I admit it, this is just a tease. With more acts yet to be announced, it's still time to get serious about making a decision to attend or not attend Bluesfest 2023.
I think one of the key factors is the bands you don't know, the acts you've never seen, who are intriguing as the main headliners.
Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Doobie Brothers, Mavis Staples, Steve Earle, Keb Mo Elvis Costello - the order of priority is different for every fan. That's why the poster is in alphabetical order these days.
The Australian contingent includes Lachy Doley, Xavier Rudd, Gang of Youths, Ash Grunwald, The Angels, The Black Sorrows, Jon Stevens, Tash Sultana, The Cat Empire, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, and Yirrmal.
The dates, by the way, are Easter weekend, April 6-10.
Bluesfest founder Peter Noble is just as excited about this year as he has ever been. He really has created the dream job.
"Yeah, I created this, this is the life I wanted," he says. "There is no retirement, when you're doing what you love, to the point you are working with artists you always wanted to work with."
When we spoke he had just finished booking Robert Glasper to Bluesfest. "Everybody knows he's a superstar on the rise," Noble said. "He had a 30-day residency at The Blue Note. He's the only man to release an album that went to the top on four charts at once - it's never been done before."
Jackson Browne is coming this year, too.
"I'm not touring Jackson Browne," Noble says. "This is his final tour of Australia. He said, 'I want to play Bluesfest.'
"It's a great honour, and a great responsibility to do it right."
One of the first timers coming is Southern Avenue.
Noble caught them in their hometown of Memphis in February 2020, "just before the world changed".
"They are not really blues," he says. "But they certainly are a product of Memphis."
And there's Femi Kuti & The Positive Force.
"Femi Kuti was here 15 years ago," Noble says. "He's the son of Fela Kuti. His band is from Lagos, they are one of my favourite bands to ever play Bluesfest. The dancers - you can't take your eyes off them. There's nothing wrong with that. That's show business. The girls can dance thet whole show.
"When you put on a music festival, you need acts that energise an audience."
For me, the inclusion of Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats, Saint Paul & The Broken Bones, and Greensky Bluegrass are among the highlights. Blues funk and bluegrass jam to the max.
And Kingfish Ingram, the real deal when it comes to Mississippi Delta blues.
Not to mention Jason Isbell, Lucinda Williams, The Soul Rebels, Trombone Shorty...
"As soon as the year comes, when they say 'you didn't it right', I'll hand it over," Noble says.
"I'm still loving it. You don't get to do this forever."
bluesfest.com.au
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