Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest Day 1: Something very clever happens on the Subway Stage
The Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest has been drawing crowds from Ottawa and visitors from across North America and around the world to it’s stages for over 17 years now. The festival’s organizers have worked really hard each year to bring audiences a full range of entertainment options with roots, blues, world music, new country, rock and chart-topping international performers doing live acts since 1994. That’s a pretty great track record of sourcing, promoting, selling and celebrating some incredible music and bringing it home. Why am I harping-on about this? Because I am awe-struck by talent. Tonight was the opening night (Day 1) of the 12 day festival, and it was delicious.
The lineup for tonight: vegetable curry and The Kelp Records Revue show.
Andrew Vincent had begun his set when I arrived. With his clever lyrics and ‘realness’ he was evoking the very alert audience’s reactions around me. Not just foot-tapping and swaying to the music, but some really cerebral stuff was happening here. The show continued to move along with Chris Page and his accompanying band, that included a very talented performer in her own right: Jill Zmud. The band Rhume heated up the stage even more (with a haz-mat suit sporting lead-singer who happens to be Kelp Records founder, Jon Bartlett), followed by The Flaps vs The Empiricals (unbelievable live performance!) and then finally what was called the “Grand Ole Opry” section of the Kelp Records Revue: a mish-mash of performers singing and playing together in a veritable smörgåsbord of delicious talent.
I had to jump up and video tape some of it using the Flip:
As I was walking around looking at the show from various angles, I saw a number of local performers in the crowd who were transfixed on the show. I spoke to Matthew at one point (also a local performer), and we had a moment of agreement that what made the show special tonight was the level of talent and clever creativity which interests other musicians and inspires. As Matthew said: “these guys are incredible, of course I have to watch what’s happening on this stage!” and, coming from a talented folk-singer/songwriter that is a good summary of the experience at the Subway Stage which was felt by all.
This year, Ottawa Tonite has the pleasure of being a Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest sponsor and to help provide coverage as a participant. What does that mean? It means we get an up-close-and-personal glimpse into your experience at the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest and ours. This is a place to share the stories of the people standing next to us in the crowd and behind the stage as well.
The raw of energy that comes from the crowd which is aimed at the performers as they step onto any stage and start to play..that is the energy we want to focus on and talk about. Tell us how we’re doing. Tell us your stories. The Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest is one of the most successful music festivals in the world. Ahem: it’s happening in OUR city.
Let’s really talk about what it feels like to have something so special we can call our own.
Tags: cisco ottawa bluesfest, Flip Video, Kelp Records, Ottawa Bluesfest 2010
July 7th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
Great stuff OttawaTonite.com I couldn’t make it out, but I clearly felt the vibe…you know how to make us feel right in the moment. You were at the right place, on the right night. I look forward to the opportunity to share your experiences throughout the fest, one of my favourite times of the year and anticipated greatly…and once done, missed terribly.