Music lovers arrived ready to rock on the first day of Ottawa’s CityFolk Festival, fostering a celebratory environment around the all-Canadian alt-rock lineup.
Attendees dressed for the balmy weather and sprawled across every corner of the Great Lawn at Lansdowne Park to listen to headliner The Beaches, as well as artists Päter, SoftCult and Hawksley Workman.
The first to grace the TD Stage was Toronto-based alt-pop artist Päter along with their band, who they colloquially referred to as their “imaginary friends.”
“CityFolk let’s get this party started,” Päter said as they performed upbeat tunes “MTL” and “Dam, Damn” while charismatically encouraging the crowd to sing along.
Their experimental and intimate performance of “Fear of the Dead” was a highlight of the night. Attendees blew bubbles as Päter played unique instruments such as the rainstick and the croaking frog güiro.
Up next, Kitchener-based twins SoftCult hit the TD Stage. The socially-conscious indie-rock duo immediately made an impression with their distinct lighting, monochrome punk visuals and grungy vocals on “Take It Off.”
“This is our first-ever time in your beautiful city,” said lead vocalist Mercedes Ann-Horn. She earnestly thanked the crowd before plunging into a powerful performance of “Gaslight.”
The duo put special effort into vocalising their political beliefs during their set, with Mercedes loudly exclaiming SoftCult’s support of trans rights and encouraging the audience to “eat the fucking rich.”
Meanwhile at the Fasken Stage, glam-rock artist and Huntsville, Ont., product Hawksley Workman performed to a packed tent filled with listeners of all ages.
Worksman expressed his gratitude for performing at CityFolk, calling it an “honour.” He jovially performed tunes “Safe and Sound,” “We Will Still Need a Song” and his own quick spin on Starship’s “We Built This City.”
As the weather cooled and the sun set, it was finally time for headliner The Beaches to rock out on stage.
Enthusiastic fans welcomed the Toronto girl group on stage and they kicked off their set with a bombastic performance of “Takes One to Know One,” which recently hit No. 1 on the Canadian Alternative Rock Charts.
“We’ve missed our country,” said vocalist Jordan Miller, alluding to how the girls had just returned from a world tour. They followed with tunes “Want What You Got,” “Kismet” and a new, unreleased track, “Jocelyn.”
“This is the hardest show I’ve ever played,” said guitarist Leandra Earle, who told the crowd she had been dumped the night before the festival. She then tearfully plunged into a performance of “Edge of The Earth” to a warm, affectionate crowd.
The troupe finished their set by playing hit song “Blame Brett” to lively, singing fans. But the show wasn’t finished yet — the Torontonians returned to the stage for a welcomed encore, performing oldie “T-Shirt.”
Featured image by Sadeen Mohsen/The Charlatan.
