Pressure drop

Frederick "Toots" Hibbard has been slugging it out in the fields of reggae for many years. How many? He actually gave a name to the genre with Do The Reggay in 1968. His first groups actually laid down tracks in 1962 as The Vikings - in other words the guy's been at it for 47 years, and is still sounding good.

It seems like it took a fair amount of time for things to get started ... here's rhythm guitarist Radcliffe "Dougie" Bryan.



I'm not sure if this is Hopeton Hibbert or Jackie Jackson ... it's kind of dark on the Hard Rock stage, but at least you can tell what he's wearing.



Then singers Leba Thomas and Marie "Twiggi" Gitten came out to warm up the crowd (and be illuminated by a fortuitous camera flash).



And here's the man himself! Lead guitarist Carl Henry is on the left.





Toots breaks out the acoustic.



A Toots benediction.



Things look better in the light.



Duet action with Leba!



Rocking action with Carl and Jackie (or Hopeton).



Harmonica action!



The crowd goes wild!



Some last minute Toots.



Paul Douglas provides some percussion. I only got this shot as people left the stage.



Unfortunately I couldn't get decent photos of keyboardists Charles "The Bulge" Farquarson or Norris "Computer" Webb.

• Show reminder: There's more folk festival action at Raw Sugar in the afternoon. Ophilia Syndrome and Kori Pop are at The Rainbow.

Rock, Rudd and reggae

One of the problems of being a fan of bands from the 1960s is that when they come to town and Bluesfest is that the folks who were young in their heyday show up to watch them too. And most of these folks are of sufficient vintage that standing up for a few hours is rally more discomfort than they care for. Thus, when I finally hauled my own rapidly aging carcass down to LeBreton Flats, a vast armada of lawn chairs had already sprung up in front of the Fast Food Chain Stage where Spencer Davis, The Yardbirds and The Zombies were slated to play. Spencer Davis was already on stage, but it was quite clear that any watching and listening I was going to do was going to be from a further distance than I like if I stuck around. So instead I went off to the Music-Themed Eatery Stage to watch The Allrights.

They'd also already started, and were playing some of their rowdy rock and their one country song, as well as a cover of Someone's Going to Get their Head Kicked In Tonight.


Allrights, Hard Rock Stage, Bluesfest, July 14, 2009

I felt the urge to wander so I popped over to see who was playing at the Black Sheep Stage. It was Marc Charron, who I think I recall performing with other acts many years ago. His band features such familiar faces as Marty Sobb.


Marc Charron, Black Sheep Stage, Bluesfest, July 14, 2009

After that I toodled back over the hill to see Joe Louis Walker, a bluesman of many years experience. He sounded pretty good, but once again the urge to wander struck.


Joe Louis Walker, Hard Rock Stage, Bluesfest, July 14, 2009

I headed over to the Telecommunications Giant Stage to listen to a bit of Xavier Rudd. In the years since I've seen him at Bluesfest he's acquired a bassist and djembe player and has begun to sound remarkably like Peter Gabriel. There was a huge crowd.


Xavier Rudd, Rogers Stage, Bluesfest, July 14, 2009

I returned to watch some more Walker, who had been joined by piano man David Maxwell, the Texas Horns and Curtis of the Brothers Chaffey. Walker was having some fun teasing the crowd with musical quotations from a wide range of blues acts.


Joe Louis Walker and Curtis Chaffey, Hard Rock Stage, Bluesfest, July 14, 2009

Sometime during my wanderings I also went back to the Black Sheep Stage to see the presumptuous young lads who have nicked the name of DNA for their band. They seem pretty able, but nothing too out of the ordinary.


DNA, Black Sheep Stage, Bluesfest, July 14, 2009

As night fell I went back to the Music-Themed Eatery Stage. I have zero interest in Our Lady Peace, had no chance of getting close to the Zombies, and don't have a clue about the Spam Allstars, but figured that Toots and The Maytals would be a good show and possible a secondhand marijuana buzz. The band started things off with Pressure Drop and featured a cover of Louie Louie.


Toots and The Maytals, Hard Rock Stage, Bluesfest, July 14, 2009

Toots occasionally strapped on an acoustic guitar.


Toots and The Maytals, Hard Rock Stage, Bluesfest, July 14, 2009

He also dueted with his daughter Leba on True Love Is Hard To Find.


Toots and The Maytals, Hard Rock Stage, Bluesfest, July 14, 2009

A really fun show, and also the most waving lighters I've seen at a show in several years. Then again, Maytals fans may not be using them to light tobacco with ...