Sound Republic: Festival Reviews

Point Nepean

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By Tim Hyland
13 April 2007

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Point Nepean- A Music Experience (2007)

Byron Bay is a long way from Melbourne… about 1600kms, give or take a few. For Victorian blues and roots fans, this has always been a thing of torment every Easter, when some of the world’s best performers from the genre descend on the northern New South Wales town. This year however, the inaugural Point Nepean music festival solved this problem once and for all.

Set within the grounds of the historic Quarantine Station, the festival’s main stage overlooked Port Philip Bay, complete with a flotilla of boats which grew steadily over the course of the weekend. With perfect weather on both days, organisers could not have hoped for better conditions in which to run the first instalment of the event.

Frenchman Piers Faccini opened the main stage on Saturday, complete with a two piece rhythm section. With such a captivating and haunting voice coupled with a relaxed, acoustic delivery, Piers seemed as though he would be just as comfortable playing to this midday crowd as he would a darkened bar. The Vasco Era took to the stage next, showcasing tracks from their upcoming album, Oh We Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside, and serving up plenty of live favourites. If any band can smash apart a drumkit at 2 in the afternoon, it is The Vasco Era.

The crowd was then treated to the world music stylings of Sierra Leone’s Refugee Allstars and Terrance Simien & his Zydeco experience. The Allstars had the crowd up and jumping to their Afrobeat sounds and over-the-top stage antics, while Simien’s zydeco and creole tunes made the festival feel more as though it was set on the shores of the Mississippi Delta than the shores of Port Philip Bay. As the sun started to set, blues legend Taj Mahal strode on stage, looking as sharp as ever in his trademark Hawaiian shirt and panama hat. In a set covering many of the bluesman’s hits, he had the crowd wrapped around his little finger. The ever smiling Taj delivered a brilliant version of Lovin’ in my Baby’s Eyes, before leaving the crowd on an extended R&B jam.

Securing the artist rightly credited with kick starting the new blues and roots movement, Ben Harper and his band, the Innocent Criminals, was perhaps the biggest coup for the festivals organisers. The air of anticipation and excitement before his set demonstrated who it was that the crowd were here to see. Bassist Juan Nelson stood alone, at the front of the stage, with other band members appearing one at a time, before Harper came on stage, playing the instantly recognisable introduction to Jah Work. The band segued into a powerful version of Bob Marley’s Exodus. This wasn’t to be the only tribute to the late greats, with Harper’s intense Ground On Down leading into an all out lapsteel jam of Hendrix’s Who Knows. Harper’s now famous cover of Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing also fitted this mould. The set certainly leaned towards the rockier side of Harper’s music, with Glory and Consequence, Forgiven and Serve your Soul all making appearances. Crowd favourites Steal My Kisses, Diamonds on the Inside and Burn One Down were also included, before the band closed with a typically energetic rendition of Better Way.

Sunday started with a solo set by Irishman Iain Archer. Those lucky enough to have arrived early were treated to brilliant performance by the one-time Snow Patrol member. Archer’s simple folk-pop was delivered complete with looped and layered guitar samples and good Irish humour.

The big names were up early, with Los Angeles based 10 piece, Ozomatli serving up their distinctive brand of latin / hip hop / rock, and getting the whole crowd on its feet. The band finished their set in the middle of the audience, leading all around them in a chant of Ole! Ole! Ole! Next up on the main stage came four extremely talented musicians, in the form of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Whilst they didn’t have the crowd as involved as Ozomatli, Flecktones bassist, Victor Wooten’s incredible soloing demonstrated to all why he is regarded as one of the worlds best players.

Australian folk icons The Waifs took the stage next, in what was their first appearance in Victoria for some time. The Waifs showcased a lot of new material, much of which seemed to have a bluesier edge than their previous material, whilst still retaining a definite Waifs sound. During Highway One, Josh Cunningham’s blistering guitar solo was easily overshadowed by a next generation Waif baby wandering on stage and playing the tambourine.. it’s good to see the future of the band is secure! The Waifs closed with hit London Still, a crowd favourite.

Like the Waifs, Missy Higgins hadn’t played live to local audiences in more than eighteen months, so it was with great excitement that the crowd greeted her arrival on stage. As a performer, Higgins has grown in confidence infinitely over the last five years and bounced around on stage looking like there was nowhere she would feel more at home. Higgins also used the set to give audiences a taste of her new album, leaving fans hungry for its release. Radio hits The Special Two and Scar were among audience favourites.

Sunday night’s headline act was the Grammy Award winning John Mayer. From the minute Mayer stepped on stage, it was obvious to all why he has made it to such levels of success whilst still in his 20’s. Opening with 2004 hit Bigger Than My Body, Mayer had the crowd singing along at full voice. Following with Belief, the guitar virtuoso in Mayer came to the fore, whipping the crowd into a frenzy with his playing. Mayer’s breakthrough hit from 2002, No Such Thing got a huge response from the adoring crowd, whilst he himself looked genuinely happy to be performing in such a unique location.

Mid way through the set, Mayer put on his blues hat and performed a brilliant rendition of Ray Charles’ I Don’t Need No Doctor, his guitar tone and vocal delivery comparable to one of his idols, Stevie Ray Vaughan. After spectacular performances of Vultures and Why Georgia, Mayer closed with an encore of I’m Gonna Find Another You, complete with an extended guitar duel with Robbie Macintosh (Paul McCartney, The Pretenders).

The 2007 Point Nepean – A Music Experience – was a festival full of fantastic blues and roots music, and one that highlighted the way in which two artists, Ben Harper and John Mayer, have perfected the performance of live music, through stage presence and musicianship, and reached a level far above that which most contemporary performers could ever hope to achieve.

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