Special Report: Bluesfest Journals

 

 

 

Ottawa may not be considered one of the hippest cities in Canada – ask someone from Toronto or Montreal if you want to confirm that general opinion – but then summer hits, festival season begins and Bluesfest comes along. The nation’s capital suddenly seems a lot cooler. Suddenly Ben becomes the big Harper in town, people actually know where Lebreton Flats is and OC Transpo gets their riot gear on (well, not really . . . but they should for all the crowded buses full of drunkards). Suddenly, Ottawa is louder, sexier and more attractive.

 

 

If Canada is a place of diversity, so is Bluesfest. Exhibit A: Ludacris is finishing his early evening concert to stoked rap enthusiasts, whilst middle-aged cowboys await Lynard Skynard. Exhibit B: pad thai at the food court, next to poutine, next to Beavertails, next to samosas.

 

Until this year, I was a Bluesfest virgin. My music festival experience was also limited. I was not overly enthusiastic when Warped Tour came along. My first big concert was the Backstreet Boys. And yet, Bluesfest somehow fit me, as it does so many others. It seemed like every musical act was reflective of my varying musical taste throughout the years: Ice Cube, a flashback to when I repeatedly watched Save the Last Dance, and thought it would be cool to live in the ghetto; Our Lady Peace, which transcended my elementary school years, etc. But Bluesfest is also one of the best opportunities to hear new acts that are outside of what you might ordinarily pick up at HMV (or more honestly, download).

 

 

The festival wouldn’t have been successful if not for loyal Bluesfest volunteers, as diverse in age as they were in musical taste. There’s great camaraderie in volunteering for this kind of festival and “being part of something larger than yourself,” said volunteer Melanie Rosenblath, 27.

 

These loyal souls deserve special applause for performing the two most tedious tasks of the festival: picking up litter and IDing thirsty music fans.

 

“People who are over 19 and didn’t have ID and go ballistic?” laughed volunteer Deb Manhire, 48, as she described the worst part of the volunteer experience. She spent Bluesfest in the identification tents, but it wasn’t all bad. In fact, she says she’ll definitely do it again next year. Overall, she said, most people respected the rules and were pleased to be carded, even after previous years of getting booze hassle-free.

 

And the best part of volunteering? The consensus is that free tickets override rain and long nights. But while KISS and Our Lady Peace may have caused long lines at the beer tent, the best part for volunteer Tom Langlois was the throwback to the great music he listened to while growing up.

 

“The Stone Temple Pilots were the best show,” he said.

 

In fact, for a lot of festival-goers, nostalgia was as much a part of Bluesfest as discovering new bands.

 

 

For me, Bluesfest was a chance to see my old favourites. I never expected to come away from it with new ones. New in the sense that they were not only new to me, but had started recording after 1978 (the year Boston’s debut album came out and music began to go downhill, as far as I’m concerned).

 

The nights that I was lucky enough to attend the fest, I found myself surrounded by everything from music I found catchy and entertaining to a band I had to run home and download immediately.

 

There is a strange feeling that takes hold at Bluesfest. Maybe it’s being outside surrounded by the avid followers of particular bands or the lawn-chair-slinging music enthusiasts eager to take in every band they can. It might just be the beer and the being outside. Whatever it is, there is something about the big outdoor party that made me, and people around me, so much more open to listening to music outside of their comfort zone.

 

I watched as one teen rushed from Ice Cube’s performance trailed by two very sceptical-looking friends. They were heading toward Xavier Rudd and the leader turned to the others and said “Man, this band’s amazing! I saw them last year. Almost forgot about them!” That attitude seemed to permeate the audiences everywhere I went. True, many people would come to see one or two bands a night – I for one went on the 17th solely for Blue Rodeo – but the number of people who came to see whatever they could astonishes me. Paul Wilson, a Carleton graduate attending the festival said, “Isn’t that the point of Bluesfest? To see all the bands?”

 

I think it is. It’s a chance for the open-minded to find something new to listen to. Even if you didn’t rush home to find every song a band ever recorded, you may be listening to the radio one day and recognize a song you heard at the festival. At that point you would probably rock out that much harder, because you’ve got a memory of having heard that song played live.

 

Seeing bands like Jackson Browne, Blue Rodeo and The Zombies brought back a lot of memories for me and made me want to call the whole thing “Nostalgiafest” because of how many people would flock to see bands they’d loved for years. I think the nickname suits in another sense: anyone who goes to Bluesfest remembers it.

 

Whether it was a spectacular sunset on the Flats, dancing with friends, getting carded twice and asked for a second, third, fourth ID at the beer tent, or whatever other shenanigans you may have gotten into, Bluesfest 2009 will certainly come to mind the next time you’re listening to the radio and that song by that band that you love comes on.

Does anyone else find it weird that there’s a Subway stage?

 

Cisco; Bank of America; Rogers; Subway; the Ottawa Citizen; Hard Rock Café.

 

I felt like it should bother me. It’s about the music, man, not the dollars. Evidently not. Bluesfest 2009 was corporate sponsorship epitomized.

 

But it’s not a big deal to some music fans either.

 

“It doesn’t bother me,” said Dave Stafford, 23.

 

He and his brother James, 20, travelled from Almont, Ont. to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who played Sunday night. Neither of them found the sponsorship a problem. Instead, it’s just the opposite, and it’s great to see companies supporting festivals, said Andrea Kinnear, 21.

 

“Other festivals have companies too,” said James Stafford.

 

It’s now just part of music festival culture.

 

 

KISS. This is what they were all waiting for. Inside the gates, thousands cheered. Outside the gates, hundreds more wished they could get just a little closer to their high school idols. Chance of getting in? Slim. Chance of getting to the front of the beer line without sacrificing your first-born? None. 

 

Then I saw them: Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, 10 feet away- and 10 years old. No one could beat the elaborate costumes of 10-year-olds Jean-Luc Matte and his friend Griffin Baxter. The two elementary schools buds spent two days creating replicas of the band members’ look, complete with cardboard guitars and wigs.

 

And why do all this? “’Cause I thought it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, so I went for it,” said Matte.

 

As someone who has never been a die-hard KISS fan, naturally, I had to check out the other acts. Who, after all, would be unlucky enough to have to compete with KISS for a crowd?

 

That would be K’naan, the East African sensation. Unlucky? Maybe. But he still drew an impressive crowd at the Blacksheep Stage, a trek away through the KISS fans and War Museum. Here, it was a totally different kind of energy – younger, more vibrant and more relaxed. AND – wait for it – you could get a beer without spending your life in line!

 

 

“I think this is the first time we’ve been allowed past the Canadian border in a decade,” laughed Busta Rhymes from the Bank of America stage.

 

Well, let’s hope it stays that way. A true hip-hop fan, I was elated to hear that Busta Rhymes would be featured in this year’s Bluesfest line-up. The rapper, along with Ludacris and Ice Cube, are examples of how the once-strictly-blues-and-grassroots festival is continuing to dabble in eclectic waters.

 

Ice Cube and Ludacris left audiences satisfied, whereas Busta Rhymes fell short. The hip-hopper hardly busted rhymes – arriving 45 minutes late and playing a short 24-minute set. This brief appearance included only a few classics, impolite treatment of an already disgruntled audience and a crude performance of the Ying Yang Twins’ "The Whisper Song," which drove away the child demographic and their families.

 

On the Rogers stage, LIVE followed Rhymes, saying, “We’d like to thank Busta Rhymes for getting the f**k off the stage.” The alternative-rock band proceeded to draw a sizeable crowd, playing nostalgic ’90s hits. Electro-rock trio M83 brought a loyal group of fans to the Black Sheep stage, blasting synthesizer anthems over echo-filled ’80s percussion. Drummer Loic Maurin was even kept behind a clear Plexiglas screen to help create the sound of distant beats.

Headliners Styx took over the Bank of America stage to close out the night. Classic rock tunes like “Criminal Minds” and “Come Sail Away,” as well as some Beatles’ covers, invoked mass sing-a-longs and successfully created a slightly happier crowd than the night started out with.