and Rock and Roll as he links electric blues pioneers such as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf with popular musicians like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix, who copied Buddy’s tricks of playing the guitar over his head and with his teeth.

UPDATE: If you would like to see the hands which shaped the history of music. Buddy Guy will return to tour Australia in 2023. 10th April in Melbourne, 12th April Sydney. Tickets from Bluesfest Touring

UPDATE: Buddy Guy will return to the festival in 2023, Tickets from the Bluesfest website.

UPDATE: Buddy Guy will return to the festival in 2026. Tickets are available via the Bluesfest Website.

Byron Bay Bluesfest 2026
1st artist reveal

This image is available for download here.

The Lumineers

Jason Benz — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 13:58:00 +0000

These are the Lumineers playing the Crossroads stage at Bluesfest 2017. Their music has a folky edge with stomping rhythms and acoustic riffs. Although they are not strictly blues, We were told by festival director Peter Noble that it has been about more than blues for at least 20 years. He said his guiding principle when booking bands is to find artists who make music with people rather than computers, and for that, I am eternally grateful.

UPDATE: The Lumineers will return to Australia in November 2022. 13th in Brisbane, 15th in Sydney, and 18th in Melbourne. Tickets from Bluesfest Touring.

California Honeydrops

Jason Benz — Thu, 13 Apr 2017 13:59:46 +0000

It is often the bands you have never seen before on the smaller stages at festivals which impress the most. These are The California Honeydrops playing the Juke Joint of the 2017 Bluesfest. They have their own unique mix of Blues and Soul which will find you tapping your feet before you know it. (image download here) The California Honeydrops will return one last time for the final Byron Bay Bluesfest in 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.

Forest Rain

Jason Benz — Sat, 08 Apr 2017 00:07:07 +0000

This photograph was taken at Judd’s Lagoon just outside Yuleba in Queensland, Australia.

There is something magical about the light in a forest when the sun shines through the rain.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Southerly Point

Jason Benz — Fri, 21 Nov 2014 11:05:09 +0000

This beach was somewhere near mainland Australia’s most southerly point in Victoria 200km from Melbourne.

Karen is planning a trip around Queensland over Christmas 2014. I am hoping my camera and lens are back from Canon by then. In the meantime I have a decade of digital data to delve through to keep the weekly photoblog going.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.

Little Topar

Jason Benz — Sat, 01 Mar 2014 10:34:36 +0000

These trucks were parked at the Little Topar Roadhouse which we stayed at on our way into and out of Broken Hill in New South Wales. We were told you could “get a good feed there” and the bacon, eggs and sausage breakfast did not disappoint.

We are currently staying at the Warrumbungle National Park. The rain seems to have been following us for the last two days. This has made all the Australians we have met very happy, however we had hoped to visit an observatory where you can attach your DSLR body to their telescope and get pictures of colourful gas clouds and nebula. If our flight to the UK were not leaving in a week we would probably wait for better weather. As it is we have arranged a visit to a mine on Tuesday before a final dash to Sydney.

Swamp Wallaby

Jason Benz — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 01:47:39 +0000

This weekend we visited the David Fleay wildlife park. We saw our first platypus and this swamp wallaby. Both are Australian animals found along the east coast of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

This image has been accepted by Shutterstock for Stock Photography and is available for download here.