On what many were heralding as the best night of this year’s edition of Bluesfest, a formidable four rock acts dominated the main festival stages with sounds both old and new.
Tokyo Police Club
Canadian indie heroes Tokyo Police Club got the evening started with what frontman Dave Monks called their “76th time visiting Ottawa.”
They do drop into the nation’s capital every now and again, even though the last time I saw them was four years ago as part of a frosh week event at Carleton. The band rolled out a number of tracks from their latest record Forcefield to the sizable crowd who braved the weather to see them. Opening with their most ambitious track to date—the eight-minute three-part “Argentina”—album cuts such as “Toy Guns,” “Tunnel Vision,” “Beaches,” and alt-rock radio staple “Hot Tonight” soon followed.
It was initially hard to discern much of what Monks was singing, with the mix being incredibly bass-heavy, though it seemed to get better as the set went along. Plenty of room was left for crowd favourites from earlier records such as “Favourite Colour,” “Wait Up (Boots of Danger),” and “Your English is Good.” Despite the rain pouring harder as the set began to finish, the Ontario four-piece —as well as their new material—were received very well by the predominantly younger crowd.
Queens of the Stone Age
In a moment that was reminiscent of the great downpour of 2011 that saw The Black Keys take the stage two hours late, I feared the worst for Queens of the Stone Age. But in miraculous fashion, the sky cleared with minutes to showtime, leaving a beautiful double rainbow in its wake.
It was the perfect setting for Josh Homme and his bandmates to deliver one of the more compelling sets of the festival thus far. The energy was at an all-time high from the opening “You Think I Ain’t Worth a Dollar But I Feel Like a Millionaire,” and the band made sure it never left—rolling through rockers “No One Knows” and “My God Is the Sun” from last year’s …Like Clockwork. Homme and bandmates Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita, and ex-Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore had the crowd hanging on every last note, delivering some incredibly polished, ripping renditions of older mainstays such as “Song for the Dead,” “Little Sister,” and “Feel Good Hit of the Summer.”
Styx and Foreigner
The main stage was graced by Styx and Foreigner, two titans of arena rock rolling through Ottawa on their “Soundtrack of Summer” tour. Of course, this summer is not in the 1980s when these two groups still had all their original members and were dominating the airwaves, but if you were looking to take a bit of a trip back in time, you got it.
Both setlists gave the audience what they wanted to hear—the hits. After a bit of a rain delay, Styx opened their show with “The Grand Illusion” and continued to roll out classics such as “Lady,” “Suite Madame Blue,” and “Come Sail Away” in a show highlighted by glorious vocal harmonies and a greatest hits of classic rock keyboard medley.
Foreigner was more of the same, with vocalist Kelly Hansen leading the group through rock radio staples such as “Cold As Ice,” “Feels Like the First Time,” “Juke Box Hero,” and an encore of “I Want to Know What Love Is” featuring a student choir from Ottawa’s own Brookfield High School.
Both sets remained predictable, yet pleasing for those in attendance.
