(I got the idea for this series while sifting through the ‘piles’ of digital photos on my laptop. It occurred to me to share some of these great pics from some of my favourite concert sets from time to time. Like my ‘Vinyl love’ series, these posts will be more photos than words but that doesn’t mean I won’t welcome your thoughts and comments. And of course, until I get around to the next one, I invite you to peruse my ever-growing list of concerts page.)
Artist: The Sam Roberts Band
When: July 13th, 2014
Where: Claridge Homes stage, Ottawa Bluesfest, Lansdowne Park, Ottawa
Context: Just a few days ago, I posted about an incredible early single by a singer/songwriter that since the time of its release has become something of a Canadian institution. Montreal-based, Sam Roberts started things off as a solo artist but these days leads a pretty solid rock band that releases music that is pretty universal in terms of fan base, at least here in Canada. I feel like I’ve seen him perform live a bunch a times but in reality it was only twice, at least twice in full, though I’ve had a plethora of opportunities. The first of these opportunities was in 2009, the first year I attended Ottawa’s Bluesfest, and his set overlapped with that of Okkervil River and so only caught a few tunes from it. The first full set I attended was five years later at the same festival and he had just released his fifth album (the second as a band) called “Lo-fantasy”. The crowd was large and pumped and when the energy is that great, you’re bound to have a blast. I spent the whole time jumping up and down, fist pumping in the air, screaming along to lyrics of songs* I’d heard many times over on the radio with people I’d never before met and will likely never do again. Good times indeed.
Point of reference song: “We’re all in this together”
*With the magic of the internet, I was able to go back to rewatch the same concert recently on YouTube and sang (not screamed) along with it all over again.
