Change in the weather brings Bluesfest to Melbourne next year

Bluesfest is coming to Melbourne in a two-day, indoor format aimed at combating the extreme weather that’s forcing other festivals to be cancelled or postponed.

The inaugural Bluesfest Melbourne will be held on April 8 and 9 next year at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, making it the city’s first two-day indoor festival.

Coinciding with the 34th annual Bluesfest in Byron Bay, Bluesfest Melbourne will take place on Easter Saturday and Sunday, hosting up to 9,000 people each day, and feature Lucinda Williams, the Doobie Brothers, Buddy Guy and Paolo Nutini.

Melbourne music industry veteran Neil Croker, who ran St Kilda’s Palais Theatre before it was taken over by Live Nation, is co-promoting the festival with Bluesfest director Peter Noble.

Croker’s own experience at Montreux Jazz Festival played a part in staging Bluesfest Melbourne adjacent to the Yarra River, using indoor performance spaces.

“One of my favourite music festivals in the world is Montreux ... with the lovely walk along the edge of Lake Geneva and the internal auditoriums on the lake’s edge,” Croker told The Age.

“I’ve had this in mind for a long time, and Melbourne has virtually the same geographic location with the river, some grasslands, the Exhibition Centre with the beautiful Plenary Theatre, and other spaces where we can create stages.”

Other artists across the two-day event include Steve Earle, Keb’ Mo’, Robert Glasper, Soul Rebels with Talib Kweli and GZA, Southern Avenue, Xavier Rudd, Kaleo, Henry Wagons, Ash Grunwald, Kasey Chambers, Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram, C.W. Stoneking, Chain, Melbourne Ska Orchestra and more.

Bluesfest Melbourne will be an “all-weather festival,” according to Croker, who said “given the way Australia and the world is going with fires, floods, hail and whatever else,” patrons, organisers and performers are seeking some certainty in the festival market.

Wild weather has wreaked havoc on festivals this year, forcing the cancellation or postponement of Strawberry Fields, This That Festival, Yours and Ours, Jungle Love and more. The first day of Byron Bay’s Splendour In the Grass was cancelled in July, following torrential rain that left 50,000 attendees battling a waterlogged site for the remainder of the festival.

Bluesfest Melbourne will include local artists who are not performing at Byron Bay next year.

Tickets holders can attend any of the performances on three different stages, across two days and nights of live music. In their only Melbourne shows, the Doobie Brothers and Paolo Nutini will play reserved-seat concerts in the Plenary Theatre.

“We’ll be bringing some of the absolute premium international and local artists who perform at Bluesfest, alongside the fantastic Melbourne artists, to create an experience for music lovers that is unprecedented in this city,” Noble said.

“I see Bluesfest Melbourne becoming an absolute must-see on the annual events calendar.”

Bluesfest returned to Byron Bay in April this year, following three cancelled events due to the pandemic. Last year’s event was cancelled with just one day’s notice due to a single COVID-19 case detected in the region.

Croker said Bluesfest Melbourne had been specifically designed as a “city festival” that creates certainty for patrons, artists, event staff and organisers.

“You can buy tickets with security, and not be worried about what’s going to happen ... that’s a real bonus and has long-term growth potential for the festival,” he said.

“And the (Melbourne Convention and) Exhibition Centre has such big foyers, we can create exciting break-out spaces between the acts, and a festival feel that’s unique. We’re right next to a railway station, there’s car parking, and there are trams for ease of arrival.”

Bluesfest Melbourne tickets go on sale at 9am on Monday, November 14, via ticketmaster.com.au

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