As the first Allman to tour Australia, join Devon from Royal Southern Brotherhood as he shares blog entries, pictures and video from the tour. Click here to read Day One, Click here to read Day Two, click here to read Day Three, click here for Day Four and click here for Day Five.

Setist art by Yonrico Scott

Day Six

Last nights show in Melbourne was bizzare. Took a while to just relax and get into the groove. That happens sometimes although it is rare with this band. It felt like trying to sprint in 4 inches of mud while wearing low top Chuck Taylors without laces. But by the mid point we were kicking ok and the crowd got what they came for.

After 4 hours sleep we boarded a plane for Gold Coast. Very cool part of Australia. We were taken to a swank resort to relax a couple hours prior to our performance at the Byron Bay Blues Festival. This is a HUGE fest. 100,000 people, 200 shows on 7 stages spread out over 5 days and nights. This year we play two of the nights. Other artists include Paul Simon, Wilco, Bonnie Raitt, Santana, Robert Plant and many others.

We hit the stage with heat and steam in the air and thousands of people waiting for us. It was pure euphoria. The second that my foot hit the wah wah pedal for the beginning of “Fired Up” the vibe was palpable and electric. It was one of those shows where everything just worked. We fucking owned ’em. And they owned us.

After the gig we did an hour long meet and greet with fans I wolfed down some backstage food and awaited the ride back to the resort. I ran into Rufus Wainwright near the end and we snapped a pic.

Spent a lot of time today speaking with my bandmate Mike Zito about life, the bands future, the next album, and relationships. Mike and I are like brothers. We will disagree, bark at each other, give each other the silent treatment sometimes …like brothers do. We met in a guitar store we were working at in St.Louis in 1999. Always had a little friendly rivalry going back then but now we support each other and bring out the best in each other. I’m grateful for my friendship with him. We put this band and music first and our Australia trip has brought us closer than ever.

This festival is one of the best in the world. It’s very surreal to be here and be included in a stellar line up. I guess most would think they’ve “arrived” at this point in their career. I do not. I want to learn more, do more , write more, see more and touch more people.

I want to better my craft til they put me in a box.

Tomorrow is the last day in Australia. It’s been by far my favorite tour so far…and I’ve done a lot in 25 countries over the last decade.

G’day mate !

Devon Allman