Bluesfest Day 1: Come For the CHVRCHES, stay for the show

When you’re going to a festival, you buy a ticket for the headliners. Those acts we’ve followed for years, liked on Spotify, or remember from that one song you heard on the radio. That’s where the biggest crowds are, that’s who gets all the attention.

That proved true on the opening day of Bluesfest, setting up shop for the next two weeks at Lebreton Flats for the 25th year in a row.

CHVRCHES was the first big name on the ticket. You’ll know them from zany, electronic fuelled pop hits such as Grafitti. Their sound is great for speeding down a highway, with the windows down, singing along with a group of friends on a long road trip. Live, their set was… fine.

With an earlier time slot, on a Thursday evening, it can be hard to get a crowd of people going. The show felt a little flat. Everyone was just going through the motions. Opening day jitters for Bluesfest was the trouble with both the headliners and the audience.
With the prime time slot, Alt-J played through seemingly eternal set of ethereal vocals emphasized by an otherworldly light show—it all seemed to drag on a bit too long.

The crowd stood firm, but you could tell people’s attention was drifting. They were waiting for the songs they knew. So when the encore came, Alt-J broke out their three biggest hits, finishing with their original hit, “Breezeblocks.” It was a wave of jubilant relief for the thousands of fans, who all chanted along with the songs they’d streamed repeatedly over the years.

Whilst City Stage was off to a slow start, the rest of the festival produced an eclectic array of music.

When any festival arrives, it provides an opportunity to music fans of any level. An opportunity to discover, experience and fall in love with new music and artists.

The best part of the opening day of the 25th Bluesfest was not the headliners, it was the smaller acts. Those happening earlier in the evening, or on the smaller stages tucked around the back, with small clusters of diehard fans and curious onlookers. Where the crowds were less dense, and you could just walk up to the front railing halfway into their set.

There’s a unique experience in being pressed into a crowd, standing and waiting for a massively popular artist with a huge following. It is exciting, but there is something altogether different about being in a small crowd, with an artist who is obviously happy to be there, is enjoying the performance, and is pleased to see people turn up.

In these smaller performances, there’s an intimacy which helps you feel connected with the act, in a way you could never feel in a big crowd.

The best show of the night was Zaki Ibrahim. It was just Ibrahim’s smooth yet powerful vocals, and her piano player on stage. Matching smooth vocals with powerful and skillful keys, Ibrahim brought an energetic and soulful performance to the Videotron stage. Watching the crowd build through from a handful of apathetic onlookers to a crowd that was two-stepping along with the music, proved testament to the depth and range of talent on display at Bluesfest.

If Zaki Ibrahim was joyful and freeing, U.S. Girls were the opposite of that. Existential angst, then a burst of furious, fast paced funk, then paired more existential angst. The show was bizarre and ended in a guttural scream from the lead singer, proclaiming life had no meaning.

But whatever your cup of tea, there is something for everyone on show (if you look hard enough).  You can even find some blues music and the Sugar Delta set the crowds under the white tent in Bluesville swinging with raspy vocals and a bold brass section.

My advice for getting the most out of Bluesfest: walk around. Leave the main stage, Explore and listen. There are hundreds of artists throughout the next two weeks all vying for your ears, and they’re putting on great shows.