The final day of the 2013 edition of Bluesfest was upon us, and the festival was certainly set to go out with a bang.
Producers Skrillex and Boys Noize were set to bring their collaborative act Dog Blood to the Bell Stage to finish off the festival.
But for those in attendance who weren’t terribly partial to loud bass and other popular dance music stylings, there were plenty of performers leaving their mark on the festival’s last day without the use of laptops and light shows.
I started my final day with Alice in Chains, one of the ‘big four’ of Seattle’s grunge movement.
Having achieved fame in the ’90s, the band reformed in the year 2008 after finding a replacement for the late lead singer Layne Staley.
Despite the awkward five o’clock start time (for a band of their calibre), the crowd at the main stage was quite sizable. The band played a few songs from their latest release, The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, as well as some classic AIC fare for the longtime fans.
New lead singer William DuVall had an excellent performance. In replacing Staley, he had big shoes to fill, but the band’s signature vocal harmonies between him and guitarist Jerry Cantrell worked very well in a live setting.
Cantrell, who had abandoned his trademark long hair for a much shorter style, chugged out riff after riff on his guitar. The man still writes a good one, as evidenced by their new disc.
After their hour-long set, I made my way over to the Claridge Homes stage to catch some homegrown talent in Serena Ryder.
The trip over was incredibly slow, as many standing spectators were being pushed onto the back path thanks to a sea of people in lawnchairs. If you’ve ever been to any outdoor music festival, you’ll feel my pain and understand that these types of concertgoers are a bane to everyone’s existence.
Watching from the back of the crowd (and trying not to fall over an elderly man who had put his chair right behind me), I saw Ryder put on an energetic performance with lots of enthusiasm.
Backed by a full band, she has come a long way since I first saw her at Folk Festival in Ottawa some time ago.
To close out the Claridge Stage lineup for the festival was legendary bluesman B. B. King.
At the ripe old age of 87, he still plays over 100 shows a year.
Despite having to be helped to a chair at the front of the stage, the man was quite happy and jovial throughout the whole show, interacting with audience members and playing alongside his seven-piece band—effectively putting the “blues” back in Bluesfest.
By the end of the set, he didn’t want to leave, saying that he’d love to come back to Ottawa if he ever had the chance. Mark Monaghan, you know what to do.
