Day two of CityFolk brought in a whole new set of talents, crowds, and discovery. The featured artists on Saturday were big names in rap and R&B, showcasing Kweku Collins, Joey Bada$$, and Bryson Tiller.
The first Main Stage act of the night was Collins at 6:00 p.m. He played songs from his most recent album, Nat Love, that was released this year. He did a thorough job of hyping up the crowd and sung everyone happy birthday, wishing them a great day. His music was a mix of soft vocals and rap ballads that melded together wonderfully.
During the next performance by Joey Bada$$, Collins came out to enjoy the show with the other attendees. He was very nice when approached, even posing for a photo and talking fashion with me.
Members of the crowd were ecstatic as Joey Bada$$ took the stage, greeting the festival with his famous song “Unorthodox.” Bada$$ thanked the audience for their love and played songs including “Daily Routine,” “Devastated,” and “Zesus,” and treated the crowd to a few new releases that none of the fans had heard before. He also preached about key topics in the news such as police brutality, poverty, and substance abuse.
During the first day of the festival, a mosh pit would have been unthinkable, but day two brought in swarms of young adults pushing, hitting, and running into each other to Bada$$’s music.
According to fans at the very front of the pit, everyone was very rowdy and full of excitement.
Tovah Bloomfield, a second-year Carleton student in Political Science and Communications, described the show as fun and full of energy.
“People were so pumped with adrenaline they lost control of themselves and it was very crazy in the crowds . . . I loved everything, it was so good. The mosh pits were entertaining to watch,” Bloomfield said.
Bada$$ finished his set with “Devastated,” going over his set time to please the crowd.
To keep with the theme of the festival, the artists on both the RavenLaw and BMO stages were purely folk acts.
At 10:00 p.m., Breabach took the BMO stage to perform their arrangement of Celtic music. The band’s instruments included a bag pipe, whistles, bouzouki, a flute, fiddle, guitar, and a double bass—proving the group to be incredibly talented musicians.
In contrast to the younger rap fans, this show was full of an older crowd, including families who were gleefully dancing along.
Joining Breabach was a special performance by Change of Step, a group of authentic Scottish Highland dancers from Ontario. The school is known throughout Ontario and Nova Scotia as a highly reputable Highland dancing group. The performance was incredible and really beautiful, which was made evident as the crowd gathered closer to the stage and many seemed awed.
This performance definitely should have been held earlier on in the day, as they went on until almost midnight. This was definitely also a show for a larger stage.
After day two of CityFolk was complete, the first night of Marvest began. The Glebe became alive with local talent, from bake shops to bars and even a gallery.
At 10:30 p.m. Harea Band started playing at Irene’s Pub just a few minutes away from Lansdowne, with a line flowing out the door and down the street, locals were excited to hear the band. Playing a blend of pop, soul, and folk, they were a perfect addition to the Marvest lineup.
Other artists included Ottawa/Gatineau local Claude Munson at FarmTeam Cookhouse around 10:45 p.m. playing on through the night. His vocal capabilities were soulful and resembled a great deal of rock ‘n’ roll.
Although the venue spaces were small and really cramped, it added to the intimate gathering of music and because everything was very close, it was easy to wander into another show.
Day two was packed full of great music and tons of different genres—truly an adventure.
