Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest Line-up Announced

[Freak By Night]

I just found out that the dude who programs the bluesfest website works in my department. Asked him about Gov't Mule' date=' he said he was told not to list them on the website - yet. He was unable to elaborate further. [/quote']

what dude is that? Mike Clarke?

New guy. If you ever bothered to show up at the office, you probably would have met him by now!

just kidding of course, looking forward to your return from French class.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

oh no-one goes to french class on Fridays

[rubberdinghy]

I thought you had to pass a French test to move to Quebec.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

Forget about lawnchairs. Volume could be the biggest point of contention at Bluesfest this year, potentially polarizing those who like it loud -- Kiss fans, for example -- and nearby residents.

A full slate of big-name artists, including Kiss, one of the loudest bands in the world, are headed to Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest between July 8 and 19, but the commotion of the last two years of the festival, held on the spacious grounds of the Canadian War Museum at LeBreton Flats, is still fresh in the minds of nearby residents.

Retired public servant Michel Gauvin used to live on nearby Albert Street.

"Although I was a kilometre away I could hear the noise in my kitchen," Gauvin said this week. "I never filed a complaint, but I thought they were going overboard. It's excessive. You don't need that much noise to listen to music."

Now he's even closer to the festival, one of more than 100 owners living in the new condo building overlooking the festival site. Because Gauvin's unit is on the far side of the building, he's hoping it will be bearable.

In fact, thanks to a new stipulation in the site-rental agreement with the National Capital Commission, he should be able to hear himself think this summer. The NCC, which manages the LeBreton Flats site, has made it a requirement for Bluesfest to implement a decibel limit in their contracts with artists. The new clause requires artists to adhere to a limit of 90 dB.

Alain Nantel, the NCC official who negotiates site rentals, said the number was determined after analysing decibel readings taken by municipal bylaw officers during last year's festival. After complaints from nearby residents, the city sent bylaw officers armed with decibel meters out to gather data. They were dispatched to neighbourhoods in Ottawa and Gatineau and measured levels at the festival's five outdoor stages.

Bluesfest boss Mark Monahan said they were able to tell what the level was at the stage when the noise exceeded the allowable limit of 65 dB in nearby neighbourhoods.

"We took different days we had complaints," Monahan said, "and were able to pinpoint fairly conclusively who was playing at that time and what was the dB level, and what was interesting was we were able to measure the dB level in the park at the same time as what it was in the neighbourhood."

Along with other special events, Bluesfest is granted an exemption from the city's usual noise bylaw of 55 dB, but must keep it within 65 dB outside festival grounds. According to the NCC's Marc Corriveau, the highest level measured last year was 67.5 dB in a complainant's home at Booth and Albert streets, while the level at the mainstage sound board was generally in the upper 90s. The festival was not fined, but city councillor Diane Holmes, who represents Somerset Ward, was reported to be reconsidering her approval of the festival's exemption. To help her understand the attraction of Bluesfest, this Citizen reporter zipped around the various stages with Holmes one night last summer.

Holmes is delighted that a decibel limit is being written into most of the contracts.

"That may well solve the problem of so much noise in some of the neighbouring communities, depending on the direction of the noise and the wind," she said. "I think it's a good idea. It still allows an exciting, good quality concert with certainly sufficient volume to be heard, and yet may well decrease the spillover between the stages and into the neighbourhood."

A cap on decibels might be just what the festival needs to curb the soundbleed between stages. Last year, several quieter acts, including Richard Thompson and Joan Armatrading, were drowned out by louder bands on other stages. In a related effort to avoid that problem, Monahan said the programming team has been paying close attention to potential conflicts as they slot the acts.

Still, will 90 dB be enough to convey the power of a band like KISS, the hard-rock monsters known for songs such as I Love it Loud and Shout it Out Loud? Veteran sound engineer Ken Friesen doubts it.

"When I'm mixing a rock show, I usually come in just about 100, with peaks at about 105. That's like a full-on, hitting-you impact level," said the Almonte-based producer.

"At 90, the crowd would be yelling things like, 'Turn it on.' A show like KISS is about the rock onslaught and the overload of everything -- pyro, lights, sound. At 90 dB, you're not going to overwhelm anybody."

Beyond audience expectations, many rock musicians like to play loud, especially when they're on a big outdoor stage.

"It's fun as a musician to play loud, just the feeling of something physically going through your body," notes Peter MacKenzie Hammond of the Ottawa-area band Loudlove, which will make its Bluesfest debut on July 16. "And there's lots of things you can do tonally with a pumped-up amp that you can't do with a quiet amp."

Partly because of his band's name, the rock-reggae outfit has become accustomed to being told to turn it down. They're not going to have a problem with the festival's limit.

"When you've tried to get into Bluesfest for seven years, the last thing you want to do is go up there and say I'm bringing in three Marshall stacks and go for it," says Hammond, laughing. He doesn't think Gene Simmons, KISS's maverick bassist, will be so easy to get along with.

"I think Gene Simmons does what Gene Simmons wants to do and not very many people are going to tell that man what to do."

[bouche]

I thought you had to pass a French test to move to Quebec.

no, you just have to have an open mind.

[phorbesie]

Boooo on the early bird sale being like what, 1 day?

Does anyone know of any other discounts or pre-sales? thanks

[AD]

3 days but booooo yeah i forgot to get my tix too

anyone with discount codes please post!!!

[Asparagus]

3 days but booooo yeah i forgot to get my tix too

anyone with discount codes please post!!!

[TheGoodRev]

Come see me in Lee Harvey Osmond on Wed July 15! We had an unbelievable night at the Black Sheep this past week and almost-unbelievable stops in Toronto, Kingston and Peterborough...it's shaping up to be quite a busy fall for that project too, and we'll be out West at Calgary Folk Fest and Salmon Arm Roots & Blues as well this summer...

[phorbesie]

is that really his real name? (if it isn't, i wouldn't go see him)

[AD]

it's tom wilson's new band. not a person (as far as i know)

[TheGoodRev]

Lee Harvey Osmond is really Tom Wilson of Junkhouse and Blackie & The Rodeo Kings. The self-titled record was produced by Michael Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies and features writing from Tom, Mike and also Josh Finlayson of the Skydiggers, and I played on it too

Here we are last night at the Market Hall in Peterborough:

[zero]

meh

[phorbesie]

you need 15 passes to get a group rate (10% off) which will work out closer to the early bird rate.

post or PM me if interested, i can co-ordinate if there are enough people.

[AD]

I'm interested

Green Day is at Scotiabank Place, so scratch them from the Bluesfest wishlist / rumours / whathaveyou

[bradm]

My tickets arrived today.

Aloha,

Brad

[rubberdinghy]

Did you get one ticket per day as per the rumours they are doing away with the wristbands?

[bradm]

Did you get one ticket per day as per the rumours they are doing away with the wristbands?

I was delivered one separate ticket per day of the festival., (Didn't they did that last year as the "transferrable" festival pass, with there also being non-transferrable full-festival wristbands?)

Aloha,

Brad

[rubberdinghy]

Yeah, but the transferrable tickets were more expensive.

[AD]

There are no wristbands this year, it's not a rumour.

*Please NOTE: NO WRISTBANDS! Festival Passports are now transferable, therefore there is no longer a need to wear a wristband throughout the event.

[phorbesie]

i assume you are still gonna need a wristband to go from stage to stage though, like last year. you'll just have to get it from the table like last year. and this has to be done every day. i don't really see the point of this...

Edited April 29, 2009 by Guest

[rubberdinghy]

Maybe they are doing scannable tix like at the Sens games, they scan you in, scan you out, scan you in....

[phorbesie]

that would mean every time you go to the black sheep stage and back they are gonna scan your ticket, which i don't think would be popular. unless they close off the entire area and only do one entrance, they are gonna have to use those paper wristbands again, no?

[ollie]

Maybe this year they'll organize the stages such that you do not need to leave the festival grounds to get from one to another. That would be sweet.

[phorbesie]

i wonder if i set up a booth outside near the main gate, called "Lawn Chair Check" with a sign saying no lawn chairs allowed in, you have to check them in here (like a coat check) if that would work...hmmm...

::ducks::