As if the line-up for the 27th Bluesfest Byron Bay wasn’t big enough, today the promoters have announced that joining headliners Kendrick Lamar, Brian Wilson, and Tom Jones will be none other than neo-soul icon D’Angelo, who will be in full-band mode with supergroup The Vanguard. Oh, and he’s playing on the same night as Kendrick.
““When Bluesfest confirmed Kendrick Lamar we had the guy who produced the best record in Hip Hop this year, and now we have the guy who recorded the best current record in R&B: D’Angelo,” said Festival Director Peter Noble, “we now have playing at Bluesfest, on the same stage and on the same night (Thu 24th March), the two most important innovators in Rap and R&B today”.
It’s not hard to see why people are so excited over this addition. Just last year Soulfest made waves when they announced that they would be bringing the legendary neo-soul singer for his first ever tour of Australia, 19 years after his classic debut record Brown Sugar introduced us to that impossibly smooth, funky style. This will also be the first chance Australia gets to hear most of the material from last year’s powerful, universally acclaimed Black Messiah performed live.
In continuing their dedication to an eclectic, open-minded line-up, Bluefest have also added the great Cold War Kids, Oakland Black Roots star Fantastic Negrito, San Fransisco funk band Con Brio, Hawaii’s Roots Reggae rising star Mike Love, Iceland’s current #1 band Kaleo, and Canada’s Juno Award-winning The Bros. Landreth.
Australian artists added to the bill in this announcement include Mojo Juju, Melbourne guitar master Hart, award-winning Future Soul band Hiatus Kaiyote, festival favourite Steve Smyth, folk-rocker Kim Churchill, and roots duo Pierce Brothers.
Most of these artists announced today will be performing on the opening night of Bluesfest, which is Thursday 24th March 2016.
The current schedule has also gone through a bit of a change, with Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real adding a third Bluesfest performance and moving their Monday performance to the Friday, meaning that the band will now be performing on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Bluesfest runs from Thursday 24th March to Monday 28th March 2016 at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm in Byron Shire, just outside of Byron Bay. For full details on the festival head to www.bluesfest.com.au
Today’s Announcement
D’Angelo and The Vanguard
Cold War Kids
Hiatus Kaiyote
Houndmouth
Fantastic Negrito
Con Brio
Kaleo
Mike Love
The Bros. Landreth
Kim Churchill
Mojo Juju
Pierce Brothers
Harts
Steve Smyth
Joining…
Kendrick Lamar
Brian Wilson (performs Pet Sounds and his greatest hits for the last time)
Tom Jones
The National
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
UB40 Feat. Ali Campbell, Astro, Mickey Virtue
Joe Bonamassa
Tedeschi Trucks Band
Taj Mahal (Solo)
Melissa Etheridge
Jackson Browne
City & Colour
The Decemberists
The Residents present Shadowland
The Cat Empire
Jason Isbell
Tweedy
Sturgill Simpson
Steve Earle & The Dukes
The Word
Grace Potter
Lord Huron
Blackberry Smoke
Vintage Trouble
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
St Paul & The Broken Bones
Nahko & The Medicine for the People
Songhoy Blues
Shakey Graces
Allen Stone
Lukas Nelson & The Promise of the Real
The Selecter
Rhiannon Giddens
Janiva Magness
Shooglenifty
Lucky Peterson
Emdee
The Wailers Present Bob Marley & The Wailers 4 Albums in entirety (Exodus, Survival, Uprising and Legend over 4 nights)
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More line-up announcements are expected before Christmas.
Headline image by Nathan Atkins for the AU review
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