Afie Jurvanen Of Bahamas Shares His Top 5 Favourite Festivals
Folk star Afie Jurvanen is returning to Australia this September under his well-known moniker Bahamas in support of his third release Bahamas is Afie. With support from Fraser A. Gorman, Bahamas is heading out on an eight date tour across the country to share his extra special blend of folky goodness with his fans.
Afie took some time out of his schedule to speak with AWOL about his favourite five festivals from across the globe – including that time he stumbled upon Ratatat performing at Fuji Rock and even his illustrious past as a punk-rocker at Warped Festival.
#1 Newport Folk Festival
Where: Newport, Rhode Island
I have a wonderful history with the Newport Folk Festival and the new promoters have done a great job of injecting some youthfulness and energy. It’s in a beautiful setting, surrounded by water on all sides, and there’s a lot of guys in golf shirts – pretty neat. Levi’s gave me and the band sweet jean jackets when we were there. Mega bonus points, Newport. Mega.
#2 Fuji Rock Festival
Where: Naeba Ski Resort, in Niigata Prefecture, Japan
I’ve only been to Fuji Rock once before but the sheer size of it was pretty amazing. We were playing on like, stage nine, or something – a 30-minute drive through winding mountain roads. I had jet lag and wandered around at 3am and happened to see Ratatat rock a tent full of stoners, every one grooving and blissed out on who knows what. I was stone cold sober and it was still a great show. I wonder if I’ll ever get a chance to be back there…
#3 Warped Tour, 1996
Where: London, Ontario
I used to be really into skateboarding and punk rock and Vans Warped Tour was a great opportunity to do both. I remember busting some sweet pop shove its while NOFX sang The Longest Line. There was a nice little quarter pipe and some rails. I know I dyed my hair with a bingo dabber, I just can’t remember if it was neon green or tangerine orange. I had a great time – long live teenage-dom.
#4 Farm Aid
Where: Upstate NY
Farm Aid is a long-running music and food-awareness festival started by some of my heroes. It’s pretty great to see Willie Nelson and Neil Young and John Cougar all in one day. There’s a lot of great information and workshops about producing food and eating well. Most people come ’cause they wanna drink 1000 beers and see Neil, but it’s all for a good cause. The festival supports local food production – way to go guys.
#5 Pickathon
Where: Portland, Oregon
I’ve never been to Pickathon but it sounds pretty cool – apparently the setting is beautiful and it’s small and not too crowded. I’ve never been asked to play, but many of my friends have been and they have nothing but good things to say. Maybe I should just buy a ticket and go for the gen-pop experience? Ah Afie… quit your whining. Someday…
Bahamas kicks off his eight date tour on Thursday September 24 at Brisbane Festival, with dates in Fremantle, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Maitland and Wollongong to follow. Check out the dates and order the latest album Bahamas is Afie here.
