Day nine at Bluesfest was a wet one, to be sure. From my arrival to see The Yips lasting until well after Purity Ring had finished their set at 10:45 p.m., I was stuck in a mild to torrential downpour. I had to vow to myself to not let the rain dampen my spirits, however, as I had a big day ahead of me.
The first show I checked out was The Yips, a self-described “Ouija punk” band from Ottawa. Last week I did an interview with them where we discussed the extremely supportive local music community within Ottawa. After the interview, I couldn’t help but find myself extremely excited to check the band out live—not only is their music really good, but the band members are all really modest, down-to-earth people who you can’t help but like.
The show itself was everything a classy punk show should be. The band plays really well together and the singer, Kerri Carisse, shows unabashed confidence on stage, singing the songs while playfully interacting with the band members, all of whom seemed to be having a blast. There was also a Rave Ghost moving about the stage and the audience, a common feature of any Yips performance that’s always good for the crowd’s amusement. It was an absolutely rock solid show.
Next up on my schedule were the Dropkick Murphys, who would be playing the Claridge Homes Stage at 8 p.m. In all honesty, I wasn’t particularly excited for this show. My Dropkick Murphys experience was extremely limited, and all I was going on was my knowledge of the songs “I’m Shipping Up to Boston,” (an undeniably sweet tune) and “Kiss Me I’m Shitfaced,” which I find to only be enjoyable in the titular state of mind. The crowd at the show was again quite large in spite of the unending downpour, and from what I could tell nobody was particularly concerned with getting wet when the band came on.
I’m sure if you’re a fan of the band you had a good time at the show. In fact, even if you aren’t a fan of them but you found yourself a part of the mosh pit in front of stage, you perhaps may have also had a blast. For me, however, the show left much to be desired. Maybe I’m biased towards Celtic punk bands, but every song they played sounded the exact same, although I couldn’t help but be impressed that the two main singers of the band have almost the exact same voice. The bagpipes, mandolins and accordions were also as neat as ever, but as a whole I was underwhelmed.
To my delight, they did play their megahit “I’m Shipping Up to Boston,” which was as fun as I expected it to be, but again, to my disappointment, they didn’t play, “Kiss Me, I’m Shitfaced,” which I feel could have drastically improved the show.
To my delight, when they stopped playing the rain finally let up, and I was able to enjoy a while of dryness while I waited for Purity Ring to play the Canadian Stage. This was probably the show I was most looking forward to, and despite the rain picking up midway through she show, I was still blown away from start to finish. As a big fan of the heavy dreampop synths of their 2012 debut, Shrines, I’ll admit to being relatively let down by their 2015 follow-up, Another Eternity. However, the sheer quality of their live performance completely made that up for it.
The stage was set up with some absolutely beautiful lighting arrangements which either changed colours with the beats of the song or when struck by the two members of the band. The heavy, heavy synths of their music pierced your body to your core while Megan James’ ethereal voice drifted in and out, entrancing you with its beauty.
The spectacle alone of the show made it stand out, and the band performed it all majestically. The lighting effects they used remained pierced in my retinas every time I closed my eyes. I realize I’ve been saying this a lot, but this show was definitely one of the best shows I’ve seen at Bluesfest this year.
