The Cairns Blues Festival is delighted to welcome back the amazing Mason Rack Band on Saturday 11 May on Fitzroy Island.

The Gold Coast trio – known equally for its hard-driving musicianship and theatrical onstage presence – is riding high following a barnstorming triumph at the Byron Bay Bluesfest and the joyous critical reception of its new album, Limits of Grip.

Fronted by singer-guitarist Mason Rack, backed up by bassist Michael ‘Blackie’ Cole and drummer Ara Anzon, the band cranks out a high energy admixture of Chicago electric blues and deep-south swamp rock guaranteed to have crowds up and dancing before the first chorus.

This will be the Mason Rack Band’s third performance at the Cairns Blues Festival. In the time since their first appearance in 2010, the band has been working its collective butt off, touring through Canada an exhausting six times, as well as playing shows in the UK and Europe.

In the past 12 months, Mason Rack and his fellow musicians have played major gigs at the Grolsch Blues Music Festival in Germany, venues in Paris and Amsterdam and a special VIP show at the prestigious Hylands Festival in the Netherlands.

Their increasing success has found them sharing stages with the likes of Pink, Metallica, Deep Purple and Van Morrison. Popular fixtures on the bill at many Australian roots music festivals, they have also worked with several homegrown stars, including Xavier Russ and Keith Urban.

A big part of the appeal of the Mason Rack Band is their sense of theatre. They are in no doubt that the primary purpose of live music is to entertain and they rejoice in finding new ways to do this.

No one who saw their last Cairns Blues Festival appearance two years ago will have forgotten it. The band members took to the stage wearing only jocks and socks, and then proceeded to get dressed – in a hilarious display of synchronised costuming – before picking up their instruments and blowing the crowd away. All three members of the band are multi-instrumentalists and delight in switching behind guitar, bass, drums and lead vocals as each show progresses.

These are three musicians truly at the height of their powers – and not afraid to use them for good. The band’s deceptively intricate compositions have long had critics picking out sly, wry references to the likes of Tom Waits, Muddy Waters, Ben Harper and Kim Salmon. Mostly, however, they ignore the subtexts and just get down and enjoy the show. And that, of course, is precisely what the Mason Rack Band want.

This year’s line-up of the Cairns Blues Festival showcases a diverse range of acts, from the sophisticated, soulful, funked-up New Zealand blues of Billy TK Jnr & The Groove Shakers, to the rockin’ country-esque style of Bluesville Station and the roosty blues of Blake Saban 3, and more.

Tickets for the fifth annual Cairns Blues Festival at Fitzroy Island are on sale now from www.ticketlink.com.au or 1300 855 835. Tickets inclusive of transport are $75 (adults), $70 (concession) and $24 (17-years and under). Ferry transfers are included. Booking fee not included. ID is required upon entry to the festival. NO UNDER 18S PERMITTED AFTER 8PM.