Bluesfest: Bettye Lavette

So day turned into night - blessed, blessed night, where the temperature creeps below 30 degrees Celsius! - at Bluesfest, and the show I had stuck around for in the face of brain-frying heat commenced. That would be Bettye Lavette doing her thing on the Black Sheep Stage. It was a lousy night for photography but a good night for soul.

Also a good night for giving an annoying heckler the gears. Go Bettye go!



Singalong action!



Extra Bettye!



And so on!



I did take some colour photos ... they all stunk, so it's back to black and white.



There's no rest for Bettye - she's playing a couple of gigs in New York City this weekend.

Ottawa Bluesfest 2012, Day 10

Friday's Bluesfest offerings were definitely hit-or-miss. At least it started strong with a hot set (in all senses of the word) by Mother's Children. There wasn't a huge turnout, unless you consider it was a scorching hot Friday at 6 p.m., without much else on the day's bill to attract fans of the local rock scene.


Mother's Children at Ottawa Bluesfest, July 13, 2012

After their 35-minute set, I went off to catch some of Rude Boy, who were playing some straight-ahead ska and doing it well. Here's some black and white two-toners.


Rude Boy at Ottawa Bluesfest, July 13, 2012

Then it was tiome for some Reignwolf. The performer also known as Jordan Cook started off with some solo distorto-blues, even playing the drum kit and his guitar at the same time at one point. Then he was joined by two bandmates for some more fuzz-festing.


Reignwolf at Ottawa Bluesfest, July 13, 2012

I then did a little circuit of Drop The Lime, Become The Sun and The Dirty Heads to see if there was anything that caught my interest. Not really, though I did snap a few Become The Sun photos before I decided they were rote alterna-rock with some talking thrown in.


Become The Sun at Ottawa Bluesfest, July 13, 2012

I wouldn't have stuck around after Rude Boy if it wasn't for a chance to see Bettye Lavette. This show didn't attract the same crowd as she did at her last appearance - once again, nothing else on the day's bill to make the ticket price worthwhile - but it was pretty enthusiastic. Too enthusiastic in the cae of one audience shouter who she in so many words told to to cram it. "Act like it was your grandmother's house," she advised.


Bettye Lavette at Ottawa Bluesfest, July 13, 2012 

Then it was time to head home, because I was starting to feel a bit blitzed by the day's weather. Today promises more of the same. Yuck.

• Show reminder: The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol and Dead Wrestler rock the Clocktower; Brutal Youth, The Decay and Raw Raw Riot perform at Mavericks; Feral Children, Zombifyus and Mannequin play Pressed. Moreland & Arbuckle bring the rockin' blues to the Rainbow; Rocket Rached & The Fat City 8 fire it up at Irene's;The Cowards, The Arcanes and My Cousin Karma are at the Avant-Garde.

Raise a little hell

And now for the real reason I was at Bluesfest on Monday, July 7: Miss Bettye Lavette. Since she had a band, she didn't suffer the same sound-bleed problems as Richard Thompson on the previous Saturday, but the bugs were still out in force. Nonetheless, a majestic performance. Unlike some performers in the genre who are forced to rely on hits from their glory days in the 1960s and 1970s, Lavette has turned out three albums since her return to performing – indeed, she’s had better luck during her second wind than during her first. Her attentive audience ranged from contemporaries to a pair of young girls who arrived with a "We Love Betty!" sign – and was treated to songs from 1962's My Man – He’s A Loving Man to The Battle of Bettye Lavette from her latest album with the Drive-By Truckers, Scene of the Crime. She joked that one number from 1982's Tell Me a Lie came fom "my latest release!" since it's just been reissued. Also on the setlist, Lucinda Williams Joy, from her "comeback" covers album I've Got My Own Hell to Raise, Willie Nelson's Piece of My Heart, 1963's Don't Leave Me Alone ("Which didn't sell a copy!") and my favourite, The Stealer.

Here comes Bettye! She was much amused by the sign.





Rhythm section action! With drummer Darryl Pierce and bassist Chuck Bartels.



Keyboardist and musical director Alan Hill sings some.



More Bartels, with guitarist-for-many Brett Lucas.



Bettye kicks up her heels!



More amusement.



Soul action!







Guitar action!





Up and down (or rather, down and up).





Mighty swell.

• Show reminder: You Say Party! We Say Die!, Winter Gloves and Beast play Babylon; Bad Religion, The Bronx and Contrabandit rock the Capital Music Hall; Sunjet Records Band, Gagner, Stabby Dancers and Maxim Cossette perform at The Rainbow; some combination of Wasted Aces, The Artist Life, No Concern and Jon Creeden perform at The New Bayou. Iconoclast, Down in Ashes and Tenth Planet rock Mavericks.

Young and old

I zipped off to the Ottawa Bluesfest at 5:30 yesterday - for once I was fairly organized and arrived in time to catch a complete set by one of the two acts I intended to see Monday night, the D'urbervilles. They impressed me with their fresh and exciting Zaphod's show in August 2006. They weren't quite as thrilling this time. The music still has the high-grade post punk twitch, but didn't seem to work as well on a big stage on a sunny day.


The D'Urbervilles, Ottawa Bluesfest, July 7, 2008

With 90 minutes to kill between The D'urbervilles I plunked myself down amid the roving pack of James Taylor's fans encamped in front of the Giant Financial Institution Stage and listened to the Cooper Brothers' classic rock stylings. After one song I decided to go and see what was happening on another stage ... any stage was good by me.


Cooper Brothers, Ottawa Bluesfest, July 7, 2008

The only other act playing at that time was Frank Vignola's Rhythm Machine on the Roots Stage, and boy, can they play. Vignola - that's him below on the left- is generally regarded as one of the best guitarists around, and his Rhythm Machine has mighty chops as well. This was a fun set of taut jazzy acoustic jamming. Some of the band's offspring bouncing around on the sidelines (I later spotted them wrestling near the autograph tent) and the audience sang Happy Birthday to guitarist Vinnie Rainallo (at right).


Frank Vignola's Rhythm Machine, Ottawa Bluesfest, July 7, 2008

Indeed, their set sped by with such buoyant ease, I lost track of time. I was vaguely intrigued by the writeup on Federico Aubele, so I went over to see his set on the Black Sheep Stage. His dreamy Spanish pop was pleasant - I'm not sure I can detect the dub, ambient and hip hop influences that allegedly reside in his music, but it was no worse for that.


Federico Aubele, Ottawa Bluesfest, July 7, 2008

As soon as 8:30 drew close I headed back to the Roots Stage for legendary soul singer Bettye Lavette. She put on a knockout show, featuring choice selections from her catalogue both old and new. Here she is facing off with guitarist Brett Lucas, who some may recall handling axeman duties for Thornetta Davis at the 2006 Ottawa Bluesfest.


Bettye Lavette, Ottawa Bluesfest, July 7, 2008

Then I wandered back to the Black Sheep Stage to see Rachid Taha. The French-Algerian singer is a bit of a legend himself, and has a wicked band to support him (mandolutist Hakim Hamadouche is at right). Taha's music is an interesting blend of French rock and traditional Arabic music. The audience was mighty worked up by his performance - I overheard several people saying it was the best Bluesfest concert they'd been to yet - but I thought Taha looked a little worse for wear. His voice got a little bit creaky at points, and the fact he had a stagehand turn the pages of a music book propped on a monitor and help him back into his jacket left the impression of past hard living - possibly just before the set itself. On the other hand, he was quite lively during at least part of the gig, jumping off the stage (into the hands of the aforementioned stagehand) to meet and greet the audience and thrust his microphone into the crowd.


Rachid Taha, Ottawa Bluesfest, July 7, 2008

He finished things off with his cover of the Clash's Rock the Casbah. It was an enjoyable show, but I would have liked it more if I hadn't spent part of it worrying that Taha might tip over.

• Show reminder: Lover! play the Dominion with Mother's Children and Savage Crimes. Pickseid, Gusto Fiasco, Fuzzy Bunny Slaughterhouse perform at the Bytown Tavern.