Easter MOONday at Bluesfest, 2017

Easter Monday was day five and the last day of the Byron Bay Bluesfest, which meant I couldn't cut that annoying f#cking 5-day wrist band off, even though I only wore it for two days in a row, because I only went for three of the five days.

This year the Bluesfest think-tank brought in wrist bands that locked around your wrist, so if you managed to get the things off, chances are you weren't going to get them back on.

After attending Bluesfest on Good Friday I decided to take my band off, because I wasn't going back until Sunday and didn't want to wear it, as I went about my normal life.

Previous years it has been no trouble to get them off and, on your wrist, ... but not this year.

If you had a 5-day wrist band and happened to go Thursday and wanted to go again Easter Monday, then the BF gatekeepers expected you to keep it on the whole weekend, no matter how annoying that felt to your wrist.

It felt like I had a phantom wristband on the rest of the week after I had cut it off Tuesday morning when I got home.

The new bands also had an RFID chip in it, so if you wanted to buy alcohol you had to go to a top up point and have your money exchanged for an RFID chip deposit.

I never put money into my chip, as I don't like RFID chip technology and will refuse to play the game for as long as I can.

The only beer I drank all weekend was a tin that was given to me by a good Samaritan. 

You also had to clock in and clock out with your band when you went through the gate.

When I got home on Good Friday I cut my little white clip off and retied the band back onto my wrist for Easter Sunday ... and boy did the sh#t hit the fan when I tried to get in the gate.

The guy on the gate looked at my wrist in horror like I had slashed it open in front of him and he said "mate, what have you done? You can't tamper with your wristband, you can be refused entry if you do that".

So, I had to go to the Box Office and get a new one.

The woman at the BO had the manners of a Nazi prison guard when I told her what I had done, giving me a big lecture about the band and how you can't take it off, because then you could pass it on to someone else and they could get in with it.

I asked what happens when you only go say three days out of the five and she looked at me like I was stupid for forking out money for a five-day pass and only going three times.

I explained that I bought the pass at the last festival when it was cheap and if I had have paid for three days when the prices went up it would have cost me more money and besides, I had the option of how many days I could go if I wanted to.

I said to her that I thought these new bands were stupid as I like to take them off when I get home, and aren't at the festival.

She then went on to tell me how she doesn't see the big deal because SHE has no trouble wearing her band for five days.

Lady, I don't care if you like wearing it all year round.

I'm telling you what I don't like.

Great customer service skills by the way.

Needless to say, I didn't buy a five-day pass for next year, in fact, if I go, I'll just pick the best two days to go as far as my musical tastes go ... and you can stick your 5-day wristband BF.

Sorry about the rant, but I had to get that off my chest ... or should that be my wrist?-)

And I have to give a shout out to my friends at Afends hemp clothing who had to put up with my ranting about the wristband, as I was buying the above t-shirt from them and the good bloke who came along and gave me one of his nice cold beers, as I was on my rant about how I wasn't buying alcohol this year, on principle. 

Don't worry, I'm not a Satanist, as I don't believe in the devil, to me that's just Pan on a bad rap from the church.

 Not that I believe in Pan as a real being either, but it sure is a great pop-cultural myth.

At least there was no need
 for rain-boots this year

The first act I went to see was Blind Boy Paxton at the Delta tent.

Blind Boy Paxton playing the Delta tent Easter Monday, 2017

Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton

"Originally from the Watts district of Los Angeles, Paxton's grandparents moved from Louisiana to California in 1956.

These southern roots would have an influence on Paxton as a young boy.

After spending time listening to his hometown blues radio station, as well as the old Cajun and country blues songs his grandmother used to sing, Paxton became interested in these early sounds, developing a breadth of knowledge pertaining to such music along the way.

He began playing the fiddle when he was twelve, only to pick up the banjo two years later.

As a teenager, he began to go blind, losing most of his eyesight by the age of 16.

Since his childhood, he has added piano, harmonica,
Cajun accordion, ukulele, guitar, and the bones to his musical arsenal, although the banjo was his first serious instrument.

In addition to blues and jazz, he uses these instruments to play ragtime, country blues, and Cajun music."

After drinking my beer while watching and listening to Jerron entertain the tent with his music and humour I headed off to see 'The Wilson Pickers' play, since I had just bought a CD of theirs from the Bluesfest record store, because I liked the owl on the cover of their CD, even though I hadn't heard any songs off it at the time.

I wrote about seeing them play in this post -

Land of the Powerful Owl

So, I won't touch on that again here.

A sign hanging in a Bluesfest coffee tent;-)

After seeing 'The Wilson Pickers' play I went and got a coffee and was pointed to stand over near the sign on the wall:-)
I couldn't help thinking of the lovely lady with all of her customer service skills at the Bluesfest BO the day before while she more or less told me what a dick she thought I was.
Cheers lady and right back at ya.

'St. Paul and the Broken Bones' playing the Mojo tent

Then it was off to the Mojo tent to see 'St. Paul and the Broken Bones' play, which I wrote about here so, I won't go over it again in this post -

St Paul & The Broken Bones ... and Mojo

'St. Paul and the Broken Bones' Easter Monday, 2017

'Busby Marou' playing the Crossroads tent Easter Monday

Then I went to checkout a few songs from 'Busby Marou' at the Crossroads tent as the sun went down, before heading off to the Juke Joint to see Melody Angel play her full set.

But first I had to grab a bite to eat at the food tent and get in the line to get my 'St. Paul and the Broken Bones' CD signed.

You do know that it's not cool to wear
Native American headdress
to festivals, don't you?

Wearing lit up ducks on your head
 is cool, though:-)

'St. Paul and the Broken Bones' in the signing tent

Melody Angel on the Juke Joint stage Easter Monday

I wrote about seeing Melody Angel play on Good Friday in this post -
The (Not-Quite?) Departed
But I didn't get to see Melody's whole set on Good Friday, so I made sure to catch her whole show on Easter Monday, even if it meant missing Kasey Chambers' set at Crossroads.
When you come to the crossroads, I guess you have to make a choice?-)

It was a shame to miss Kasey's gig, but Melody's gig was one not to miss, I thought.

Neil Finn playing the Crossroads tent Easter Monday, 2017

Then it was off to the gig I had been waiting to see all weekend, Neil Finn at Crossroads.
I had never seen Neil play live, but I did see his brother Tim play Bluesfest a few years back.

Neil singing 'Pineapple Head' at
Crossroads Easter Monday, 2017

Was Pollock Just a Pineapplehead?

I also thought it was funny that Neil sung 'Chocolate Cake' and mentioned Trump's demented talk about eating chocolate cake with the Chinese Prime minister while dropping bombs on Syria.

What a nut-bag Trump is, he can't even remember what country he ordered to drop bombs on.

Trump Brags About Eating the "Most Beautiful" Chocolate Cake During Syrian Missile Strike Decision ... Then forgets which country he just bombed

Neil Finn had replaced Barry Gibb as the Monday headline act when Barry cancelled his Australian tour, and while I would have liked to see Barry play live to me Neil was a great swap.
And it's a shame Neil Young cancelled his Good Friday act and Jimmy Buffett had to take his place, even if it pleased the Parrotheads.

Jimmy Buffett's Parrotheads

Oh well, like something Douglas Adams once said, I might not have come to see the artists I was hoping for, but I probably saw the artists that I needed to see.

Douglas Adams and his parrot

Neil Finn at the Crossroads tent
Bluesfest Easter Monday, 2017

The Easter Moon rising over the
Bluesfest site on Monday night

The 2017 Byron Bay Bluesfest,
all over for another year

'Nahko & Medicine for the People'
in the Delta tent Easter Monday

I finished the night off in the same tent I started the day off in, the Delta tent, watching the last act of the night, 'Nahko & Medicine for the People'. 

Just what the doctor ordered, I think;-)