Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest: Saturday’s Satisfied Fans
Blacksheep Music and Comedy Tent
The Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest started just over 15 years ago with one stage and three days. It’s now grown to a multi-staged, 12 day event with some of the best music you’ll experience in one location. Less a bluesfest than an eclectic music festival, the Ottawa Bluesfest is a must-see event. And while one of the standards to measure any festival is the quality of its lineup, another way is to watch the fans. I did this on Saturday, and found many smiling faces, dancing legs, grooving heads, and plenty of clapping and cat calls. The fans love the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest.
The Bluesfest has done a great job of programming Canadian music, both local and from across the country. With that in mind, my partner, Louisa, and I first headed to the Barney Danson Theatre to check out Jill Zmud’s performance. Transplanted in Ottawa via Saskatchewan, Jill is a young and very talented singer songwriter, with a sweet voice and a unique ability to draw out the best in her accompanying musicians.
[But first, an aside - enroute to the Zmud show we passed through the Blacksheep Music and Comedy Tent. I spotted another local music lover, Sean, sitting outside. He wasn't interested in talking because he said I must go see the Mohawk Lodge in the tent. He said they're a cross between the Constantines and Wolf Parade, and from what I heard he was right. Just as interesting were the band's stage antics, filled with plenty of super energetic jumping and banging and all-around cacophony. I asked Melissa, who had seen the whole set, how it was. "Crazy", she replied.]
Back to Jill Zmud. When we arrived about 20 minutes before the show started, there was a substantial lineup. Clearly, these people had heard about Jill. The crowd was as varied as the Bluesfest lineup - young and not-so-young, hipsters, regular music lovers, and lots of people looking forward to a great performance. One young woman spotted an older man in line – presumably a relative or older friend – and asked with surprise, “Do you know Jill Zmud’s music?” With a smile he said yes, the smile stressing that anyone of any age can enjoy good music.
One measure of a musician’s skill is the interest that other musicians have in her. In line ahead of us was Jon Bartlett, from Kelp Records, chatting with Rolf Klausener from the Acorn and Alan Neal from CBC radio. Of course, Alan and Jill are a couple, so Louisa wondered why he had to wait in line to get to see her perform. The crowd loved Jill’s set. She played plenty of songs from her latest CD, as well as some new material, a sweet version of Tennessee Waltz, and some incredible a capella tunes. Jill’s band features local uber-producer Dave Draves on keys and guitar (here’s an idea for a contest – ask someone to guess how many records Dave has been involved with in one way or another), guitarist Chris Page, who plays with gorgeous finesse and understatement, and vocalists Christine Mathenge and Jerusha Lewis from Voices of Praise gospel choir, whose ability to sing is amazing.
My partner Louisa is as big a music fan as me, and we often get anxious that we won’t get decent spots for artists we love. And Louisa loves Basia Bulat but has never seen her live. So she wanted to get back over to the Blacksheep tent to make sure we got a spot. As a result, we left Jill’s set a bit early.
Basia Bulat
As it turns out, things weren’t too bad, and Louisa went to the front to grab us a spot as close to the stage as possible. I ventured off to find a porta-potty (not hard to do at Bluesfest) and get some tasty beverages. By the time I was finished, the place was nearly packed. I was worried I couldn’t find my beloved but was able to do locate her flailing arms. The crowd here was less diverse, younger and more women, but still a varied crowd. That’s one great thing about the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest - you see lots of people checking out many different acts. A young man beside me was keen on seeing the Flaming Lips – having seen them live before, he knew the show would be incredible. As Bulat neared the end of her set, another young couple were debating about whether they should go to the MBNA stage where Metric was performing at 7 (Bulat’s show was to end at 7). From what I could tell, she left to get a spot and he stayed behind.
Basia Bulat
He was the smarter one. Bulat’s set was incredible to the very end. Her band is tight and talented, and she clearly loves performing. The crowd adored her, and she rewarded its dedication with wide smiles and passionate playing. Her performance of the Shore, played on her much loved auto harp, was stunning. Lenny, a local music fan, called it amazing.
The Ottawa Bluesfest runs on a very strict schedule – having so many different artists requires time in between sets to tear down and set up again. I can’t recall seeing an encore at the Bluesfest; Basia Bulat did one. This was no pre-planned, pro-forma encore either. The crowd was wild with excitement after her set (which also including a very endearing number sung in Polish), and let her know. She came back, alone, and did an incredible a capella song with clapping and foot stomping for percussion. Clearly the crowd had fallen in love with her, and vice versa.
After Basia Bulat, we decided to get something to eat and sit on the main lawn between the two main stages. People-watching at Bluesfest is an event in itself, and reinforces the notion that Bluesfest does have a very eclectic and interesting lineup. We could see and hear the Metric set on the MBNA stage. When Emily Haines expressed the band’s love of playing in Ottawa every summer, the crowd responded with enthusiasm. When the set finished, all those fans began making their way back toward the Claridge Homes stage. I felt like I was snorkeling over a coral reef – all of a sudden these generally younger fans started making their way through the crowds, all their faces showing the joy that comes with seeing one of your favourite acts, much in the way a new school of fish might rush through the reef.
Of course, the folks working the Claridge stage were setting up for Roger Hodgson, formerly of Supertramp. Generally the crowd for that show was older, but I was still impressed by the range. One kid - likely no more than 17 – had already purchased a Hodgson t-shirt and was clearly a huge fan.
After the show started, I heard a woman ask her boyfriend who was playing – as if to question why so many people were there – and he said “Roger Hodgson, from Supertramp. You don’t know Supertramp?” A lesson learned in music history I guess…
We listened to a few tunes from the Hodgson show and then wandered around the site. By this point – after 8 – the place was teeming with music fans. Every stage had huge crowds either listening to or waiting for an artist. Darkness began to settle in and it became clear that there was a huge buzz over at the MBNA stage – people were waiting for the Flaming Lips. I’ve never been much of a Flaming Lips fan but I know their live shows are, shall we say, interesting. The crowd was in a happy mood, with a big ball bouncing around (little did they know that Wayne Coyne would be bouncing around them in a big ball soon….). There have already been several other accounts of the Flaming Lips show here, and I’ll let you read those from people who stayed for the whole thing. We stayed for a couple of songs, and had to fight our way through the crowd to get out.
We made our way to the Blacksheep tent, where we’d finish the evening with the last of the White Whale Records showcase. We started our day there, catching the last song by the Mohawk Lodge. Octoberman was performing now. This was quite a change from the Bulat show – there may have been 30 people in what is a large room. Nonetheless, the crowd was appreciative. Louisa declared “I like these guys”, which is always a compliment. It was a good set which we watched from the seats.
Next up was Eamon McGrath. I had heard good things about Eamon, and was looking forward to the set. He opened with a Gram Parson cover (done solo), which was interesting given the Gram Parsons tribute going on in the Danson Theatre. I thought we were ready to settle in for some guitar based, country tinged roots music (which is what you’d expect if you check out his myspace page). Oh I was wrong. The rest of the band came out, and I recognized at least two of them from the Mohawk Lodge show (remember the concise description from Melissa? “Crazy”). I told Louisa that I had to go down to the floor for this. And we did.
For the next 40 minutes, the band tore through a series of tunes, remade as energetic and passionate punk songs, with lots of screaming lyrics from Eamon, jumping up and down, Springsteen-like guitar pounding, and overall pandemonium. These guys were on fire and it was excellent. I was curious about the plywood sitting on the stage with a hammer and some chains on top. Looked like a safety hazard to me, but they were used as percussion instruments to great effect on the plywood and on guitars. McGrath spent most of one song out on the floor, worried roadies making sure the mic cord did not get tangled up.
This was an awesome show. The band knew that, regardless of the size of the audience, it was very important to bring them into the music. I am sure this was a long, tiring day for the many fans sitting in the bleachers. White Whale Records founder Ryer Havdale is the lead singer in the Mohawk Lodge and played bass during the McGrath set. After a few songs, Ryer advised the crowd that they had to come closer to the stage (where we were) – that the music would sound much better there. And the crowd listened – soon, most of those who were sitting came down to experience they show. And they loved it, with lots of grooving and foot tapping.
Ryer is an obvious music lover – I saw him backstage enjoying the Bulat concert earlier that day. Part way through one song, Ryer realized his pick just couldn’t create the heavy bass lines he needed to support McGrath’s scorching guitar. And so he asked the audience if anyone had a pick! Sure enough, a musician standing beside us in the crowd pulled out a pick, tossed it up, and said “you can’t get them any heavier than that”. And the show went on. These shows are never uninteresting.
Walking to the bus stop we saw many satisfied fans. We ran into Ryan, who hosts a show on CKCU after my show, who thought the Flaming Lips concert was great. It was an excellent day of music in the National Capital!
Tags: Acorn, Basia Bulat, Chris Page, cisco ottawa bluesfest, Eamon McGrath, Flaming Lips, Jill Zmud, Kelp Records, Metric, Mohawk Lodge, Octoberman, Roger Hodgson, White Whale Records
