Category Music
CityFolk IV – Wet Sheepdogs
I love The Sheepdogs. I hate the Sheepdogs. I’m ambivalent about The Sheepdogs. I can’t make up my mind. The Sheepdogs, if you are not aware, are a rock band from Saskatchewan that first came to prominence in their attempts to win a contest for independent bands, with the prize being a spot on the […]
CityFolk III – Why Bother?
Maybe it’s being in a crowd that does it. Or a general narcissism in our culture. But it was definitely in evidence Friday as Van Morrison delivered a strong set at CityFolk 2015. This was the big event of the festival. There were more people there than the previous two nights combined. Anticipation was high, […]
Cityfolk II – Confessions Of A Music Junkie
Once upon a time music pretty much defined my life. From waking to sleeping I was always listening to something. That isn’t the case anymore. If I have the radio on I am more likely to be listening to public affairs programming than to music. I still listen to a lot of music though; I […]
CityFolk I – Opening Night
I’m not sure how this qualifies as folk music. The Tubes were the first act on the main stage at CityFolk 2015, the Ottawa Folk Festival with a new name and location. I have no emotional investment in The Tubes. I have never owned any of their records, never seen them live before and would […]
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 […]
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