Pictured: Dropkick Murphys. Photo by Mark Horton.
Though Friday marked the ninth day (of eleven) of the 21st RBC Bluesfest in Ottawa, it would also mark our last. And with a focus on bands more suited to a traditional Bluesfest – accompanied by the sort of rainy weather that our own Byron Bay Bluesfest is famous for – it was a perfect way to bring our week at the event to an end.
Opening the Claridge Homes Stage, seven piece brass driven outfit The Jivewires brought the “jump blues” of tracks like Cab Calloway’s “Minnie The Mooncher” and I think I even heard “Hey Pachuco” in there. It got everyone dancing early. Then the classic tunes of Canned Heat – celebrating their 50th anniversary – kept those good vibes rolling, opening things up with what is perhaps their best known track “On The Road Again”, followed by “Time Was”. The energetic and nostalgic set was jammed full of their own favourites – as well as classics from the last hundred years of blues music – which includes their cover of the classic “Let’s Stick Together” and “Rollin’ and Tumblin'”. Enjoyable from start to finish, it’s proof that songs like these will last forever.
Pictured: Canned Heat. Photo by Danyca MacDonald.
Bell stage opener John Carroll & The Epic Proportions didn’t prove a massive draw, but had a passionate crowd front and centre all the same, as Carroll and his band played tracks from Carroll’s 25-year career like “New Leaf”. Meanwhile, over on the Canadian stage, Vancouver’s Dear Rouge impressed with a set that at times reminded me of early (follow Canadians) Metric.
Danielle McTaggart leads the quartet with stunning performance swagger, highlighting her indie pop vocal sensibilities with tracks like “Black to Gold” that had the crowd singing. There was plenty of 80s synth goodness in there, and their cover of Blondie’s “Call Me” only highlighted the time sensitive comparison. “Tongues” was another highlight of the energetic and entertaining set, while single “I Heard I Had” closed things out. Definitely check this group out.
Back on the Claridge Homes stage, Dropkick Murphys were exactly what you expected them to be – and exactly as they’ve always been: incredibly fun, suitably loud and full of an incredible amount of energy. The Massachusetts group – who next year will be celebrating their 20th anniversary – played plenty of their favourites, from “Captain Kelly’s Kitchen” and “Rose Tattoo” to “God Willing” and “Fields Of Athenry”. It’s hard to ever turn down an opportunity to see these guys perform.
Pictured: Dear Rouge. Photo by Mark Horton.
Catriona Sturton – who used to be in the band Plumtree – was an enjoyable discovery of the day, proving herself an engaging performer, and an excellent harmonicist (even covering an instrumental harmonica-led track within the set). “Calling From My Pants” proved this isn’t a songwriter who takes herself too seriously, and it was as entertaining as it gets. Though she started out solo, the artist who bases herself in the Blues – but loves to “rock out” – eventually introduced two other girls onto the stage to accompany her on the drums and bass guitar. They moved through tracks like “Black is the Colour” and “Lowdown”, which finished out the set.
The rain started pouring as Canadian superstars The Tragically Hip took to the stage, the crowd staying put through their two hour headline set. With a frontman (Gordon Downie) as unique (and, in Canada at least, as popular) as Peter Garrett or Nick Cave, The Hip, as they’re affectionately known, have released some 12 studio albums since 1983, though haven’t found much success outside their own territory. But a much loved band here, the huge turnout for them proved that even after 32 years, fans still can’t get enough of their high energy performances. And what made this set of particular interest to fans was the inclusion of their third record – 1992’s Fully Completely – which they performed in its entirety, alongside tracks like “At Transformation”, “My Music at Work” and “Blow at High Dough”, which closed out the night. A fantastic live experience.
I ended up spending quite a bit of time with Toronto musician Afie Jurvanen – aka Bahamas – who, accompanied by a four piece (including the stunning backing vocals of Felicity Williams) had the crowd chanting for his signature slow jams as soon as he hit the stage. Opening with “All I’ve Ever Known”, the engaging set was Folk music at its best. “I Got You Babe” was an early highlight and tracks like “Caught Me Thinking”, “Waves” and “Can’t Take You With Me” all sounded fantastic live. Though it didn’t get much better than the beautiful “Like A Wind”, with the accompaniment of the lap steel guitar giving us a memorable moment indeed.
Pictured: Bahamas. Photo by Danyca MacDonald.
Elsewhere, Purity Ring were helping close things out on the Canadian stage and in the event’s only indoor stage, you could also find the “Danson Jam Sessions” where the real blues was happening. Legends from New Orleans, Chicago and around North America were participating, with John Primer getting his “Mojo Working” and Andrew ‘Jr. Boy’ Jones – accompanied by a 7 piece jam band – asking “Why Do You Love Me So?”. It was an amazing way to end our time at the festival.
We had an incredible time at the RBC Bluesfest in Ottawa this past week. You’ll read more about our overall highlights – in music and food – in the coming days, but for now we want to thank the festival for having us and treating us so well. This is without question a world class festival – and if you’re wondering why it seems like we’ve been covering only a small portion of the festival each day, it’s actually because the 11 day event generally doesn’t start until 6pm (weekends do start a bit earlier), which we loved.
Though our time at the RBC Bluesfest is over, the event officially concludes today (Sunday, July 19th) with the likes of The Tea Party, Shuggie Otis and “Weird Al” Yankovic. For tickets and more details head to: http://www.ottawabluesfest.ca. To look back at all our coverage for the event, please visit our RBC Bluesfest HUB, and click HERE to look at photos from today!
The writer attended this festival with the support of Canadian Tourism, Ottawa Tourism and the RBC Bluesfest. While at the festival, we stayed at the Albert at Bay Suite Hotel (435 Albert Street, Ottawa).
