Ottawa Bluesfest 2013: Day 10

The final day of Bluesfest was a real scorcher - fortunately this time I managed my sun exposure a little better and didn't end up feeling baked. Shaving a couple of hours off the time I was there probably helped. Getting all the way to Wellington St. before realizing I'd left my camera at home did not help quite as much.

First stop: The Claridge Homes stage for a few minutes of JW Jones who was really ripping it up. I was tempted to stay but as a local I have to figure they'll be other chances to catch him live. He's hitting a few festivals this summer, but will be at the Black Sheep Sept. 8 and the Rainbow Sept. 21.


JW-Jones at Ottawa Bluesfest, July 14, 2013

My next destination was the River Stage; a former colleague and fellow music fan, Alan Kors, was singing the praises of King King after watching them Saturday. They had been on my go-see list but I ended up at Austra instead. The kilt-clad Glaswegians had a jolly time with some super-heavy blues-rock (a bit like Nazareth, I'd say) while boiling away in the sun.


King King at Ottawa Bluesfest, July 14, 2013

Back when I was in university and getting into the whole grunge thing, I picked up a copy of Alice In Chain's Facelift at Record Runner (I think? Might have been the place on the corner of Bank and Laurier whose name escapes me ...). I'm alarmed to think that 23 years have passed since then.


Alice In Chains at Ottawa Bluesfest, July 14, 2013

Following the sad death of frontman Layne Staley I wouldn't have thought the band could be brought back to life, but they pulled an AC/DC and got a very creditable howler in William DuVall.


Alice In Chains at Ottawa Bluesfest, July 14, 2013

Alejandro Escovedo was one of my must-sees. I've seen him at a couple of Bluesfests with a different lineup. Last time he had a cellist and violinist. This time around it was a two-guitars deal. They played a great cover of Neil Young's Like A Hurricane, and most of his set was very rocking.


Alejandro Escovedo at Ottawa Bluesfest, July 14, 2013

In normal times my next step would have been to wait around for Los Lonely Boys (who I last saw playing Barrymore's some time pre-blog; Tony D was the opener). To avoid sun-scorching I retreated to a shady place and had a bit of a lie-down. Unfortunately by the time I got up it was time to run off and see B.B. King. There were so many people I ended up closer to the Bell Stage than the Claridge Homes Stage he was actually performing on. Here's some photographic evidence of the distance involved ....


B.B. King at Ottawa Bluesfest, July 14, 2013

Before heading off to the festival I was wondering what kind of sad bastard would be showing up to watch boogie rock also-rans Cactus. That would be me, I guess, though I actually only took in a couple of songs before returning to watch B.B. King from leagues away.


Cactus at Ottawa Bluesfest, July 14, 2013

Last time I had a chance to see Los Lobos, I blew them off for a chance to see Alejandro Escovedo. Since they shared a stage with him this time around, no problems there. They started things off with Will The Wolf Survive and were generally great.


Los Lobos at Ottawa Bluesfest, July 14, 2013

I confess, I did pop over to the Bell Stage to see what Skrillex's new outfit, Dog Blood, was all about. 


Dog Blood at Ottawa Bluesfest, July 14, 2013

My final stop was to see a bit of Detroit legend Mitch Ryder, who was looking reasonably lively for a performer of his vintage.


Mitch Ryder at Ottawa Bluesfest, July 14, 2013

Now all I have to do is figure out my entertainment plans for the rest of summer ...

What's shaking?

Choosing between Alejandro Escovedo and Los Lobos, wasn't an easy call. I saw Escovedo at the last Bluesfest and his show was unquestionably my favourite, but I'd never seen Los Lobos before. Unfortunately I made my decision to traipse over to the River Stage a bit late, and by the time I got there it was clear that I'd be watching them from the back row. Back to the Black Sheep Stage, where I could get up nice and close. Once again Escovedo put on a killer show with lots of improvised band interplay.



Cellist Matt Fish looking extra spooky.



Josh Gravlin replaces Mark Andes on the low end (Hector Munoz is still on drums, but like last time I couldn't get a good picture).



Violinist Susan Voelz is the other newcomer.



I couldn't get a clear shot of David Pulkingham on guitar ... so here's a pic of him and an inconvenient microphone stand.



Faceoff action!





Singalong action!



Yet more faceoff action!



Escovedo also recounted how they've returned Castanets to their playlist. President George W. Bush claimed it was one of his 10 favourite tunes on his iPod (yeah, right!), so they'd dropped it out of embarrassment for a while.





Another stunning show.

• Show reminder: Akisakila, Vennt, Torso and Gmackrr steam up Sounds Unlikely's basement; The Nads, The Sewer Rats, Nummies and FBW play The Rainbow. Male Nurse performs at The Manx.
  

Getting better all the time

I caught a super-solid trio of acts on Tuesday night. While heading over to the Black Sheep Stage I passed by the Rogers Stage to snap a few photos of Faber Drive. These guys have a creative connection with Nickelback and Hinder. Those of you who suffered through mainstream music in the 1980s may remember the boy band phenomenon. They haven't gone away, they've just bought guitars and black nail polish.



I was quite relieved to arrive at the Black Sheep Stage for a performance by local roots rocker John Allaire and The Campistas. There were also guest appearances from Amanda Rheaume and his daughter Hillary. Allaire and co. are opening up for Elmer Ferrer tonight at The Rainbow.



I was tempted to stick around for Tom Snider, but I've been a Randy Newman fan for some time and decided to see if I could get close to the stage. While I was heading over I stopped for a few minutes at the River Stage to see Anthony Gomes. He's a lively performer, much in the same vein as Elmer Ferrer (who I noticed making his way through the crowd).



Newman started things off with It's Money That Matters ("I like to begin things with a spiritual," he quipped, probably not for the first time) and ran off a few of his greatest hits like Short People, Great Nations of Europe, The World Isn't Fair, You Can Leave Your Hat On, Birmingham, Sail Away, I Love L.A., Political Science, a laugh-out-loud version of In Defense of Our Country, an audience participation version of I'm Dead (But I Don't Know It) and Louisiana 1927 - particularly heartfelt considering some of his family still resides in New Orleans. I was actually starting to worry about all the watery references in his songs. Some superstitious, lizard-like part of my brain was thinking he might invoke the fury of the clouds. But it just stayed muggy. It was a dynamite set with some very amusing between-songs banter.



Then I zipped back to the Black Sheep Stage for Alejandro Escovedo's set. Like last year, he was phenomenal, though it seemed a bit short. He played a cover of Mott The Hoople's I Wish I Was Your Mother (as he did last time) and capped the evening with a cover of The Stooges' I Want To Be Your Dog. Here he is facing off with violinist Susan Voelz (a grainy Hector Munoz is just visible behind the kit).



A swell end to the night. On a side note, I had three conversations with total strangers over the course of the evening, and all mentioned how stupid they thought it was for Buddy Guy to be playing the River Stage instead of the main stage.

Untrue blue

The Bluesfest folks have just released this year's lineup, and there are a few acts I'm dying to see. Cat Power is definitely on my must-see list. After last year's show, so is Alejandro Escovedo. Built to Spill is another biggy. I want to see White Stripes as well, though I'm sure the main stage will be a zoo. Ottawa audiences well know the power of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings to rock the house; I'm sure the turnout for that show will be great. I'm keen to see Spiral Beach again after their dynamite Mavericks show last year, too.


Alejandro Escovedo at Ottawa Bluesfest, July 14, 2006

Among the - ahem - older acts on the bill, I have to say the one I'm keenest to see is Randy Newman. Bob Dylan is the obvious big name, but after the critical savaging his last show I'm not sure I want to bear witness. The Flatlanders might be good (depending on Jimmie Day Gilmore's propensity to talk). George Clinton, too. I think I'll pass on INXS, though.

Mirror image

Alejandro Escovedo has been through a rough patch of late. He had a life-threatening bout with hepatitis C which kept him out of action for many months and his father died. His latest album, The Boxing Mirror, is naturally informed by his brush with death, as is his live show. He played some of his own material, all great, and a few choice covers, including Mott the Hoople's I Wish I Was Your Mother.

Alejandro looking cool in shades.



It helps that he has an excellent crew to work with ...



... including keyboard and electronic manipulator Bruce Salmon and cellist Matt Fish. Unfortunately I couldn't grab a picture of drummer Hector Munoz - isn't it always the way?



Guitarist David Pulkingham.



Singalong action! With Mark Andes at right. He has quite a past - he was in Canned Heat before they went on to fame and misfortune, was a founding member of Spirit and played bass on John Fahey's Yellow Princess. Yup, he's been around. He's also worked with Small Face Ian McLagan.



More Fish ... just don't look at the photographer.



More Salmon.



Faceoff action!





Danny Michel popped over from the Blues Til Dusk stage to check out the show and ended up playing some guitar on a cover of Neil Young's Powderfinger (I confess I preferred Elliott Brood's version from earlier in the week).



Michel-Escovedo faceoff action!



And more singalong action.





I liked it a lot at the time, and in retrospect, I'd say it was my favourite performance of the festival.

Bluesfest: Day Eight

The "Dog Day Afternoon" at the MBNA Grassroots Stage was aptly named because the sun was beating down mercilessly. You could tell the evening was aimed at a younger audience because when I arrived there was only a few chairs and a gaggle of folks standing right in front of the stage barrier. Wintersleep was the first act I saw. The Halifax band sweat mercilessly throughout their set of cathartic indie rock. (I'm missing touring member Michel Bigelow, but his likeness will appear online sometime).



The guy who really deserves the Bluesfest Iron Man award is Wintersleep drummer Loel Campbell, who also played for Holy Fuck immediately afterward. I hope he drank a lot of water!



Holy Fuck's instrumental dance music was also very satisfying. I don't usually go for that sort of thing, but they put on a fine show.





The band I was most anticipating on this noticeably hot day was The Fiery Furnaces. I enjoyed their set but I think I may have built them up in my mind a bit too much. Good heavy guitar sounds, though.





I decided not to stay around for Metric. I've seen them before, and the Black Sheep Stage was calling (I distinctly heard it go "baaaaaah!"). Luke Doucet was on stage. I had to check the marquee since I didn't recognize him. He sounded much better than when I saw him at Zaphod's. His daughter Chloe came on stage to sing - an amazing voice for a 10-year-old.



Alejandro Escovedo put on my favourite set of the festival to date. Great stuff! I love roots rock, and Escovedo delivered it in spades, alternating punk workouts with high lonesome melancholy.



Coincidentally, he finished his encore with Neil Young's Powderfinger, just as Elliot Brood had the day before. Danny Michel also stopped by to guest on guitar for the tune.