When you’re on the inside looking out, the numbers don’t tell the story.
Byron Bay’s legendary Bluesfest drew 105,000 attendees in 2017, hosting 85 bands with a total of 670 artists who gave 185 performances across the Easter weekend.
For John Butler, arguably Australia’s most successful blues and roots talent, making the line-up for the 2018 will mark his 13th appearance at the festival.
“It feels good, it’s kind of surprising,” he says. “I’m stoked.”
The festival, hailed as one of the best music events in the world both by music fans and musicians, holds a special place in Butler’s mind, for good reason.
As he told Tim Elliott in Good Weekend magazine in 2009, here’s how his first Bluesfest appearance in 2000 went down:
"We had just released Pickapart, which was our first song to get played on Triple J. But when we played at Bluesfest there were only about 50 people in the audience. For the second show, I tried to stay positive. I told my wife: 'This next show is going to be the bomb!' But the crowd wasn't huge for that either.
"But then, just when we were peaking, it absolutely pissed with rain and 3000 people ran into our tent. And the show just went berserk. It was like a suffocated fire - you lift the lid and it explodes. It was a total flashpoint gig, a lot of people talked about it and within the year we had a huge fan base on the eastern seaboard."
If you’ve seen a Butler concert, you know it’s all about the relationship between and the crowd.
“It’s an amazing festival,” he says. “You are fortunate to have great moments of connection. The fans are ready to have something take place, be part of it, make it happen.”
The timing for Butler to hit the festival could not be better. He’s been working on a new album for a few months now, and playing selected gigs (including opening for Midnight Oil shows at Hanging Rock and Sydney in November).
Early next year, he will doing some touring with his band, playing some outdoor shows. “We will come right off the back of that into Bluesfest,” he says.
“It’s the best way. All hot and heavy.”
Like the fans on the ground, Butler is excited to be in the company of the mass of great musicians who play Bluesfest. But he doesn’t get overwhelmed by the energy of the moment.
He owned a property in the Byron hinterlands, but sold it a while ago and now happily calls Margaret River in Western Australia home.
“I Love Byron,” he says of the festival. “I catch up with my friends from all around the country and the planet.
“At the same time, I am a bit militant in my objective, and my objective is to smash it. My objective is to put on the best show possible. I am tunnel vision. If that means not catching up with anybody until after I play, that’s fine.”
We discuss a few of the stars coming to 2018 Bluesfest:
Tash Sultana: “I love her. I haven’t met her. I love what she does. I dig what she has to offer.”
Robert Plant: “I met him years ago, opening for him in Switzerland. He’s the real deal. He loves music, he loves performing.”
This week Bluesfest announced another 16 acts - including Jackson Browne, Jason Isbell, Gomez, Michael Franti, Youssou N’Dour, Jimmy Cliff, The Wailers, Benjamin Booker, Canned Heat, Walter Trout and the Original Blues Brothers Band.
Previoulsy announced acts included Lionel Richie, Jose Gonzalez, Gov’t Mule, Eric Gales, Bobby Rush, Joe Louis Walker, Chic featuring Nile Rogers and First Aid Kit.
- Tickets for Bluesfest 2018 start at $159 for one day. A five-day pass (without camping) is $595. More here.
