Grey skies and an autumn chill did little to stop music lovers from pouring into Lansdowne’s Great Lawn for day two of CityFolk on Sept. 14.
With Arkells set to headline, fans bundled up in jackets, hats and tour merch to catch the indie-folk favourites.
Ottawa artist Sophie Ash kicked off day two by performing in the TD Plaza for passersby. The crowd was small but mighty, complete with “I heart Sophie” and “Will you marry me?” signs.
Ash played “Blue Moon,” which she said was inspired by her appreciation for the beautiful, finer things in life. Her cover of “Tennessee Whiskey” garnered big cheers and she followed it up with “(Home) Like It Was” from her EP Midnight Thoughts.
Early bird fans escaping the cold headed to the Courtside Stage to catch folk singer-songwriter Claire Coupland. She began her set with “Truth,” a song the artist wrote about being homesick for Vancouver Island. Harmonic humming paired with gentle folk fingerpicking created a reflective, welcoming atmosphere for the audience.
Coupland performed “Love Song,” “Drifting in the Breeze” and “1000 Miles From A Dream” from her latest album, New Light. She also charmed the audience with funny stories from a Banff songwriting workshop and complained about the cold Ottawa weather.
“Hope you are sipping on some gin and juice,” she said jokingly, before taking a sip of water.
Many music lovers ventured over to the TD Stage to catch JUNO Award-nominated alternative singer Ruby Waters at 6 p.m.
Waters’ low, raspy voice paired with high-energy guitar riffs made for a good time. People drank, held hands and danced to “Good Recipe,” “Quantum Physics” and “Rabbit Hole.”
Love was in the air with a surprise wedding proposal in the crowd during “Open Arms.” At the same time, a couple wearing white “getting married” T-shirts sang every word along with Waters. After her set, she came down and signed their T-shirts.
The Canadian band kicked off the night with “Skin” from their new album Laundry Pile, released on Sept. 21. The band followed it up by playing high-energy fan-favourites “Past Life,” “Knocking At The Door” and “People’s Champ.”
The band was accompanied by the brass quartet Northern Soul Horns, whose trumpet, trombone and saxophones added energy and soul to the indie-pop hits.
One lucky fan was invited on stage after his sign asking the Arkells to play “Oh, The Boss Is Coming!” caught lead singer Max Kerman’s eye. The fan joined Kerman in singing the lyrics “Punchin’ in, punchin’ out” into the mic before heading back to the crowd.
That wasn’t the only special shout-out of the night, with Kerman inviting drum colleague Jordan Gauthier and his wife-to-be Emily to slow dance to “Abigail” on stage. Kerman explained Gauthier is from Nepean and the crowd went wild for the niche Ottawa reference.
The Arkells continued to slow things down with their pandemic-era ballad “Quitting You,” before launching into a groovy cover of Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5.”
“This is for the people not going to work tomorrow!” Kerman yelled to a psyched crowd.
Kerman ran into the crowd for anthems “Dance With You” and “Years In The Making,” dancing with fans and shooting a bubble machine before ending back on stage with High Noon single “Leather Jacket.”
Fans were not ready for the night to end and chants of, “One last song!” prompted the band to sing crowd-pleaser “You Can Get It” as the final encore.
Even with the chilly autumn breeze, CityFolk day two was a night of dancing, drinking, romance and indie-pop hits.
Featured image by Rebekah Austring/The Charlatan.
