Sam Egan

Over the years we have come to expect a lot from Byron Bay music festival Bluesfest. The festival has earned a reputation for huge headliners, undiscovered gems and an inclusive environment that sees boomers, Xers, millennials and plenty of little ones all grooving together. But the 30th birthday edition faced some unusual struggles well before doors opened. Loyal patrons were underwhelmed as the line-up was progressively announced. Recent years have seen some enormous drawcards for the older crowd – Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Tom Jones, Brian Wilson, Patti Smith – and for the younger crowds – Kendrick Lamar, Lauryn Hill, Nas, Mary J Blige, Fat Freddy’s Drop and Erykah Badu. This year’s headliners – Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Iggy Pop and Paul Kelly (big names no doubt) – all felt a bit familiar. The late addition of ‘genuine headliners’ the Saboteurs (a renaming of Jack White’s supergroup the Raconteurs) did little to remedy the disappointment. Maybe if it was the White Stripes…   Iggy Pop at Bluesfest 2019 Photograph: Supplied   Punters were further put off by the announcement that on-site parking would no longer be free. After much uproar, the offer was postponed to 2020. And then there was the forecast. It called for rain. Lots of rain. Yet, the vibe inside was still an event at the top of its game. The ground underfoot stayed solid, the grass sittable, the beer lines swift, the food stalls pumping, and the crowds, across all five stages, singing and dancing and seemingly b

The good times kept on rolling at the 29th installment of Bluesfest Byron Bay. It was business as usual for the five-day festival whose promoters have perfected their signature formula; big tents, big sound, great food, great artists, minimal decorations, minimal gronks, and damn good organisation. If you haven’t gone. Go. Bluesfest is a festival in the truest sense; a gathering of all ages and origins, unified through music. Amongst the headliners is an endless pulse of blues, roots, folk, country, pop, reggae, hip hop and jazz and world music that generates the cliché Bluesfest comment, “the best bits are the acts you’ve never heard of!” Here’s why you should’ve bought a ticket to this year’s fest: What worked for millennials… Bluesfest’s marketing and line-up generally speaks more to the boomers, but the 18-35 bracket is very well represented on ground. Many enjoying the logistical ease and civility generally not on offer at more youth focused events. And a few who were just born old. Photograph: Evan Malcolm   Ms. Lauryn Hill was of course the act this crowd was waiting for. And already anxious punters were forced to wait a bit longer as quite possibly the world’s worst hype DJ played trashy hip hop and yelled “Brisbane! Make some noise, one time!” One time became many times. The boos started up and the exodus began. Half an hour later, Lauryn Hill finally took the stage with a full live band and launched into memorable hit ‘Everything’. Sweet relief. She did keep refe

With a seven-week-old baby in tow, and a career(/lifestyle) firmly rooted in live music, Easter was the time to answer a question I presume many new or soon-to-be parents have pondered: can you take a baby to a music festival? The answer is yes. You can. But there are definitely some factors to consider. After a pretty successful first attempt at Bluesfest 2017, here are my tips: 1. Choose your festival wisely!Bluesfest was the perfect choice for my partner and I. Having attended the previous four years together, we know the site and experience well; the shortcuts, parking spots and general ebbs and flows of the five-stage, five-day beast of an event. The organisers have mastered the set-up and logistics to ensure that punters of all ages can have a maximal experience, a sentiment backed up by the line-up and curation. You need only notice the swarms of face-painted eight year olds, or the doofed-up, all-terrain toddler rickshaws, or the rows of heads in camping chairs up the back of Jethro Tull to affirm that Bluesfest is truly a family festival. 2. Make sure your accommodation and travel plans are tightIt’s a notorious happening for Bluesfest (as well as Falls and Splendour) patrons to book digs in Byron Bay. Traffic and bus queues can make this a real shitfight of a daily pilgrimage. With some local friends and intel on our side, we were perched just over the hill in Myocum with a rotation of designated drivers. Camping is of course the most convenient option, but that mig