RBC Ottawa Bluesfest ran from July 4 to 15, and I was there almost every night (of the 12 nights, I was there every night but three). I love love love Bluesfest, and I feel like I have been there almost every year for the past 6 years in some capacity or another.
This year I volunteered as a cashier and ID'er. It wasn't my first time volunteering at Bluesfest, but it was my first time in that area.. and I had so so much fun! As a volunteer you get lots of cool perks too. Free meal with each shift, free access to the entire festival and uhh well.. mostly just the free access. It's awesome, haha.
I loved working as a cashier at the beer, pop and clubhouse tents. You sometimes forget how great it is to interact with the public - you get to meet some of the craziest and coolest people. I had so much hanging out, dancing, singing, serving and enjoying the festival with lovely people of all ages. Music can bring so many different people together!
But of course, the highlight of the festival was the music.. duh? Haha! I saw lots of great acts, lots of interesting acts, and lots of meh acts.
THE GOOD: Dragonette, Arkells, Downhere, Walk Off The Earth, Metric
All were such good shows. I could rant and rave about them, but especially Walk Off The Earth. They are most well known for their cover of Gotye's Somebody That I Used to Know (if you haven't seen it yet, it's their 5 people, 1 guitar video), which of course they did perform. Their entire show was very high energy: when they switched instruments they threw them across the stage (heart attack worthy), lots of dancing and energy (Sarah Blackwood reminds me of Emily Haines in her movement) and Sarah Blackwood even climbed up the stage at one point. Fun, catchy music performed in a high energy and summery way. Loved it!
THE FUN: LMFAO, Carly Rae Jepsen, Newworldson, Chromeo
LMFAO was party rockin', to put it simply. The crowd was huge, and it was wild. It was just a whole lot of FUN. I didn't actually watch much of Chromeo, but it looked like fun, and it was definitely good (though brief for me) dancing times.
THE ENJOYABLE: Tiesto, Awolnation, Freelance Whales, City Harmonic, Seal, Wintersleep
Can't help but enjoy yourself with these performers, but I didn't really feel any different than I would if I were to sit at home and listen to their music on my own time.
THE OKAY: K'naan
Ehn. Did not dislike it, but it wasn't particulary fun.
THE AWFUL: Zoo Legacy
I wouldn't normally even mention the shows that I didn't enjoy... but I was volunteering right in front of this stage, and honestly his crowd was so piddly. And he kept asking them to interact with him. "When I say who, you say zoo. Who-" "*cricket* ...zoo". It was not a fun time. I was grateful when he finished.
A few other relevant quick mentions..
GOSPEL DAY: I didn't know Bluesfest did an annual Gospel Day. I think I have been living under a rock. It was so much fun!! I'm so going to way more Christian concerts in life. Great music, great people, great fun. I really found some of the music to be very encouraging and really challenged me to take a good look at my faith.
TORNADO POTATO: There's a picture up there in that collage, somewhere. It's essentially a potato (or was it two?) and it is curled and fried. It's like a giant stack of really greasy chips, with a delicious spicy mayo-ish sauce on it.
This picture from much more is way better than my picture.
After seeing about a million people walk by with this, how can you not get one yourself?! Wilson and I split one (it's $8, kinda pricey for a snack - though $4 is still a bit much just to *try* something, but worth it) and it was just as delicious and greasy and amazing as it looked. Omnomnomnom, who wants to share with me next year?
And on the last day, I GOT MY SUNGLASSES SIGNED BY METRIC!!! I was so happy. Metric is probably the only band that I actually really know (other than Avril Lavigne from my middle school days, oh yeah). Their autograph line was looking rather short near the end of their autograph period, so Karen and I lined up just for kicks. The only thing I had on me that was signable were my neon yellow sunglasses, so why not? It was awesome.
Overall, I think the lineup was better at Bluesfest last year, but I had a lot of fun this year simply because I was there so often and gave so many new things a chance.
Did you notice how many times I said fun or awesome in this post?! Seriously, I had such a blast. Already excited for next year!
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