Easter Monday at Bluesfest 2016

After checking out of my motel at 10 o'clock and getting some breakfast in Brunswick Heads I headed off to the last day of Bluesfest hoping the rain would stay away for the day.

The Pierce Brothers on the Crossroads stage

I started off Monday at the tent I left from on Sunday night, the Crossroads tent, and caught a band (The Pierce Brothers) I had seen play last year at the Brisbane Powerhouse, who I wrote about in this post -
Dan Sultan Hits a Hole in One at the Powerhouse

These guys were really good and if you ever get the chance to see them live, then don't pass up the opportunity.

Sometimes I feel life is too short to miss
out on festivals like Bluesfest:-)

Way too short:-(

Kim Churchill signing CDs over at the signing tent

I caught the above shot of Kim Churchill while waiting for Ash Grunwald to get over to the signing tent.

All I could think at the time was that Ash should have been here by NOW;-)  
NOW Here is a Synchronicity

I also got Sahara Beck to sign her CD for me while showing her those weird 'Star of David' orbs I photographed around her Robert De Niro lookalike guitarist -

Weird Orbs/Light Effects at Bluesfest

'Star of David' orbs around the De Niro
lookalike guitarist of Sahara Beck's?

Richard Clapton playing the Mojo stage

Once I had my CDs signed, I was off to see my old mate Richard Clapton, who I've written a few posts about on this blog over the last couple of years, play -

The Lonesome Voyager

My Highlight of the Byron Bay Writers Festival 2014

Russell Morris on the Mojo stage

Russell Morris didn't disappoint either when he followed Richard Clapton on the Mojo stage, and like I told Russell later over at the signing tent, he just gets better with age like a fine wine.

I never get sick of hearing Russ sing The Real Thing and Wings of an Eagle.

The Wings Of An Eagle
Well I'm looking out on an overcast sky in the morning
I can hear the warning as it calls to you
As the birds migrate and the wind is raised
I see the eagle soaring
Although I'm just a pawn in nature's game like you
Wah hoo, wah hoo hoo hoo, wah hoo ...

[Chorus]
On the wings of an eagle I find myself lifted through the skies
Lifted up above the world to sing
On the wings of an eagle I find myself lifted through the skies
Lifted up above the world to see
Can you see me? Can you see me?

As the days roll on and the nights get long
The changing of the seasons
And the falling autumn leaves they bring me down
They bring me down, they bring me down

[Instrumental]

Do you lose your way in the middle of the day
Do you see your brother crawling?
And all the while he's calling out for help from you
Wah hoo, wah hoo hoo hoo, wah hoo ...

On the wings of an eagle I find myself lifted through the skies
Lifted up above the world to sing
On the wings of an eagle I find myself lifted through the skies
Lifted up above the world to see

Can you see me? Can you see me?
Can you see me? Can you see me?

Can you see me? Can you see me?
Can you see me? Can you see me?

Can you see me? Can you see me?
Can you see me? Can you see me?

The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson singing the Pet Sounds songs

It was just like hearing The Beach Boys rock the Mojo tent with the Pet Sounds songs sung by Brian Wilson and his band.

Brian Wilson doing some Pet Sounds
on the Mojo stage at Byron Bay

Then I had to duck out and grab a coffee and watch the rest of Brian's set from the grass outside the Mojo tent, before the man I'd been waiting all weekend to see (Tom Jones) hit the Mojo stage.

Tom Jones on the Mojo stage.
How appropriate is that?-)
Yeah, baby!

I had been listening to an old recording of Tom's hits that my father owned and played quite regularly in our house as I was growing up, so it was almost a soundtrack to my young life, although more my father's soundtrack than mine.
That album of Tom Jones songs is now in my inherited record collection, since my father was placed in a nursing home and the sad fact is that he didn't recall who Tom Jones was when I was showing my father the pictures of Tom I took Easter Monday on my iPod camera.
Drive the Carrot, Don't Let It Drive You

'Tom Jones Presents' among some
of the old LPs in my collection

I was wondering if Tom would cover a few of his old hits from that record of his pictured above, and he did.

Tom Jones showing he has lost
none of his on the Mojo stage.

He did a very good version of his old hit 'Delilah' with stabbing motions and wide eyes with each air stab of the imaginary knife he was holding in his hand during that song.
He killed it on the night, so to speak.

Tom Jones on the big screen at Bluesfest Easter Monday

He even sung an excellent version of 'Green, Green Grass of Home' and I couldn't help thinking while he was singing it, that with a few lyric modifications this song could almost be a homage to Mullumbimby, the little town up the road known for another kind of grass;-)

"Green Green Grass of Home" 
(Mullumbimby Version;-)
The old home town looks the same as I step down in the rain,
and there to meet me is my Mama's and Papa's album.
Down the road to Nimbin I look and there runs Mary Jane hair of gold and lips like cherries.
It's good to smoke the green, green grass of home.
Yes, they'll all come to meet me, arms reaching, smelling sweetly.
It's good to smoke the green, green, grass of home.
The old house is still standing, tho' the paint is cracked and dry,
and there's that old oak tree that I used to play on.

Down the lane I walk with my sweet Mary Jane, hair of gold and lips like cherries.
It's good to smoke the green, green grass of home.
Yes, they'll all come to meet me, arms reaching, smelling sweetly.
It's good to smoke the green, green grass of home.

[spoken:]

Then I awake and look around me, at the four grey walls that surround me
and I realize, yes, I was only tripping.
For there's a guard and there's a sad old padre -
arm in arm we'll walk at daybreak.
Again I smoke the green, green grass of home.
Yes, they'll all come to see me in the shade of that old oak tree
as they lay me neath the green, green grass of home.

Another smokin' performance by
  Tom Jones on the Mojo stage

Then appropriately enough after the highlight of my Bluesfest trip seeing Tom Jones play down here in Byron Bay, it was off to the final show of the night and Bluesfest 2016 at the Crossroads tent to see and hear The Original Blues Brothers Band.

The Original Blues Brothers Band
at the Crossroads tent

That's right the band from The Blues Brothers movie, with a few notable exceptions.

The Original Blues Brothers Band at the Crossroads tent

Well, it's hard to beat the line-up that played Bluesfest 2016, but I've already got my weekend ticket for next Easter, so I'll be back as long as nothing goes wrong between now and then.
I'm already looking forward to next year.

UPDATE:

Easter MOONday at Bluesfest, 2017