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Ottawa Bluesfest Suggestions...


gentlemonkey

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So,

I think it's early enough to be able to make some suggestions for Bluesfest... I wrote the Artistic Director an email, its on the contact page of Bluesfest, and asked for 'cake, moe, wilco and bill frisell' and he said:

"At least one on your list is already booked.

good suggestions!

thanks

Mark M"

I urge you guys to request some good stuff! It's so awesome that Ottawa has a festival that we can actually get excited about..

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No headliners have popped in my head at the moment, and the better finds last year I'd never heard of (i.e. Jaga Jazzist).

Still, I'd be willing to give the Black Keys a third and final chance to play the Bluesfest. And I could do with Bill Frissell too. And how about The Darkness?

My main request is that the pulled pork sandwich vendor comes back.

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I realize that blues artists are a dying breed, but there are more than a few great ones performing today. I'd vomit on the stage if The Darkness played Ottawa. Hypothetically, I can't even fathom The Darkness billed next to R.L. Burnside... and I really like what The Darkness stands for. However, they don't stand for the blues. Ottawa is a bastardized blues festival, albeit a great music festival.

How about getting R.L. Burnside himself!!

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so what if it's not a blues band...if you look at the last few years it's obviously not a blues festival...

and of you think abotu it, moe's a better blues act than james brown that was there a few years back...rock and roll is heavily blues based.

i'd comment about people sitting on their asses in lawn chairs before the lineup if i were you...that's a more pressing issue imo.

what about railroad earth?? anybody ever heard those guys??

definitely bluegrass but an awesome act.

luther wright and the wrongs?

fred eaglesmith??

van morrison?

keith richards?

the slip?

yonder mountain?

umphree's mcgee?

the flaming lips?

come on, what do you folks want to see??

i'd like to get some great acts to ottawa this summer.

the blind boys of alabama would be cool to see again.

ben harper was last year (or the year before?)

same with the dirty dozen?

come on guys...what's shakin?

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Yeah, the darkness thing was mostly a joke that stems from what alot of people were saying last year about this festival. I agree with you Jaimoe that it's most certainly not showcasing much of either blues legends or up and comers in the genre. It's in charge of putting on a 10-day music festival that, sadly, called itself the bluesfest. And what's keeping the festival's coffers full is modern popular music such as Sheryl Crow, Bryan Adams, and many others like the Allman Brothers...all of whom have nothing to do with the blues except the scale of the same name and perhaps a few covers.

I for one am content with that as I'm not a huge blues fan, and instead am getting an incredibly diverse lineup with a few surprises and unknowns thrown in for good measure. I can see why purists would take offense to it, but somewhere down the line Monahan realized that R.L Burnside wasn't the same draw as the Tragically Hip.

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I like your honesty ahess, but I am somewhat of a blues purist. You can't call a festival a blues festival if blues isn't at it's soul.

The Limestone Blues Festival in Kingston draws huge crowds for blues acts and they feature blues-exclusive artists. Why can't Ottawa do the same? I realize Ottawa is 10 times the size of Kingston, but at least K-town sticks to their blues guns and are successful. I also know that Ottawa has great small stages that feature blues acts. Perhaps it's all in the marketing of the performers or in the genre itself? Maybe no one really cares about the blues? I think that's it in a nutshell.

Ottawa should just change the name of the bluesfest and be done with blues altogether.

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Yes to Hess.

Ever year this debate continues. Ottawa BluesFest is definately not a blues fest and the organizers know it. One of the founders used to work in our office and we spoke about BluesFest quite regularly. It's just branded as such, but it did begin as a Blues Festival. It could never grow and sustain as a pure Bluesfest in Ottawa so they bring in acts Sheryl Crowe for them asses.

I'd love to see The Slip and the Sisters Euclid come out and play this year. I missed the Sisters 2 years ago, and I've never had the pleasure to see The Slip in Ottawa. That's all I ask for.

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Here's my suggestion to the Ottawa Bluesfest people. Get some BLUES acts headlining on the main stage for chrissakes!!

Having Taj Mahal play on side stage while The Tragically Hip play on the main stage is sacrilegious. I love the hip as much as anyone, but they've got no business playing at a blues festival. Nor does Nelly Furtado, Brian Adams, etc. etc. etc.

Either that or change the name of the whole frickin' event.

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They bring in the big bands to bring in the people to pay the bills, so that you can have Taj Mahal there at all... I *love* the BluesFest and accept that I'm never gonna be totally happy with Monahan's choices, but it's a killer festival in one of least arts-friendly cities in Canada. Sure, change the name, whatever. It'll still be awesome.

Elvis Costello isn't blues, and I was [color:"purple"]furious when I had to stand front row centre for my idol in my hometown 3 bus stops away from my home. I can't believe people are complaining about this.

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