Legends take the stage
LEGENDARY rock'n'roll wildman Iggy Pop and the Stooges and rock, Latin music and jazz fusion pioneers Santana have been announced as among the headliners of the 24th annual East Coast Blues Festival to be staged near Byron Bay next Easter.
The first artist announcements for next year's event released amid much anticipation just after midnight last night also included the Steve Miller Band whose songs are staples on classic rock radio, plus crooner Chris Isaak.
Chicago-based alternative rock band Wilco along with the Drop Kick Murphys and Glen Hansard with The Frames are also on the line-up.
And festival favourites Ben Harper and blues legend Bonnie Raitt were confirmed, along with Tedeschi Trucks Band and Newton Faulkner.
William Elliott Whitmore, Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls, Grace Potter, Playing For Change and Ben Caplan round out the 16 featured performers so far announced.
At 65, Iggy Pop, the former frontman of punk innovators The Stooges as well as a highly influential singer songwriter in his own right, is still acclaimed as a magnetic and dangerous performer.
Santana's collaboration with Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty in the late 1990s revived the popularity of the band which had peaked in the 1960s and 1970s.
There will be three artist announcements in coming weeks with director Peter Noble tipping there are more surprising big names to come.
The festival will draw tens of thousands of music lovers to six stages at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm from Thursday, March 28 to Monday April 1.
More info: bluesfest.com.au.
