This year’s RBC Bluesfest is a special one for Ottawa’s flagship festival, with director Mark Monahan and his crew celebrating 20 years of operation. Country music performers Blake Shelton and Dean Brody were the real draws of the first day, but seeing as I’m subjected to enough of such things in my rural township as it is, I decided to check out the other stages instead.
At the Blacksheep Stage I caught local favourites Amos the Transparent. One of Ottawa’s most successful indie groups, the six-piece filled their set with fare both familiar and brand new.
The band recently completed a crowdfunding campaign for their third full-length album This Cold Escape, due for release this fall. Calling it more of a ‘concept record’ when compared to previous works, the new pieces performed from it sounded inspiring – indie rock arrangements with wonderful additions of keyboards and strings, complete with pleasing vocal harmonies.
The band also offered up a musical treat in the form of a cover song, offering a quality rendition of the dreamy Pink Floyd classic “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” – complete with a roaring tenor saxophone solo.
The mood changed completely when R.L. Grime took to the stage a half hour after Amos the Transparent.
Backed with frantically changing visuals and the bass cannons seemingly turned up to 11, the Los Angeles producer hit the audience with wave after wave of his own mixes of popular rap and electro tunes – Chief Keef’s “Love Sosa”, Kanye West’s “New Slaves”, and Disclosure’s “Latch” just to name a few.
The skittering hi-hats and booming bass drops of his southern trap stylings did what they were intended to do – whip the crowd into a frenzy.
I ended my first evening by putting the ‘blues’ in ‘Bluesfest’ with Gary Clark Jr. – an incredibly talented blues-rock guitarist from Austin, Texas. His 2012 major label debut Blak and Blu caught the ears of many, showcasing Clark’s blues playing alongside influences from hip hop to soul music.
Tonight’s show left a lot of that behind in favour of a stripped back, electric blues sound. Just him, his guitars, and a rhythm section were enough to strike a chord with everyone in attendance.
Some have gone as far as to call him the second coming of Jimi Hendrix, though such a claim can largely be seen in the way he plays. Clark dazzled audience members both young and old with his smooth, soulful singing voice accompanied by furious blues chops.
He delivered guitar solos that stretched on for miles on gritty versions of “Bright Lights”, “Numb”, and “When My Train Rolls In”. The mayor of Austin declared May 3 to be Gary Clark Jr. Day back in 2001, when Clark was only 17 years of age. Legendary bluesman Buddy Guy went as far as to say Clark might save the genre.
