Byron Bay Bluesfest Day Oneupdate

Fri 22nd Apr, 2011 in Local News

Bluesfest celebrated opening its twenty-second year yesterday with a killer lineup, including headliners ZZ Top and Ben Harper & Relentless7 in their only performances of the festival.

After moving to the more spacious surrounds of Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm just outside of Byron Bay last year, the event picked up a trifecta of awards including Australian Event of the Year, Best Cultural or Arts Event and The International A Greener Festival Award.

Ernest Ranglin’s precise, jazz-infused reggae set covered much of his incredible Below The Bassline material, Kingfisha proved their Aussie dub-reggae is world class, Luciano & Jah Messenjah Band’s inspired reggae moved the frontman himself to front flip about the stage, the Funky Meters and Los Lobos gave us their hits and then some (Remember La Bamba?), and ZZ Top displayed the Rockinest Beards In All The World while taking us to La Grange.

This year’s event takes advantage of the Easter and ANZAC day public holidays, running for six days and showcasing more than a hundred acts, many of whom perform on multiple days.

We’ll be giddily running about catching our festival picks over the weekend, including Grace Jones, Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Imogen Heap, Fishbone, Funky Meters, BB King, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic and Bob Dylan, who is rumoured to be camping on site.

Check out our Day 1 Bluesfest gallery by our photographers Justin Ma and Andrew Wade