Oppressive heat led to impressive music as the RBC Royal Bank Bluesfest kicked off July 4 at LeBreton Flats.
As the temperature dropped, the acts got better on the Black Sheep Stage. British folk-punk troubadour Billy Bragg closed out the evening to an adoring crowd.
Bragg took the stage alone. He only had two amps, two guitars, some microphones and a table to hold his multiple tea mugs. Despite his sparse set-up, he still drowned out headliner Tiesto’s sound bleed from the main stage.
Bragg’s current tour celebrates the 100th anniversary of dead folk icon Woody Guthrie’s birth, a press release on his website said. Guthrie’s political and musical influence on Bragg was clear, as Bragg played many leftist protest songs. To start the set, he covered British songwriter Leon Rosselson’s “The World Turned Upside Down.” The song was about workers who protested against private land ownership in 1649.
Guthrie’s lyrics even popped up in songs like “All You Fascists,” and “Against th’ Law.”
Bragg wore a red square on his chest to support the student protestors in Montreal, and ranted after almost every song. He touched on political cynicism, bank bonuses, and also slammed Prime Minister Stephen Harper. While this may have seemed preachy and off-putting to those who didn’t share Bragg’s views, he also dealt with more common topics. The crowd sang along joyously to love songs like “Milkman of Human Kindness” and “A New England,” which closed the set.
The singer’s solo performance was also interesting. He played many songs, like the originally acoustic “Greetings to the New Brunette,” with a slightly distorted electric guitar, giving them a punk snarl. On many songs, he would chunkily strum bass notes before striking higher strings on his guitar for added emphasis.
Bragg also found time to joke with the crowd. He made cracks about Canadian tea and music festivals, and trash talked Tiesto early and often.
Before Bragg took the stage, Ottawa’s own Loon Choir began the day with their driving indie rock. The band had great chemistry, stopping and starting almost effortlessly in the middle of songs. The seven-piece also used the stage well, as frontman Derek Atkinson flailed and hopped about in fine rock star form. Atkinson claimed the band was tired after a ten-day tour, but with their enthusiasm, you wouldn’t know it.
But Loon Choir’s energy was nothing compared to the next act, the freak folk band Akron/Family. Guitarist Seth Olinksy and bassist Miles Seaton jokingly badgered an unresponsive audience into clapping along to their structureless, psychedelic songs. Olinsky and Seaton scared off a few indifferent listeners, but their long, noisy jams were still a bit grating. Fortunately, Akron/Family never took itself too seriously … or seriously at all.
Still, it was hard to match Bragg. Even the most cynical crowd member had to feel a little hope as Bragg sang “Tomorrow is Going to be a Better Day” and the sun began to set over the Ottawa River.
