Tag: Ottawa Bluesfest

Ten great Ottawa Bluesfest sets: A prologue

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date July 8, 2020
2 Comments on Ten great Ottawa Bluesfest sets: A prologue

So here we are, already eight days into July. And if all had gone according to plan, I would be preparing to attend the first day of Ottawa’s Bluesfest tomorrow. I would be packing a change of clothes, sunscreen, sunglasses, probably a rain poncho, my camera, and my festival pass in my satchel, all to bring with me to work so I could head on down to the festival grounds right afterwards. I would probably be planning on which brewery to stop in at beforehand, something I’d been doing with more and more regularity, ever since the festival had adopted Molson and its overpriced cans of macro beer as a sponsor. The excitement would be palpable and my wife would likely be rolling her eyes and preparing to be without her husband for a week and a half…

But alas…

A few weeks after the festival lineup was released to great excitement (Alanis Morissette! Rage against the Machine!) and tickets went on sale, COVID-19 was announced as a worldwide pandemic and a threat to public safety in Canada. Everything was shut down. Concert tours and music festivals around the world were being cancelled. Bluesfest’s organizers held out for as long as they could, hoping against hope that things would clear up, and that the show could still go on. At the end of April, they pulled the plug, offering refunds or the option to transfer tickets to the following year, for which many of the very same exciting acts had already been confirmed. Of course, it was disappointing at the time, albeit completely understandable, and today, on the eve of what would’ve been the opening day, there’s more than a bit of a heavy heart in my chest.

The first time I attended the festival was back in 2009 and I have seen amazing sets at ten different editions of Bluesfest over the years. So what I thought I’d do for the next week and a half was to share photos and words from ten of my favourite sets from over the years, one for each day on which the festival would have taken place. Of course, I have already shared some great Bluesfest sets on these pages that likely would’ve been included. I won’t share them again but if you want whet your appetite for live show photos, you can click on the links below for those posts.

Father John Misty on the River Stage – Wednesday, July 11th, 2012

Camera Obscura on the River Stage – Friday, July 5th, 2013

The Specials on the Claridge Homes Stage – Monday, July 8th, 2013

July Talk on the River Stage – Friday, July 11th, 2014

The Decemberists on the Claridge Stage – Wednesday, July 13th, 2016

Are you ready now? Good! For the next eleven days (the festival always takes one day off after the first weekend for rest), I’ll be sharing a handful of photos, some thoughts, and where possible, the set list (thank you setlist.fm) for ten of my favourite Bluesfest sets. Grab your sunscreen, earplugs, favourite beverage, and let’s get ready to rock.

Tags Alternative, Camera Obscura, Father John Misty, Festival, Indie, July Talk, Live music, Ottawa Bluesfest, The Decemberists, The Specials

Live music galleries

Live music galleries: Camera Obscura [2013]

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date November 21, 2019
7 Comments on Live music galleries: Camera Obscura [2013]

(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. Until I get around to the next one, I invite you to peruse my ever-growing list of concerts page.)

Camera Obscura live at Bluesfest 2013

Artist: Camera Osbcura
When: July 5th, 2013
Where: River stage, Ottawa Bluesfest, Lebreton Flats Park, Ottawa
Context: In my humble opinion, 2013 saw the best lineup that Ottawa Bluesfest has ever seen, especially for indie rock fans like myself. Case in point was this early evening performance by Glasgow’s Camera Obscura on one of the festival’s side stages. This set in support of their fifth record, “Desire lines”, was actually my second time seeing the band, but I haven’t seen them since. I was super glad to catch this show with original keyboard player, Carey Lander, who, unfortunately for all of us, died two years later from Osteosarcoma. The indie pop group went on hiatus afterwards and only just this year returned to performing live. Hopefully, this means new material and perhaps another North American tour soon.
Point of reference song: “Break it to you gently”

Tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura

Carey Lander of Camera Obscura

Carey Lander’s keyboard

Lee Thomson of Camera Obscura

Carey Lander, Tim Cronin, and Tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura

Kenny McKeeve and Gavin Dunbar of Camera Obscura

Tracyanne Campbell

Tags Alternative, Alternative Rock, Camera Obscura, Carey Lander, Festival, Indie, Indie Pop, Live, Live music, Ottawa Bluesfest, Scottish, Tracyanne Campbell, Twee

Live music galleries

Live music galleries: The Decemberists [2016]

Post author By jprobichaud
Post date October 17, 2019
6 Comments on Live music galleries: The Decemberists [2016]

The Decemberists, live at Bluesfest 2016

Artist: The Decemberists
When: July 13th, 2016
Where: Claridge stage, Ottawa Bluesfest, Lebreton Flats Park, Ottawa
Context: Back in 2005, I convinced my wife to squeeze in a concert by a band I had recently gotten into on our spring trip in to Toronto to visit her mother. That show by The Decemberists at The Phoenix Concert Theatre would end up being one of Victoria’s favourite concerts, despite having only heard a handful of their songs beforehand, and it goes without saying it was high up on my list as well. It would be just over a decade before I got to see them again live (though I did catch a Colin Meloy on a solo set in the interim). The lineup had changed some in the years since and the band had also since jumped to a major label and gained a much wider audience. The quality of their music, however, has never wavered, nor has their live show. In fact, both of the shows in question ended with the very same song, “The mariner’s revenge song”, and included the requisite audience participation, though the latter show involved some props (see last photo). Being on a major comes with bigger budgets, right?
Point of reference song: “Make you better”