The second last night of Ottawa Bluesfest pulled out all the stops, with riveting performances from every genre you could think of.
Starting off the evening was Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine. The Ottawa pop duo opened the City Stage with exciting electronic riffs and phenomenal vocals, making the crowd flood the front to watch them perform. Fine’s cover of “Dream On” was simply amazing, resulting in her throwing her sunglasses into the crowd and sending them into a frenzy.
Following the show, a long line circled around for a meet-and-greet. The duo signed and took photos with eager fans, while their family and friends hung around for support.
River City Junction, another Ottawa band, went back to their roots with a blues and rock and roll infused show on the Black Sheep Stage.
Jessie Reyez brought the heat with a fiery show on the City Stage. The audience kept their hands in the air, joining in on Reyez’s explicit lyrics. Reyez poked fun at her lyrics, telling the audience, “that’s the way God made me, though.”
Her music videos and old covers from YouTube played on the screen behind her, keeping with the personal vibe of the show. Between her personal anecdotes on her background and inside jokes with the band, it was difficult not to enjoy her performance. Reyez also hinted at a new song in the works, and performed her first-ever Spanish song.
One of the more hard-hitting moments of the evening came when Reyez opened up about her experience with the #MeToo movement. She brought up an instance of meeting a producer who told her she needed to do sexual favours for a record deal before her song “Gatekeeper” was released, which discusses her experience with sexual harassment when she was starting in her career.
Reyez ended her set with “Figures,” putting her incredible vocals to the test with stunning high notes and her signature rasp.
The night only went up from there, as hip-hop brothers Rae Sremmurd took to the stage with enough energy to power all of Bluesfest. The crowd was jumping before the Mississippi duo even came on stage, and the energy only escalated from there.
The duo opened a champagne bottle and sprayed it on the crowd, and then invited a group of female fans to dance and take photos on stage, followed by one of the duo, Slim Jxmmi, crowd-surfing twice. All of this pointed to a crazy, but fun concert.
Rae Sremmurd’s hour-long set started at 8:30 p.m., which is much earlier than most main stage headliners. This scheduling was most likely a security measure to make sure things would remain under control.
Rae Sremmurd’s crowd wasn’t nearly as chaotic as Migos’ was last year, but every few minutes, security was seen chasing after young fans who had sprinted into the festival without a pass, or removing fans for a number of reasons, including fighting, underage drinking and drug use.
Ending the night was Colin James, packing the Black Sheep Stage as the sun set. The six-time Juno Award winner showed that his more than 30 years in the music industry hasn’t slowed him down, as he played with an energy the crowd matched.
The audience was deafening across the river as James showed off why he’s a Canadian classic. Opening with guitar riffs and classic rock vibes, he certainly showed Bluesfest that rock and blues aren’t going anywhere.
Overall, the second last night of Bluesfest was unforgettable. Between the amazing music and lively atmosphere, it was truly riveting from beginning to end.
