Event Review: Bluesfest Day 12 with Young Empires, K’Naan, The Weeknd and Metric

Yesterday was the last day of this year’s Bluesfest and it defninitely ended on a high note.

Upon arrival on the festival’s site, we headed to the Claridge Stage to check out Young Empires, a Canadian band from Toronto who describe their genre as being world beat haute rock. The group gave a great performance and even played a request from a fan in the crowd complete with a personal dedication. I was pleasantly surprised by their style and sound and can say that it was definitely a nice musical discovery, not having heard of Young Empires before.

Young Empires at the 2012 Ottawa Bluesfest

After Young Empires, Somali-born rapper and poet K’Naan was scheduled to perform on the Main Stage at 7:00 pm. However, due to flight delays, he didn’t make it on time and as a result his set was postponed to 7:30 pm. Once he arrived on stage and apologized to the crowd for being late, K’Naan did what he could to bring out as much energy as possible for his fans, however his 2012 Bluesfest performance surely wasn’t his best. He performed some crowd-favorites but omitted to deliver the popular Wavin’ Flag anthem that so many love. K’Naan ended his performance with a slow ballad that he frankly shouldn’t have chosen considering it lacked in intensity and liveliness. Having said this, the Toronto-based artist and his band did offer a decent musical performance nonetheless.

K’Naan at the 2012 Ottawa Bluesfest. Photo courtesy of the Ottawa Citizen.

The highlight of the evening was by far seeing The Weeknd sing his heart out on the Claridge Stage (but I’m completely biased since he’s my favorite artist). The young singer from Toronto offered his second Ottawa performance in front of a sizable crowd of young women and men who had gathered to hear songs from House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence, the mixtapes that have garnered him so much attention and respect. Abel Tesfaye, who goes by the stage name The Weeknd, presented a stripped-down version of his latest show to adapt the the festival venue. He did without the visuals and simply performed with the lighting used for his original show, which allowed us to solely focus on his enchanting voice and raw lyrics. Abel thanked his Ottawa fans several times as he delivered songs including High For This, The Birds Part 1, Gone, House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls, The Zone, Crew Love, Rolling Stone, and Next without forgetting the beautiful Wicked Games, which he saved for last. The XO crew, members of The Weeknd’s entourage, were there in full force to represent the XO movement. Even rapper Tyga, who performed at Bluesfest the previous night, could be seen on house right enjoying the show from the side of the stage! The fans were clearly pleased with the show from the first note The Weeknd sang to the very last. Thank you Abel for another excellent performance, Ottawa loves you!

The Weeknd at the 2012 Ottawa Bluesfest. Photo courtesy of the Ottawa Citizen.

The 2012 edition of Bluesfest ended nicely with a set by Canadian-favorite Metric who graced the Main Stage with their talent. The Toronto-based indie rock band seems to have pleased the crowd as they delivered songs from their newly-released album Synthetica along with singles from previous albums. Emily Haines and company were in great shape and the Ottawa fans who had gathered to see the band seemed to love it. It wasn’t the greatest performance of all times, but it was definitely a great way to end this year’s edition of Bluesfest.

Metric at the 2012 Ottawa Bluesfest. Photo courtesy of the Ottawa Citizen.

What were your favorite moments? What were the hits and misses this year? You’re welcome to share your thoughts below. I’m already looking forward to next year!

The 2012 Ottawa Bluesfest Heads Into Week 2!

Week one of the 2012 Ottawa Bluesfest is already over. It’s crazy how time flies when you’re having fun! My highlights for the festival’s first week were definitely MSTRKRFT, the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars, Marcia Ball and A Tribe Called Red!

Week two kicks off on a high note with performances by rising Harlem rapper A$AP Rocky, past Fugees member Lauryn Hill and West-Coast rap veteran Snoop Dogg who are all scheduled to play this Tuesday, July 10 starting at 7:00 pm. Also this Tuesday is the notable Deltron 3030, a side project by DJ Kid Koala, rapper Del the Funky Homosapien and producer Dan the Automator. Opening for Deltron 3030 on the Electro Stage is Chali 2na, from the now-defunct alternative rap group Jurassic 5.

A$AP Rocky

For Wednesday, July 11, highlights include L.A. punk-rock band Bad Religion, Outkast-member Antwan André Patton aka Big Boi and local-group Sound of Lions who play the Main Stage, the Claridge Stage and the Casino Lac-Leamy respectively.

Sound of Lions. Photo by Ben Welland.

Then on Thursday, July 12, festival-goers will be treated to the sounds of Sam Roberts Band, newcomers and 2012 JUNO-sweepers the Sheepdogs, American folk-rock singer-songwriter John Mellencamp and up-and-coming Russian trance DJ and producer Arty.

The Sheepdogs

To kick off the weekend nicely, Bluesfest organizers have scheduled an array of acts including the usual Blue Rodeo, Canadian rock group Our Lady Peace, indie rock group Hey Rosetta! and the internationally-acclaimed Montreal DJ A-Trak.

For Saturday, July 14, festival-goers can expect performances by American DJ, producer, and songwriter Diplo, rapper Tyga, hybrid-group Beirut, Ottawa’s The Souljazz Orchestra and electronic-music producer Skrillex just to name a few.

Skrillex

On Sunday, July 15, the final day of the festival, Bluesfest organizers save the best for last with shows by Somali-Canadian poet and rapper K’Naan, Toronto-based R&B sensation The Weeknd, DJ Felix Cartal and Canadian-favorite Metric.

The Weeknd

Enjoy the second week of Bluesfest and stay tuned for more reviews coming soon!

 

 

Review: K-OS DJ Set @ Bijou, Rise Ashen & Flying Down Thunder @ Mercury Lounge and the JUNO Awards

This past weekend was all about the JUNOs in Ottawa and I was lucky to attend 3 very different events to partake in the celebrations.

First up was Canadian hip-hop artist K-OS who threw a DJ Set at Bijou Nightclub & Lounge, a new venue located on the corner of Bank and Slater that recently opened its doors. It was my first time at Bijou since the opening and it was also the first time I went out to hear K-OS spin records for a live crowd. The venue itself is small and intimate but decorated with taste and clean, which is somewhat difficult to come across when it comes to nightclubs and bars. I sometimes ask myself why the best music is often played in the grimiest of places, but not this time! Bijou proves to be an interesting place to go out for drinks and dancing if you like it a bit more upscale.

Prior to the main set,  Bijou resident and Ottawa DJ Kid SL got the crowd warmed up followed by Sebastien Grainger from Death From Above 1979  who kept the people moving until K-OS decided it was time for him to take over, which was around 1:00 am. That’s rather late, but considering the place was open until 4:00 am with extended license on the occasion of the JUNO weekend, then I guess it was acceptable. Having said this, the minute K-OS started his set, I knew the night could only get better. The man held it down and served the crowd classics one after the other: I was in hip-hop heaven! He’s definitely a great DJ for those who enjoy good old hip-hop, but others who would expect newer stuff and commercial tracks would’ve been disappointed. Thank you Bijou, K-OS was a great choice to bring out to celebrate the JUNOs in the nation’s capital!

Photo Courtesy of C. Trottier ©

Saturday night, although I wanted nothing more than to go party with The Weeknd at Studio SKYbar, I switched things up and headed to Mercury Lounge, renowned in Ottawa for being a major contributor to the arts sector and night-life scene in the national capital since its creation in 1996.

I was primarily there to see Rise Ashen & Flying Down Thunder, 2012 Juno nominees for Aboriginal Album of the Year, but also enjoyed hearing KASM and the Seed Organization who came all the way from Winnipeg to spin addictive and danceable tunes filled with reggae flavors and heavy-bass beats. I didn’t know who Rise Ashen & Flying Down Thunder were until last week when I read an Ottawa Citizen article on them and saw them perform their One Nation single during sound-check at the Canadian Museum of Civilization (they were scheduled to perform at a JUNOs launch private party the same night at the Museum). Combined, the newspaper article and sound-check run sparked my curiosity and I wanted to hear more hence why I headed to Mercury Lounge.

The duo hopped on stage around midnight, and although they didn’t take the JUNO Award for Best Aboriginal Album of the Year (Murray Porter did) they consoled themselves by offering a fantastic performance to the receptive crowd in attendance. They performed their main track One Nation along with many other excellent songs from their album, which shares the same title. B-boys and B-girls alike were breaking it down front and center as everyone seemed to have a a good time jamming to the unique sounds of Rise Ashen and Flying Down Thunder. Thanks to the guys for such an engaging and energetic performance and thanks to Mercury Lounge and APTN for organizing a very successful JUNOfest event!

Last but certainly not least, the culmination of all of JUNOfest and other related events lead to the JUNO Awards show, which took place at Ottawa’s Scotiabank Place this Sunday at 8:00 p.m. As a volunteer seat-filler, I had to arrive quite early for logistical reasons. Around 7:30 pm, I was finally seated in the 200-level (sadly I wasn’t sitting next to an artist like I had hoped for) and watched the show with great interest! It was so exciting to not only be at a awards ceremony, but to also experience it in person as opposed to watching it on TV as I normally do. It was interesting to witness some of the behind-the-scenes and to enjoy seeing so much Canadian talent under one roof.

And the madness begins! Volunteer seat-fillers in the Main Lobby waiting to check-in...!

Although only 7 award categories were announced live (the majority of awards had been given out the night before at a JUNOS gala), this gave the crowd a good balance between the awards announcements, William Shatner’s so-called humorous skits and the artists performances. The Toronto Sun has it just about right when it wrote that this year’s JUNO Awards were “just plain weird from the presence of 81-year-old hambone host William “I wanna rock!!” Shatner (and the absence of major international celebrities) to the bizarre comedy bits and inexplicable award choices, this year’s event easily ranks as one of the weirdest JUNO nights in recent memory”.

Despite finding the performances somewhat ordinary, at the end of the day, my highlights were definitely to see Kardinal Offishall and Classified announce the winner of Songwriter of the Year, City & Colour performing The Grand Optimist, K’Naan who dropped a verse with Simple Plan and almost fell off stage (!), Feist for being all-around cute and awesome and deadmau5 with Lights for the grand finale! All in all the main stage was fantastic, the lighting was great and the special effects were sort of impressive for a Canadian awards show! And now that the madness is all over and that everyone has gone back home, Ottawa will get back to its regular old self, but here’s to hoping we keep some of that fun JUNO spirit alive!