Day One at Bluesfest was an excellent way to kick off two fun-filled weeks of my summer vacation. With a variety of different musical styles present on the opening evening, I started things off with Tangerine Dream, the brainchild of German musician Edgar Froese.
Having been around since the 1970’s, Tangerine Dream offered up a sonic experience unlike any other, creating an ambient style of music based around immense layers of synthesizers (there were 7 separate keyboards on stage, I kid you not, and that wasn’t including the computer generated ones). Adding in electric guitars, pounding percussion, and other string and woodwind instruments, the group offered up a flawless performance in their progressive style that amazed everyone in attendance. I’m not entirely sure what the festival organizers were thinking by having them start in an early timeslot, as I personally feel Tangerine Dream’s introspective, dreamy music would be much better suited to the late evening.
I then wandered over to see Alan Doyle, who is presently on a tour promoting his new solo record. Better known to audiences as the lead singer of East Coast legends Great Big Sea, Doyle and his backing band performed a mix of solo songs, some Great Big Sea standards, and even a few cover tunes. Upon my arrival, I was surprised to see that the crowd for this show was not very big at all. However, Doyle had the crowd up and dancing after a few songs as more people stopped by to listen and join in. He also had some high praise for the city of Ottawa.
“If I ever had a bad time in Ottawa, I don’t remember. Which is consistent, because I don’t remember the good times either,” he said.
Heading down to the River Stage, I was able to catch a bit of the eccentric group Fishbone. Fusing together funk, soul, reggae, and alternative rock influences, the band put on an energetic performance which had everyone in attendance moving to the band’s infectious grooves.
Following Fishbone, the big draw of the evening was popular alt-rock act AWOLNation. Led by charismatic frontman Aaron Bruno, the group quickly won over the attention of the crowd from the start, setting the tone for a show full of crowdsurfing, moshing, and incredible levels of excitement from those in attendance.
Tiesto was the final act on my lineup card for the evening. One of the best DJ’s the world has known, Tiesto effectively turned the main stage area of Lebreton Flats into a gigantic dance party complete with lights, video screens, pyrotechnics, and confetti cannons (stepping up in absence of The Flaming Lips I suppose). The crowd was alive and dancing as the bass pounded across the festival grounds, like some sort of mantra carrying us forward to the end of the evening.
Eleven more days of this? So be it!
