photos by harley brown and Riah Jaye
The roar of the crowd hit us the instant we killed the engine.
Those rare goosebumps only a thousand voices singing together can summon. We paused for a moment, locked eyes, and a smile stretched across my face, onto Riah’s. “Woah.”
Just moments before we’d been exchanging worried glances; pulling into the campsite area, we knew our old, heavy van was destined to be bogged wherever we stopped and the dark, threatening clouds overhead mocked us.
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But now we were caught up in the excitement; we’d been tasked with photographing the big names of Bluesfest and the electricity in the air wasn’t coming from above — we could feel it from the crowd hundreds of metres away. What a sound. How could we capture that feeling in a photo?
Quickly now, the FOMO was setting in. Check, double-check, and triple-check our camera gear and the fact that we definitely won’t need our rain jackets, right? Right…
“Other arm,” the man at the box office said for the third time, waving our wristbands at us and we laughed as the rain poured down our faces – we needed those jackets after all. A river of people followed the current at our feet and chatter of the unfortunate Splendour cancellation was around, worried expressions were often the reply: is this going to sludge into another 2022 Splendor in the Mud? Are we trapped, bogged and inevitably being sent away?
The torrent grew worse as we entered the festival, but as we did, we noticed the stream kicked up the lights and smiles from stalls and revellers and people danced in the downpour. We swam through the rain to meet a sea of people huddling under the massive Crossroads stage tent; an island floating on vibes and sound.
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Sopping, smiling and stoked on Matt Corby, the crowd danced and beckoned us out of the rain. The air was thick like that first step off the plane in Bali, the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement. We made it. Bluesfest 2024 was going strong!
Our cameras threw errors and fogged up from moisture, but Jack Johnson was up next and the show must go on! He shared a big smile with fans, one that didn’t dim the entire set. A trio of girls dressed as bananas at the front of the crowd sang every lyric to every song and Jack gave them a well-deserved shoutout before kicking off the long-awaited Banana Pancakes. What a legend.
The next days came with beautiful sunshine and a growing eagerness in the crowd. The Pierce Brothers were a major highlight for us. They brought big energy to the stage on Saturday night. I’m pretty sure I witnessed a few minds blown when Jack began drumming on Pat’s guitar as they played their Love Letter to John Butler.
“This is the best thing ever,” they said, thanking the crowd: “You’re the reason these things can happen.” A beautiful circle of appreciation was in the air – they were so grateful for the audience and the audience was so grateful for them. Someone in the crowd repeated their words straight back to them in a moment of pause: “No, you guys are the best!” and the expression on their faces showed that the circle was complete.
A group wearing Easter Bunny ears told us we must check out eMDee over at the Jambalaya tent and we’re glad we flocked over there to boogie to the didge and drums (n’ bass!). What an absolute beast Mark Hoffmann is.
Ben Swissa proved he knew how to work the stage and the guitar – skills that I struggle to comprehend, even more so when they’re being displayed by someone who just turned 18. A rockstar to be.
Hussy Hicks played a set so beautiful that my camera locked up and I experienced my first-ever memory card failure. Oops. Velvet Trip oozed groove and had me wishing I could pull off such psychedelic glam.
Later in the night, we were torn between tents as Caravãna Sun and PJ Morton drew massive, well-deserved crowds at the same time on the two biggest stages. We darted between them and could only imagine that the rumble of voices reaching the campground was even more immense now.
Lost voices, aching feet and high spirits played as a good measure to what a night we had, perfectly complete with the magic Tom Jones brought, headlining Saturday night for what turned into a mass singalong and an almost just as lengthy applause.
The next day we were blessed with sunshine, coffee, good food and a big lineup. There’s probably too much gooey positivity to write here, but as you can imagine from a fancy-pants name-dropping list with the likes of Taj Mahal, 19-Twenty, Blind Boys Of Alabama, Jimmy Barnes, Peter Garrett & The Alter Egos, The Teskey Brothers, Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, we had a lot of good things on our plate.
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Jimmy Barnes‘ powerful, gritty voice put tears on faces and drew the largest crowd yet with the classics being sung by all. Followed by the awesome eccentricities of Peter Garrett, carrying an ever more important message with It Still Matters, which awed the crowd – as did his ever-incredible dance style.
The final night wrapped perfectly, the culmination of all acts over the long weekend coming to a summit when Ben Harper intentionally slowed the thunder and laser-focused our attention with his slide guitar and incredible vocals.
He took pause on the first few notes, drawing a big breath and looking out at the sea of faces, taking it all in. What a moment to behold. Eyes drew down to the instrument on his lap, a single light parted the darkness surrounding him, and slowly, softly, he began singing Hallelujah.
The deliberate, steady pace held as his voice grew so, so powerful, the onlookers spellbound. Eventually, the applause drew on, and then Ben picked up the beat again. It bears repeating: what a moment to behold.
Bluesfest 2024 was a rollercoaster. Upbeat bangers and down-tempo melodies, with boogies and folk in between. The acts are so talented and so diverse that you really can make it your own and everyone around you is on board: the families with their children in carts, the ‘boiz’ with their beers and banter, the fairies in their rainbow getup and jewels, and the tried-and-true veterans of the festival with their hilarious stories of “Barnsey” in the 80s. Everyone’s there for a good time, rain (torrential rain!) or shine.
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