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 ...

From Down Under

Xavier Rudd seems to come through town a lot. Is it because he's a touring machine? Because he likes Ottawa? Probably both. I've seen him twice and enjoyed the music on both occasions. This time around he's playing the Bronson Centre for two nights with Mishka in support. I imagine it's sold out, but who knows, maybe there will be scalpers. I have two distinct memories of Rudd. The first, from his 2004 Bluesfest appearance, is him signing CDs and posing for photos with audience members for hours on end. The second is of being squashed like a sardine at his 2005 show at the Black Sheep Stage. Speaking of which, here he is performing at Bluesfest on that occasion.



Don't forget to wear tie-die, eh? Elsewhere on the entertainment calendar, you can see Hello Operator and Euphoria's Depression at Zaphod Beeblebrox on Thursday.

From the swamp to the cosmos

First, here's a few pictures of Diplo, Xavier Rudd and The Sadies. The latter can be seen in such previous posts as Hurtin' Time and Killing Songs from the band's previous shows at Babylon. Last time they were at Bluesfest (not counting their gig backing Neko Case) they played an amazing set - the best I've seen from them. They weren't quite as incredible this time around, but they can't play a bad show.

Dallas Good ...



And his brother Travis, with Mike Dean and Sean Belitsky.



The Sadies were followed by Xavier Rudd. I can't say I care for his talk of good vibes (a word that should be confined to Lionel Hampton bio-docs), but if he's feeling upbeat, no doubt it's a better show for all. His setup was mounted on its own little stage on wheels and took a fair bit of soundchecking (his roadie must be the hardest-working tour support attached to any one-man band). Note also the serious investment in tie-die. That's the Australian Aboriginal flag at top.



And a closer view. He got some nice sounds out of his hollow-neck guitar.



Earlier that day I got a few pictures of Diplo doing a DJ set; I think I can slip a copy of Uptown Top Ranking on myself, though, so I wandered off to check out the Main Stage.



My favourite act of Sunday was Mofro, who will get a post all to themselves.