Bluesfest: Day Five

I've had five coffees before entering the Bluesfest gates this afternoon and I'd happily have five more, thankfully there's another dose of the incredible Mavis Staples on hand to keep me energised through the first part of the day. It's another electric set from Staples and band this today, in the mammoth Mojo tent it lacks the intimacy of last night's incredible performance, but it does feature Bonnie Raitt helping out on Will The Circle Be Unbroken which is very special indeed.

Mavis' setlist featured a couple of small changes, but Tony Joe White's doesn't seem to have anything different about it. It's another tough and gritty set that I think sees White playing a little better than yesterday, but it's all much of the same and, good as it is, I feel I should expand my horizons a little.

So, off we hop to join the mammoth throng who have assembled to see US country stars the Zac Brown Band. These guys do massive business in the US and it will be interesting to see how far they can extend that in Australia; by the look and sound of today's crowd, things are looking pretty damn good for them so far. Toes is a classic Jimmy Buffett style relaxation anthem, while hits like Knee Deep and Chicken Fried already seem to have found a great audience over here.

A guest appearance from Bonnie Raitt and a blistering rendition of The Devil Went Down To Georgia (mercifully the first and last time we hear this song all weekend) do plenty to endear themselves to the Mojo crowd this afternoon. While I have a natural aversion to anything remotely associated to the “jam band” scene, Brown and co are an impressive outfit and seem to be adding something a little new to the world of popular country music, which has to be a good thing.

Bonnie Raitt is just so cool throughout her set tonight; confident but humble and seemingly very friendly, but, most importantly, her voice, guitar playing and backing band are all glorious. Used To Rule The World, Gerry Rafferty's Right Down The Line from last year's great Slipstream LP get us started, before a run of hits including Something To Talk About, Angel From Montgomery, Thing Called Love and an encore that makes the majority of the thousands assembled stand in complete silence as she runs through the gorgeous I Can't Make You Love Me satisfies fans both ardent and casual. One year it'd be nice to see her stick around for a few days and make a few more guest appearances, she'd probably fit just nicely with half of the bill this year.

The charm of Ben Caplan has spread throughout the festival and tonight he wins over more fans with his deep voice and quirky balladry. Tonight he has The Beards appear with him on I Got Me A Woman, runs through an obligatory new song lamenting life on the road and gets everyone clapping for Down To The River.

It's an enormous crowd that is treated to a brilliant set from the legendary Paul Simon and his incredible band tonight. Opener Gumboots seems appropriate given the mote of mud that surrounds the Mojo stage, 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover is unassumingly brillaint, Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard has people grinning wider than ever – though that's closely followed by That Was Your Mother – and Slip Slidin' Away is touchingly dedicated to the very recently deceased Phil Ramone, who Simon admits produced the majority of the songs we hear tonight.

Few people seem to leave as Simon holds our attention for the duration of the 90 minutes set; The Obvious Child, Crazy Love Vol. II and Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes end the set proper, but a stunning first encore of The Sound Of Silence, Kodachrome and an absolutely riotous You Can Call Me Al see the set peak. That final song providing one of the festival's truly great moments as the crowd inside the tent lose their collective minds. A second encore of Graceland and Still Crazy seems to settle everyone a little but confirm that this is one of music's greatest voices. He comes out for a third encore, but given there is no one on after Simon, we decide to leave. Leave before third encore The thought of ten thousand self-entitled middle aged well-to-dos storming the exits brandishing pointy chairs is just too frightening for me.

Another quick JD McPherson session has him in as fine voice as last night, we arrive to see the great Northside Gal, which has sent the half full tent into a dancing frenzy. He's one of the great finds of the festival, a relatively young artist with an appreciation and respect for quality rock'n'roll and a hot band who can play it brilliantly.

Bluesfest has had its fair share of special final moments over the years, but the few hundred who stick around to see Wilco tonight will certainly have this one chalked up as one of the best. Everyone's here because they want to be and, while it's not the biggest crowd the band have seen in front of them this weekend, it's certainly the most passionate. They treat us to a completely different set to Saturday afternoon's; Misunderstood gets things started, while a devastating Via Chicago confirms that we are in for something really, truly special. Spiders (Kidsmoke) doesn't quite hit as hard as one might've expected, but they appear to be leaving a little in the tank to ensure they hit a real peak towards the end of the night.

Shouldn't Be Ashamed from 1995's A.M. and Jesus Etc. from the masterpiece that is 2002's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot are both brilliant songs that shine in very different ways tonight; the rugged country of the former still complementing the delicate chamber pop of the latter though. Hate It Here, I'm Always In Love, I'm The Man Who Loves You and Red-Eyed And Blue bring us to the end of their allotted time, but the band just keeps on playing. A devastating finish of I Got You (At The End Of The Century) and Outtasite closes the set and, no matter how loud we scream, we know it's all over , but what a way to go out.

Nels Cline proves again that he's the most devastating rock'n'roll guitarist on the planet, the charm of Jeff Tweedy – aside from his great songs – is hard to put your finger on, and the rest of the band are just about perfect – just the right mix of experimentation and straight down the line pop brilliance.

And, just like that, the five days is completed. There's a lot of emotions to be felt at the end of an event like this; sadness, tiredness, joy, relief and a certain sense of contentment. It has been a brilliant five days, a brilliant festival and we've been lucky enough to enjoy some of the greatest music that exists throughout its duration. What will Bluesfest have for us next year? I can't wait to find out.