Bluesfest 2009 Preview

7 April 2009 by Max Easton

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With the East Coast Blues & Roots Festival only inches away, we give you a brief run down of the features, oddities and logistics of Australia's most recognised festival.

For the last 20 years over Easter, Byron Bay has hosted the East Coast Blues & Roots festival with 100+ bands spread over 5 days of music. On this, their 20th anniversary, a similarly special array of artists from all across the globe will gather themselves in Byron Bay, along with thousands upon thousands of attendees.

So what should you bring? What's new this time around and how concerned should you be about rain? The answer to all these questions, and more you haven't even asked are to follow...and they are as such; stuff, a bit and probably really quite much so.

The Features:

Morning of the Earth
An unusual feature of Bluesfest ’09 is the screening of surf-film, Morning of the Earth. The second highest growing surf movie of all time, 1972’s Morning of the Earth. Featuring surfer’s Nat Young and Gerry Lopez, the film follows a range of surfer’s as they search for that penultimate wave, building boards, homes and careers along the way. The most exciting part about this screening though, is the performance that accompanies it, with Lior, Old Man River, Mike Rudd and original composer Brian Cadd performing live during the screening of the film.

The Cabaret Stage
For the first time in its 20 year history, Bluesfest debuts a new stage devoted to cabaret performances and all the weird and wonderful artists making up this years line-up. Including Mojo Juju, Pugsley Buzzard , Bob Log III and Sydney cabaret group, Kush Cabaret, this stage is sure to be of equal levels of bizarrity and entertainment.

The Forecast:
It's not the best. In fact, with half of Northern New South Wales literally underwater, it's sorta to be expected. A whole range of forcasts have decided that it's gonna rain...anywhere from a lot, to just a little bit, to not at all. But one thing is certain - it'll be muddy underfoot, so have your designer leopard print gum boots at the ready.

Logistics:
With the population of Byron Bay expanding beyond belief for this single weekend, it's going to be tough to find good accomodation close into to town, so if you aren't booked in, it's worth getting a crack on tracking down places now. Try caravan parks for a spare campsite, or backpacker's for a bed for most nights.

Travel is also a funny one to Byron over Easter. Flights right now are pretty expensive, so it might be worth booking to Brisbane and taking the shuttle bus to Blues. Other options include the Countrylink train (tickets are around $80 for adults, $60 for students) or carpooling, lifts of which are offered pretty regularly on the official Bluesfest forums at www.bluesfest.com.au . You could also try Soulshine's own community to see if there are any lifts offered from across the country.

In fact, check out our forums for access to the tips, advice and words from a whole host of festival attendees old and new.
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Stay tuned to Soulshine for our extensive Bluesfest coverage including photos, reviews and several interviews with some very special Bluesfest artists that are not to be missed.