Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre
Saturday February 7 & Sunday February 8  2004

It is easy to have 20/20 vision in hindsight, but while the organisers of this less than enthusiastically supported festival, now in its second year, search for reasons (or excuses, as the case may be), they might, in the words of the Coodabeen Champions, take 'a long hard look at themselves'.

If they don't learn any lessons then the event is doomed, which is a pity because the city desperately needs this sort of festival and its lack of support has overshadowed its potential and all the good things about it.

When the organisers conduct their post-mortem - hopefully not one that precedes a burial - they might consider how they reached the bizarre decision that the headliner on the final night would be Chicago (the band, not the musical!), who played to a dwindling crowd of only several thousand while just a few kilometres away there were more than one hundred times that number at the local St Kilda Festival. Just two weeks ago The Big Day Out drew nearly forty thousand much younger punters to the Showgrounds, a venue certainly lacking the facilities available to MIMBF.

That's not to say that Chicago was awful - on the contrary, the eight-piece outfit sounded incredibly professional - it is just that their biggest hits here were decades ago and consequently their music has limited appeal to audiences. I enjoyed hearing 'Dialogue Parts 1 & 2' - but I also enjoyed it nearly thirty years ago and the band's music hasn't moved on much since that fifth album on which the song originally appeared. Most of the rest of us have moved on.
Somehow seeing Chicago was a little like watching a museum-piece. Bryan Ferry produced the same feeling for me the previous night when he strolled through a set as though he was asleep - albeit in an extremely elegantly dressed snooze.

Far better headliners would have been Bonnie Raitt and The Pretenders - both of whom show so well that you can rock well into middle age and still make interesting - even exciting albums.

Chryssie Hynde is the epitome of a rock 'n' roll lead singer - rake-thin and clad in Levi's, a luminous red top and black t-shirt. If only Keith Richards could have aged as gracefully! Hynde exudes rock 'n' roll attitude: she's feisty, she's arrogant, she sneers when someone suggests she take off her top ('I've lost more men than you've had steak sandwiches!'), she dedicates 'I'll Stand By You' to all you 'dumbasses out there' who eat meat (saying 'If you want to change the world change your diet!'). And most importantly - she rocks.

Still sporting original drummer Martin Chambers, the Pretenders powered through a wonderful set with guitarist Adam Seymour proving that he has been an inspired addition to the line-up (and not just for his song writing). Classics like 'Back On the Chain Gang', 'Night In My Veins', 'Middle Of The Road' and 'Talk Of the Town' were reinvigorated while the few selections, such as 'You Know Who Your Friends Are' from the latest album Loose Screw, stood up well. The absence of 'Brass In Pocket' was hardly noticed amidst the frenetic show.

How could you follow the Pretenders? You can't and Bryan Ferry shouldn't have! Hearing him cruise through 'Avalon' just seemed too laidback after Hynde's marvellous show. Even the presence of legendary guitarist Chris Spedding failed to stem the ennui produced by Ferry's performance.

Earlier in the day Tony Joe White and his drummer Boom Boom thrilled the crowd and set the scene for what should have been a great day's entertainment - which it was, minus the audience.

White's swamp rock has seen his career resurrected - at least here and in Europe. It is hard to go past 'Polk Salad Annie' as an all-time crowd favourite. The still tousle-haired Richard Clapton also revived memories with songs like 'Deep Water', 'Capricorn Dancer', 'Get Back To The Shelter' and 'I Am An Island' before telling us he had a new album coming out soon. Pity it wasn't available here.

Jamaica's Wailers grooved the crowd into the early evening with a collection of the songs they made famous with Bob Marley but with a vocalist who couldn't quite match the legend of his predecessor. Much of the set seemed to be about paying tribute to original member Aston 'Family Man' Barrett. The loping groove had us wishing that we got to see a few more world-class reggae outfits at music festivals here.

The first day's heavy hitters disguised the fact that there was also a wealth of local talent struggling to find audiences at the two cavernous indoor stages. The atrocious sound of last year's indoor stage had not only not been cured but was also transferred to the Blues Club - another aircraft hangar-like venue that echoed mercilessly.

The dark, sterile indoor venues seemed inappropriate on a summer weekend. But at least Mia Dyson, the Bondi Cigars, Pete Murray and the Backsliders drew reasonable audiences - with Murray creating huge interest.

On the final evening Bonnie Raitt would have offered the perfect closure to the event. Raitt's upbeat show, superb slide playing, sparkling stage presence and stunning band (with bassist Hutch Hutchison, drummer Ricky Fataar and English-born New Orleans based keyboard maestro Jon Cleary) had all the ingredients to make it a festival highlight - which it was.

Raitt's 15-song set covered almost her entire career, including Chris Smither's 'Love Me Like A Man' and John Prine's 'Angel From Montgomery' - both off her earliest albums. But the early material sat comfortably alongside newer songs such as Oliver Mtukudzi's 'Hear Me Lord' or Jon Cleary's 'Fool's Game'. (Earlier, Cleary had played his own impressive gig with his Absolute Monster Gentlemen).

Raitt then invited Renee Geyer on stage for a version of Aretha Franklin's hit 'Baby, Baby I Love You', having extolled Geyer's virtues, calling her a 'treasure'. Raitt is an unashamed publicist for Geyer whose own set earlier emphasised the fact that she is our greatest soul singer.

Bonnie Raitt's stint on the main stage was preceded by Robert Cray who offered a smooth, soulful show peppered with some of his own hits such as 'Strong Persuader' (the song that broke him here) and 'Phone Booth'.

At least the 'blues' in the festival's title got a bit of look in with Raitt, Cray, Jo Jo Zep, The Backsliders and other local acts.

Joe Camilleri's recently reformed Falcons played in the mid-afternoon heat and showed that only the waistlines have been changed to protect the innocent. It was an awesome display from a band whose music (unlike that of Chicago and Bryan Ferry) has not aged a jot - not only that, their recent album Ricochet should have - like this festival - been far more successful.