Category Music
Spencerville Fair – April Wine
The first time I saw April Wine in concert there were 30,000 people who came out to see them. Or so their manger claimed in a series of advertisements he took out after the show to promote the band. The whole truth was a little different. Yes, there were 30,000 people there. However no more […]
More Random Thoughts From Bluesfest
The 2015 RBC Ottawa Bluesfest is now over. I promised some impressions, but it seemed like during the festival there was never time to do more than jot down a few notes. Time to get caught up, with some mini-reviews of the artists I had a chance to see (or at least hear) perform. Interpol: […]
Kanye West – Beyond Bluesfest
Kanye West is the headline performer at the closing of the Pan Am games tonight. He’s a controversial choice. Before his appearance at this year’s RBC Ottawa Bluesfest and England’s Glastonbury Festival there was also a fair amount of controversy over his upcoming performances. People seemed evenly divided into two camps, either loving of hating […]
Bachman At Bluesfest
When you’ve been making hits for 50 years it seems somehow unfair to the fans to only be given an hour to play those tunes. It gets even more complicated when you are still releasing records and want to showcase that new, less familiar, material in your concert. Such was Randy Bachman’s plight at the […]
A Tough Act To Be
It must be tough to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and still be on the road bringing the music to your fans every night. There are expectations of you and your show, expectations that you have to meet to keep the paying customers happy. People want to hear the familiar tunes. […]
Bluesfest – When All Choices Are Bad (or Good)
Blue Rodeo are Canadian comfort food, part of the fabric of our national existence. That may be overstating things just a bit, but they are one of Canada’s most beloved musical acts, and can be considered a national treasure. If you are not Canadian you may never have heard of Blue Rodeo despite the band […]
Random Thoughts from Buesfest I
I tend to graze at music festivals, nibble a bit of this act or that performer and move on after a couple of songs. I’ll only stay longer if they manage to grab my attention. The 2015 edition of RBC Ottawa Bluesfest started Wednesday night and I have been grazing the music on offer. Here […]
Welcome to Bluesfest – No Blues Required
Ottawa’s biggest annual music festival, the RBC Ottawa Bluesfest started last night. Each year I waffle: is buying a festival pass worth the expense? There are 11 day of music, but a lot of artists I don’t care for. Would I be better off just buying a day pass for the shows I really want […]
Music Month Begins
July is for me usually the busiest month of the year in terms of seeing live music. Ottawa has a number festivals, including the RBC Bluesfest, which features hundreds of acts (and where you have to try really hard to find a blues performer). So you can expect a lot of thoughts on the music […]
The Surprise
My friend Mike loves his wife. That is not surprising. After all, he is a Christian and there is a biblical element there. But he likes to go the extra mile (another biblical reference if you missed it) and think big. So when he phoned me and said he wanted to do something special for […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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