After throwing everything at Thursday, today was a little more subdued. Partly due to the selection of music (not including Manu Chao), and partly due to a bit of rain.
It was Ben Harper’s turn at his acoustic set and he kicked off on piano of all things. He then played a haunting version of Hallelujah on slide guitar.
Xavier Rudd joined him on stage later on and took over guitar duties. Bluesfest had a familiar feel about it in the afternoon. Glen Hansard & the Frames had a massive response from the crowd for their set. Glen played a mixture of his solo work and older Frames material. They dropped a cover of Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks which segued into a slice of Pearl Jam’s Smile.
Playing for Change is an international collaboration and their touring group was amazing. Big sound and lots of colour and movement. Jimmy Cliff is a massive icon and the 64 year old had the moves. The Harder They Come, I can See Clearly and Many Rivers To Cross were all highlights but it was Mr Cliff’s dance moves and stage presence that stole the show.
Leah Flanagan played an intimate set in the newly constructed performance space the Lotus Palace. It is a solar powered stage and has a lot of potential but in this case the glorious voice and guitar work of Michael Kiwanuka crept into the venue a little.
Rodriguez once again drew a huge ecstatic crowd. Sugarman is one of the songs of the festival. His post show signing was limited to 30 minutes which did not stop people queuing. Trombone Shorty and New Orleans Avenue repeated their blistering set yesterday.
‘Suburbia’ is becoming one of the themes for this festival. Manu Chao won the night! Playing as a stripped-back 4-piece, they still managed to produce the volume of sound that his full band would produce. There is no doubt everyone will will return for their second show on Sunday.
The crowd thinned a little early tonight, maybe because some went too hard the night before, maybe it was the dampness, maybe people are saving something for tomorrow. Iggy Pop, Robert Plant, Wilco and the Dropkick Murphy’s... tomorrow is looking huge!
