The day started off on a bad note, with heavy rain and a long delay. Festival-goers worried the days acts wouldn’t happen, and every performer expressed their gratitude to the festival-goers for coming despite the rain, it was almost a cliche by the end of the night. While some acts, including Dj Pauly D, and Brea Lawrenson were cancelled, the festival otherwise went on as planned. 

I haven’t been to many music festivals, so I didn’t know what to expect. I just knew I liked blues music, and once we were finally let onto festival grounds, I went straight for the stage at Bluesville. 

I had never heard of the artists, but I looked them up on Spotify beforehand, and I was excited. First was Brandon “Taz” Niederauer.

Brandon “Taz” Niedeuarer [Photo by Spencer Colby]
He’s an up-and-coming blues guitarist who gave the impression of being very passionate about making music. What is most impressive is how young he is. Taz is only 16, but plays the guitar like an artist with decades of experience, and has played with a long list of big-name artists including Lady Gaga and Tedeschi Trucks Band. 

At Videotron stage, Leikeli47 wore a mask of bandanas and rapped energetically. It wasn’t my thing, but you could tell the audience enjoyed it as they sang along with her lyrics. She got her crowd moving, that’s for sure. After her show was Murda Beatz, who similarly had the attention of his entire audience. 

Connie Caillat performs at Bluesfest [Photo by Spencer Colby.]
At City Stage, I learned I sort of like country music, as Gone West and Colbie Callait played for people in cowboy boots and hats. You could tell which fans came specifically for City Stage. It was the biggest stage, and the one you passed as you entered and left the venue, was surrounded by country-themed food-stands and merchandisers, and seemed to be the main and most emphasized attraction of the festival. 

Finally, I visited Bluesville stage once more for the performer I was most excited to see: Shakey Graves.

He attracted the largest crowd. The Bluesville stage was probably the smallest, and was more than packed with people, but compared to Brandon ‘Taz’ Niederuaer, I wasn’t impressed. That isn’t to say he wasn’t good. His audience sure loved him, but Taz set the bar too high earlier in the night. 

Suggested songs: Gone West’s ‘Champagne,’ and anything by Brandon ‘Taz’ Niederauer. 

Kane Brown glowing up the crowd. [Photo by Spencer Colby]

Kane Brown performed on the main stage to conclude the night. He was given a concourse to perform further into the crowd. His intimate country music has a large female following enthusiastically singing along to his set.

His emotional lyrics and velvety voice were the perfect conclusion to the night.

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