Sydney Festival

So, with the new year comes the start of the Sydney Festival.  Similar to the Edinburgh Festival but not as big.  However, it is still fun all the same.   And what is even better about it is that on the first night of the festival, it is all free! 

There are several stages set up around the city centre, including the Domain, Hyde Park and Elizabeth Street.  We had decided to check out all 3 venues, as the music acts at them all looked good. 

We started by meeting at Hyde Park late afternoon to watch a bit of Norman Jay and his big red bus tour.  He was on for 8 hours in total, I got there about 6pm and watched him for about an hour, the park was jumping, 10’s of thousands of people were in the park and the atmosphere was jumping, we did hear later on that the many people were passing out in the heat, but mainly because of the booze consumption.  We then moved onto Elizabeth Street, where we were hoping to catch The Jolly Boys, a Jamaican band formed in 1955.  Sabrina being part Jamaican, suggested that we see them and after watching a couple of youtube clips I thought it would be a bit of a laugh.  Here is one of the youtube clips:

So we headed to the Elizabeth street stage, which was essentially the Soul stage.  A band called Urban Empire, were first up here and, they were the perfect act and got everyone in the mood.  The stage was being compared by a drag queen, who did a couple of Shirley Bassey numbers between the acts.  It was all very weird, especially when he….er I mean she, swallowed a bug and couldn’t sing.

Then the Jolly Boys were announced as coming on stage and about 10 minutes later they did, I think one of them might have got his zimmer frame stuck on the stairs. 

Once they got started, I don’t think anyone had a clue what they were singing, the accent was so thick, and to me, the first 4 or 5 songs all sounded the same, it was a bit like listening to Status Quo! ;-)

After a few songs they then got into the covers, which included a wide range of songs from artists including Rehab by Amy Winehouse, Perfect Day by Lou Reed. There was even some white stripes and Blondie thrown in for good measure too.  The covers were great and everyone got involved and in the end I think we all enjoyed it.  Here are a couple of videos from the night I found on youtube (oh, and by the way, the man can dance):

After The Jolly Boys had managed to waddle there way of stage, we had planned to head to The Domain, for the rest of the night.  However, as we walked around the corner, the police were announcing that the park was at capacity and nobody else could get in.  So we did what we always do, headed to the pub instead!!! All in all an excellent way to start of the festival.  Edinburgh take note!