Tom Jones at Bluesfest 2024; Devo to farewell Australia at Good Things
Welsh singer Tom Jones will appear at Bluesfest alongside Jack Johnson, while alternative festival Good Things has booked US new wave band Devo for its final Australian shows.
Welsh singer Tom Jones will return to Australia next year to perform at Bluesfest, whose organisers on Wednesday announced the artistic line-up eight months out from the 35th edition of the annual event held near Byron Bay.
“The last time Tom Jones played Bluesfest was in 2016, and he had his manager personally contact Bluesfest to ask to return in 2024,” said festival director Peter Noble, who noted the 83-year-old singer’s estimated 100 million global album sales and 36 hits in the British Top 40, including It’s Not Unusual, Sex Bomb and Delilah.
Speaking with The Australian in 2016, Jones said: “I still enjoy doing those early hits because they are great songs. I don’t think you can say you’re not going to do those songs anymore. That’s not right. I’m proud of the records that I’ve had.”
As well, the festival will feature an Australian exclusive performance by US singer-songwriter Jack Johnson, alongside acts including The Teskey Brothers, Matt Corby, L.A.B., Elvis Costello & The Imposters, and Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett with his band The Alter Egos.
Following a successful theatre tour earlier this year, Nashville-based Australian guitar maestro Tommy Emmanuel will make an exclusive appearance, while Bluesfest’s youngest performer next year will be the blues guitarist Taj Farrant, a 14-year-old musician from the NSW central coast.
The five-day camping event will be held March 28 to April 1, 2024.
Also announced on Wednesday was the line-up for Good Things, an alternative music festival that last year sold out its three dates to about 90,000 metal, rock and punk fans.
Acts booked to appear at Good Things later this year include Devo, the Ohio new wave band best-known for its 1980 hit Whip It, and for wearing striking red flowerpot-shaped hats called energy domes.
Devo’s previous Australian visit was in 2012, and this run of shows will be its last: the group is performing in Europe on its “50 Years of De-evolution” tour, and will visit the US before its three Australian dates.
Good Things will be headlined by US rock band Fall Out Boy; its international contingent includes metal acts such as Limp Bizkit, I Prevail, Bullet For My Valentine and Sepultura, who will play alongside Australian alternative rock bands Spiderbait, Eskimo Joe and Jebediah.
As is custom, the festival will run a tight ship by operating on three consecutive days at outdoor venues in Melbourne (December 1), Sydney (December 2) and Brisbane (December 3).
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