Day 46 - 11/03/12

Day three of the festival today and I was looking forward to seeing John Butler in the afternoon.
I got up and had a bit of a yarn to Bill and his mate Billy who had arrived yesterday - they had already started on the beers while I was finishing off my Weet-bix! Very dedicated men those two.
I'm glad the festival was within walking distance as there were not many parking spaces in the streets surrounding the festival site.

Best to walk to the Festival

It was back to Stage 2 and I was fortunate enough to rock up just as someone was leaving and got a seat right in the middle - perfect!
First up was country duo Chris Hillman (founding member of The Byrds) & Herb Pedersen who were pretty good and an excellent cruisy way to start a Sunday.
Archie Roach was next, and he looked in pretty bad shape but I was pleasantly suprised with the variety of songs he performed.
Snippets from both performers here:




It was then time for the Festival's headliner, John Butler and he didn't disappoint.
I'm not his biggest fan but I certainly don't mind him and he put on an excellent performance.
Towards the end of his set he played an instrumental piece which got a standing ovation and for his second last song he did a duet with Mamma Kin. Very entertaining.
He also did a song with a loop pedal which didn't behave itself initially but the way he coped with it was inspirational for all those solo singer songwriters out there who know what it's like to stuff up on stage or have a piece of equipment fail at a crucial time.
Snippets of his performance found here:



Harry Manx played next and I caught half of his set before it was time to go wee wees (over 6 hours without a bladder break - yeah!) and head to the RSL Hall for another songwriter speaks session.
This session was the weirdest one I've been to yet. I won't name names but one of the featured songwriters chucked a hissy half way through as a result of a misunderstanding of the format of the session and it was a bit tense and uncomfortable for all involved for about 15 minutes. But everyone soon got over it and it all ended ok. I had a laugh with a bloke on the way out about the tension in the room and he said it was bloody uncomfortable too.
I was a bit music and festivalled out by this stage and earlier in the morning Bill said to bring my guitar over to his camp site tonight to play some tunes, so I bought a six pack and headed back to the Showgrounds.
I ran into Bill and Billy on the way and they were both looking pretty cheerful after an afternoon of drinking so I knew I had some catching up to do.
We sat around yarning and drinking for a while before Billy decided to hit the sack, I then got out the guitar and Bill and I played some songs until the girls got back from the concert.
Bill and Billy's wives went to bed but Billy's daughter Norah, who had a lovely Irish accent, stayed up and sang and listened to some songs with us for a while before she too turned in for the night.
Bill and I stayed up til about 3am playing some more tunes (albeit quietly) and it was a great way to end my Port Fairy weekend.