Bending The Blues
Adelaide International Guitar Festival
Festival Theatre
Wednesday 3 December


As tonight's host, the endlessly knowledgeable and witty John Schaefer so succinctly put it, the blues is a universal emotion. It has been and will continue to be interpreted in many, many ways, and tonight we were to be treated to three starkly different, electric takes on the blues.

Australia's Fiona Boyes played solo at the inaugural festival, and was joined this year by her band The Fortune Tellers. I have to say that she seemed to be more at ease in the company of her band and they allow her free reign to showcase her wonderful skills. Her finger-picking playing was at times breathtaking, particularly on the slow burning delta blues of Whirlwind, and she also possesses a fine voice for this style of music, by turns raw, emotive and soulful. The Fortune Tellers went about their business unobtrusively, laying down a rock-solid beat and providing light and shade with the occasional piano and saxophone. A great set to open proceedings, and one which went goes down a treat with an almost full house.

The Backsliders comprise a core duo of founder, guitarist and singer Dom Walker and drummer Rob Hirst (of Midnight Oil fame), who are usually joined by a guest harmonica player. Tonight that guest was Ian Collard. Any thoughts that we might be in for an intimate, acoustic performance were erased immediately as The Backsliders launched into a fierce and thoroughly raucous performance. Walker is an absolute master of bottle-neck slide guitar and Hirst, clearly having the time of his life, laid down a mighty beat on his sparse drum-kit, and at times on anything else within reach. At times I was reminded of Neil Young circa 'Tonight's The Night', but cranked up to eleven. Particular highlights of this extraordinary set were Duke and Vietnam People.

A short interval then enabled us to catch our breath before headliners The Derek Trucks Band took the stage for their first Australian performance. Trucks, who is the artist-in-residence for this year's festival, has a phenomenal resume for someone of just 29 having played with The Allman Brothers Band and Eric Clapton's band among others. The Derek Trucks Band, however, remains his primary focus. A true jam band they blend blues with rock, world and jazz, each song became a lengthy workout, the cornerstone being Trucks' amazing slide and fingerstyle playing. One glorious, soaring solo followed another as the band locked in effortlessly on a groove. The piano and organ of Kofi Burbridge added a funky edge, and Mike Mattison is a terrific singer, with a gloriously soulful voice of great power, range and emotion. Trucks himself was almost dispassionate in his approach, as with an economy of effort and displaying little or no emotion he peeled off some extraordinarily powerful and uplifting music that mesmerized the crowd. This is truly music that you can immerse and lose yourself in and a fitting way to end an evening of blues, where the one constant has been the absolute quality of the performers.

James McKenzie