For Day 8 at Bluesfest, I had my sights set on one act: Bad Religion. I figured some energetic punk music would be just what I needed to take my Bluesfest experience to the next level.
Before that show started, I was able to take in Big Boi, one-half of the legendary Outkast, who decided to stop in to continue the hip-hop stylings from the day before. Performing a variety of Outkast numbers along with his solo material, Big Boi got the crowd engaged from the very start of the show and never let their attention get away. After taking in his performance for a little while, I decided to head over to the Main Stage and get a good spot right up front for Bad Religion.
Within minutes of the show starting, the aging punk rockers whipped the crowd into a frenzy, with two large mosh pits forming on either side of the main stage. Bad Religion went into discussions about politics, past trips to Canada, and even hockey in between their songs. Coming from Los Angeles, the city of recent Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings, the crowd erupted upon the group launching into their crowd favourite “Los Angeles is Burning.” The group also poked fun at the apparent lack of blues music at a festival called “Bluesfest,” and proceeded to hack out a mockery of a blues tune dedicated to “those audience members who weren’t expecting a loud punk rock band.”
The band put on an energetic performance, keeping with their face-paced genre of music. The cool, dry night was nice for watching the show, but it didn’t help with the dry conditions on the festival site. By the end of the evening, I can honestly say I was covered in a thing layer of dust that had gotten kicked up in the mosh pit. Bad Religion did in fact deliver what my Bluesfest experience seemingly needed – a good punk rock punch to liven things up.
Tomorrow would be an excellent day as well, as I would finally have the chance to catch Canadian rock ‘n’ roll darlings The Sheepdogs in the nation’s capital.
