It’s 11 am Sunday morning and Fremantle Park is buzzing with excitement. Cold showers and black coffee are the perfect cure for yesterday’s sensory overload hangover, one could get used to this lifestyle.
A festival morning is indeed a very special time. No queues, no crowds, just relaxed and intimate performances before the mobs arrive.
Local act The Brow Horn Orchestra kick the day off with some violent rap backed by brass and keys.
Over at the Big Top a chilled out audience sip on fresh organic brews while being serenaded by Dave Craddock & The Spectators in anticipation of a massive day ahead.
Craddock’s passionate and thought provoking storytelling, a soothing voice over a country rock soundtrack, make for a surreal Sunday morning. A flawless and smooth set, with “Left Wing Holiday” a true standout.
Meanwhile, The Domnicks, just returned from a tour of Japan, have the Big Top dancing to classic blues infused rock. Sydney indie rockers Sticky Fingers take to the Park Stage to perform an all too short set of sublime sounding reggae rock.
Then there was Ash Grunwald; no one does the blues heavier. Looking and sounding like something from America’s deep south, the hot midday sun fuelling the blues machine like a photosynthetic carnivorous flower with dreadlocks.
The masses arrive and Grunwald has them in the palm of his hand. It doesn’t get better than sitting in the shade of a Jarrah tree watching the Australo-African belt out old howling wolf songs and play slide on his steel resonator.
Scotty Owens and Andy Strachan from Melbourne band The Living End appear on stage for a jam. They play an electric and heavy bass version of “Long Time”; the crowd is lost in the moment.
So much sub-sound that it is just a matter of time before noise complaints start streaming in from the far flung Melbourne western suburbs. Just when we thought it could get no better, the brass section from The Brow Horn Orchestra is onstage, it works and Grunwald can do no wrong.
Barely into the pm and the hectic dancing is kicking up a dust cloud front of stage. Grunwald is crowned king of the weekend festival.
Melbourne’s Gossling is cooling things down a bit over at the Big Top. Oozing kindness and gentleness but with a strength and conviction to her voice that holds the audience captive. Even the body odour in the big tent is not enough to deter punters.
Graveyard Train are singing about dancing witches and werewolves at The Park Stage, chilling screams and country horror rock are the order of the afternoon. A highly entertaining hillbilly rock version of U.K. outfit, The Pogues.
Straight out of Deliverance, Brothers Grim own The Big Top. Double bass, steel resonator, wife beater singlets, beards and tattoos, they look like they have just come from a gig at the Coffin Cheaters clubhouse.
Blues and hard rock mix with stage antics like a car accident, most witness rather than watch the madness.
Standing in his underwear, a hilarious James Grim tells of bumping into Robert Plant and nearly wetting himself. The comedy does not stop there either; Brothers Grim are all class.
Steve Miller’s unmistakable voice and classic rock sound clears out the Big Top.
Part nostalgia but all fun and good times, the timeless Steve Miller Band takes us on a journey through music history playing all the old favourites, including “Abracadabra”, “Take The Money and Run” and “The Joker”.
Miller is faultless on the fretboard and at one stage loses the band for some intimate campfire songs.
British soul man, Michael Kiwanuka, is soothing some hardened souls at The Big Top while the rest of the crowd hang around the Park Stage waiting for Santana.
The guitar legend appears much earlier than expected in a pure white suit and rainbow coloured beanie. Cool calm and collected, Santana and his amazing band embark on a percussive spiritual journey broken only by powerful advice on world peace, spirituality, happiness and most importantly, keeping our women happy.
He cries out for a Perth kiss and then treats us to a private guitar lesson in obscure Latin American guitar scales. The melodic solos follow the sun down over the Indian Ocean. Pass the Coronas!
The master guitarist even slips a cheeky “Waltzing Matilda” into a ripping guitar solo. The array of musicians on stage is amazing and the sound unbelievably tight, a fusion of every conceivable musical style.
The guitarist then grabs a few kids from the audience up on stage for a dance, the feel good vibe is amazing, it seems that all of Western Australia must be boogying away.
Santana has stolen the festival crown from Grunwald, who stole it from Iggy Pop and The Stooges, as he dons the West Coast Blues N’ Roots 2013 crown.
US blues legend Bonnie Raitt goes up against Ben Harper with Charlie Musselwhite at The Big Top. Even Raitt admits she wants to see the boys jam. Regardless she plays through a well-received set of bottleneck blues.
Harper and Musselwhite are concocting some serious soul from a foot stomping, well warmed up audience. Harper is seated for most of the gig, playing lap guitar, but rocking out nonetheless, nailing a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “When The Levee Breaks”.
Jimmy Cliff’s powerful voice, reggae beats and current affair themed lyrics are a hit. Cliff uses that powerful voice to announce, “The world is upside down and we got to go fix it,” leading into an awesome version of Cat Stephen’s “Wild World”.
He sings about the military occupation of Afghanistan, Vietnam, and just about every other politically motivated war. Cliff is a talented man with a timeless message.
Paul Simon takes to the stage with his eight-piece orchestra looking and sounding much younger than his 71 years. He plays through decades of hits to a drunk and exhausted audience, somehow managing to get them back up dancing and singing along.
Simon knows why his fans are here and does not disappoint, filling out his set with his most popular hits. A great and worthy performance, but no one is taking the crown from Santana.
Just when we thought it was all over, Wilco steps up for a shot at the title. Another great performance, however Simon has the majority of the crowd dancing at the Park Stage and a lucky, but exhausted few are treated to an intimate and classy performance from Wilco.
The 2013 West Coast Blues n Roots is the event that all future WA music festivals will be measured against. Every act amazing, a great venue, excellent facilities, great food and service, even the weather was perfect. We’re looking forward to 2014 already.
