Live Review: Bluesfest Day Two

Games and activities entertained the children at Bluesfest almost as much as the music entertained the adults, being a truly family oriented festival pirate themed treasure hunts were going on, the Bluesfest Bonanza provided some laughs and Shorty's Circus Sideshow gave the youngsters a chance to test their circus skills.

With the kids taken care of, their parents no doubt took advantage of one of the strongest days in terms of the line-up this year.

The layered and looped party sounds of Tijuana Cartel got the Mojo stage off to a flyer with a mix of Spanish guitars, afro beats and production that could only have come from the Australian dance music scene. Paul George was flawless on guitar and totally relaxed on vocals, he seems to have the hand of Carlos Santana and the head of Tom Meighan of Kasabian.

It's genuinely impressive how much subject matter The Beards can get out of facial hair. They were hilarious, shaking hands and stroking beards before playing, pointing out great beards in the crowd and calling out bald faced men. They warned us it was going to get beardy, and it did. No Beard, No Good and If Your Dad Doesn't have a Beard, You've Got Two Mums brought the house down in a set full of energy and perfectly suited to a 1.30pm Bluesfest slot.

Joss Stone came via Morocco, South Africa and Tunisia before fitting in the Byron Bay leg of her ambitious world tour, which aims to visit every country in the world. At 26 Stone is looking fine, her voice is as strong as ever with a touch more grit than we're used to. She stuck mainly to the lesser known hits of the 70's and 80's which are covered on Soul Sessions Volume 2 but treated Byron to Dirty Man and You Had Me amongst other hits. She plays again on Monday and a second round viewing is very tempting.

Buddy Guy showed why Eric Clapton think's he is the best guitar player alive with huge solos, controlled distortion and masterful showmanship. Bluesfest did well to have such an inspiring and pioneering musician present at the 25th anniversary. Often referred to as the bridge between blues and rock and roll, Guy's playing is full of joy and while the younger fans took a step back, the Baby Boomers took control of the dance floor.

Matt Corby is one of the best live singers in Australia, his vocal loops reached soaring heights before Corby looked strained, but when he did look like he was working, the crowd was in awe. The ARIA award winning Resolution brought down the house as did closer Brother and Corby seems about one or two albums off being an international superstar of Jeff Buckley proportions.

Two hours of Jack Johnson seemed like a lot, so a quick duck out to catch a bit of The Doobie Brothers seemed logical. The audiences were noticeably different, The Doobies' obviously drew an older crowd but they brought their kids who easily got into hits like China Grove and Black Water. Johnson's crowd was younger and surfier, John son even asked where everyone was going surfing tomorrow before declaring he wasn't going there, he was finding his own secret spot. The guys from Ozomlati came out for a song on short notice. Johnson's new tracks head back the surf rock roots people fell in love with. He infused a lot of new material into the set but was smart enough to sprinkle Banana Pancakes, Taylor and a few more of his better known tracks to keep the crowd involved.