Tag Archives: Ottawa Bluesfest

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 […]

Some Kind Of Wonderful

They were arguably the top band in the world in 1970 or 1971, but I dismissed them as just so much noise. I wasn’t alone. Grand Funk Railroad had as its motto “nobody loves us but the people.” The critics hated them, but their albums sold millions and they set attendance records wherever they played […]