Tucked away in the corner of the festival grounds, the River Stage was the place to be on the second day of Bluesfest—boasting a bill of three acts that could be described as anything but conventional.
The evening began with the electro dance pop of locals Silkken Laumann. Formed in 2011 as another project of prominent Ottawa music figure Rolf Klausener (The Acorn), the quartet has had an eventful year thus far, riding the release of their debut record Not Forever Enough.
The group also includes recognizable names in Adam Saikaley and Gary Franks, both popping up behind the ones and twos at various DJ gigs around the city.
With lively music comes a spirited attitude as well, as Klausener tried his best to lead the crowd in believing they were a band from Detroit.
“It’s always a great time when we play Ottawa,” he exclaimed as his bandmates tried their best to stifle any laughter.
Their music was infectious when pumped through a festival-size sound system.
Saikaley’s electronics provided the base for every track, with Franks and drummer Pat Johnston forming an incredibly tight rhythm section to play alongside the beats. Klausener handled the occasional guitar duties while also handling vocals, altering his voice with stompbox effects such as incredibly long echoes or harmonies.
As it goes with most of these early shows, the crowd grew larger as the set went along. To the delight of many in attendance, they rounded their set out with a decidedly more dance-oriented version of the Talking Heads classic “Once In A Lifetime.”
“Don’t be afraid to dance!” bassist Franks said.
The crowd continued to file in for Bonobo, who was taking the stage next. The project of English producer Simon Green, the performance the audience witnessed was much more impressive than a DJ set—with Green being backed by a full band including a drummer, guitarist, keyboardist, and a woodwind player.
Green was often seen running between MIDI controllers, trigger pads, and a bass guitar—at times playing two of the instruments at once.
A handful of tracks featured guest vocalist Szjerdene, already quite present on the man’s latest record The North Borders. Her sweet, soulful performance on some of the set’s quieter tracks harkened back to the past work of female soul singers in electronic music, like that of Martina Topley-Bird with Massive Attack, for example.
It was incredible to watch the musicians move fluidly from one track to the next, interspersing loud dance music moments with the hypnotic, downtempo style which initially brought him recognition—though a big shout-out goes to the kid to my right who couldn’t stop banging his head regardless of the tempo.
The largest draw of the evening was the incredible reggae rhythm section of Sly and Robbie. A duo that has been playing together since the 1970s, they have handled production duties for some of the biggest names in music, including Mick Jagger, No Doubt, and Michael Franti.
Backed with guitar, saxophone, and keyboards, the group built a solid musical base for the guest vocalists who decided to join them. Trombone player Nambo Robinson showed he was more than capable as vocalist as well as a horn player, often engaging the crowd in moments of call-and-response chant while the sweeter, romantic stylings of British reggae singer Bitty McLean also sat well with those in attendance.
It was an excellent display of the genre and many of it’s derivative forms, with many a nod to “dub” reggae, “sweet” reggae, roots-rock, and more.
Robbie Shakespeare held up the low end of things with his booming bass lines. Sly Dunbar, crouched over to the point of nearly being hidden behind his drum set, was able to keep beat with incredibly precise playing. No matter how technical each of them decided to get, they remained in sync with one another.
Thirty years of music making will undoubtedly form such a connection.
