Barnes had invited Mr Albanese as a guest to the Byron Bay festival on Sunday night, but the Labor leader ended up taking to the stage, which received a mixed reaction.“I invited Anthony to be a guest,” Barnes told Sunrise host Natalie Barr in a prerecorded interview that aired on Friday morning.“He came along. He is a big fan. Anthony’s come to see Cold Chisel shows from years back. We have been friends for a long time.”Barnes said Mr Albanese was a big fan and said the crowd was initially surprised to see the leader take the stage, pointing out the moment the crowd turned on leader before becoming “quite receptive”.“So he came and they said ‘why don’t we get him to introduce the band?’ and he went up there,” Mr Barnes continued.“And of course my band was all on stage and there was a drum kit with Jimmy Barnes written there, and they said ‘would you welcome the working class man’ and they went ‘here’s Anthony Albanese’ and (the crowd) all went ‘aye, hang on a minute’.“But they were quite receptive. He said look we’re here to tell you we support the arts and rattled off a few things. He didn’t muck about.”The booing had started before Mr Albanese’s name was even mentioned at the festival.The MC brought up the upcoming federal election, prompting the first of the boos, before welcoming “the man that represents the working class people” on stage.In Mr Albanese’s short appearance on stage, he briefly mentioned issues including Indigenous recognition and supporting the arts.“What we want is a government that backs the art sector,” he said at the end of his short speech, which caused the cheering to overpower the booing. “So ladies and gentlemen, welcome Jimmy Barnes.”A festival worker later said she had been expecting a warmer reception, but that some of the most vocal critics booing the Opposition leader at the front of the crowd had been anti-vaxxers, with many cheers of support coming from audience members standing further back.Earlier in the night, Mr Albanese received a far warmer reception during a walk through of the crowd ahead of a performance by The Waifs.Accompanied by partner Jodie Haydon and senior frontbencher Tony Burke at the iconic music festival in Byron Bay, Mr Albanese was met with chants of “Albo, Albo” as he greeted the audience.His appearance at Bluesfest coincided with an announcement that Labor would be taking the “first steps” to expand the reach of Double J on radio.Currently, audiences across regional Australia can get Double J on digital TV, the ABC website or the ABC listen app, but can’t get Double J on the radio because there’s no Double J on FM radio and most towns don’t have DAB+ radio.The ALP has confirmed it will commission the ABC to undertake a feasibility study into the expansion of Double J on radio as the next logical next step in helping great Aussie artists reach more ears.“It’s no secret I’ve always been a huge music fan,” Mr Albanese said of the announcement.“I want more people in regional Australia to experience the joy I have of listening to Double J, singing along to songs they love or maybe discovering something new.”
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