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The Barr Brothers revisited Ottawa's CityFolk Festival to close off their current tour for a fab, yet short one hour set that could be described as a standard set of their tunes from both "The Barr Brothers" and "Sleeping Operator". It was a mostly soothing set that matched the afternoon vibe rather than their higher energy shows when presented with a more complete evening set. The tail end of the set brought out some jams out with "Half Crazy" that could have lead into a crazy extra half hour or so of extended jammy times. Don't miss The Barr Brothers return for a full show in Gatineau at the Salle Odyssée on Dec. 4th.

More Photos Tonight was well worth getting into the Horticulture building early to catch St. Paul & The Broken Bones at the Ottawa CityFolk Festival. The crowd for Van Morrison was so freaking large, and the sound was so freaking subdued that it was pretty easy to make a night out of simply seeing Paul Janeway channel every soul singer ever tonight inside and experience the drive and capacity of his vocal pipes. Backed by a 7 piece band comprised of trumpet, trombone, baritone sax, vintage guitars, bass, organ and drums, Janeway had directed the band on every power hit with precision. These guys brought their souls from Birgmingham, Alabama to Ottawa for the first time Friday night and were clearly astounded by the possibly unexpected support and crowd enthusiasm for their set. Janeway spent many moments with a shit-eating grin, taking in the crowd's massive response to the end of nearly every tune. These weren't just tunes, they were epic arrangements with hooks and grooves which built up to some powerful moments. It must take alot of professionalism to suit up and perform with such zest in a room that had just the right temperature to incubate yeast or yogurt. It was very warm and sweaty, as evidenced by wet 3-piece suits and dripping the dripping foreheads of the musicians. Janeway dropped to the floor so many times with mic in hand to belt out words much like Otis Redding might have done if he were to take on CityFolk festival, or even John Belushi's greatest moments in the Blues Brothers. Nearly any time the lyrics and vibe referenced love, he directed it at people in the crowd pulling them in even further. It was kinda "one of those nights" that will be remembered as a special evening in the history of the festival. With so many iphones and androids rising above the heads of the crowd, one might expect some sort of speech about recording or paying attention to devices but Paul took full advantage, playing into the phones lenses, singing directly into them. It would be absolutely amazing if someone out there got them all together and made a super cut. This must happen at every show. He absolutely loved to bring everyone close and share his talent for the benefit of their social graphs. They pretty much played their entire one and only album "Half The City" along with a number of soul covers. One stand-out unexpected cover came in the form of "I Want You" (Beatles). The guitarist switched to a Gibson ES which would mimic John Lennon's Epiphone used on the original recording for perfect tone. They certainly took advantage of the loopy moments of the song without stretching it out too much since it was part of their 3 song encore. Keep an eye out for St. Paul & The Broken Bones as there's no doubt they will return once again for another festival in Ottawa after this performance.

More photos It didn't take long to appreciate the new venue for the Ottawa Folk Festival which couples well with the new brand CityFolk Festival and also hosted the Avett Brothers for a supremely prodigious main event set. The new location at revitalized Landsdown park features a broader spectrum of folk music, invites the inhabiting folk and accentuates the city's ability to host incredible live music of genres that aren't as diverse as many might describe what the Bluesfest has become. It's fair to say that the organizers have been adjusting Bluesfest year-to-year in order to continue it's success as a world-class festival to a position where it can please everyone on some level, based on pop trends rather than a more focused demo. The CityFolk festival appears to be more contained within a realm of more common musical styles that likely promote the purchase of a full festival pass rather than a sales model of short 3-4 day packages. It might not be a remote idea to imagine a rebranding of Bluesfest in the near future if CityFolk festival succeeds with this year's bold alteration. It's clearly off to a great start. There is an outdoor venue that is meant to hold a large outdoor crowd as one would expect at an outdoor music festival. A welcomed partitioning of standing area and lawn chairs really made moving around much easier, without having to negotiate various sized plots of land taken up by crazy chairs in random locations. This also helps foster a more engaging connection between the musicians and the audience without having to urge folks to stand up. There are 2 indoor venues that have the feeling of being in an open space utilizing two legacy buildings to host more live music as side-stages while providing an opportunity for continued entertainment in the event of rain. However, the main interior venue only has a capacity for 750 music lovers, despite clearly having plenty of space to hold more. Bylaws ftw! There were a couple of hundred people outside while Wintersleep were playing a late set after the Avett Brothers engaging performance tonight, who would not make it inside. In order to be assured entrance, one will likely have to leave the main stage area possibly a half-hour before the main performance has finished. Speaking of the main performance, the Avett Brothers returned to the festival for their third peformance to a very happy crowd. With perfect weather (and well beyond any expectations for Ottawa mid-September), and contrary to their last visit performing in the pouring rain, the Avetts seem to have kicked up their ability to exist as a rootsy-indie-folk-rock band. Wintersleep completely poured a musical experience all over those lucky enough to pull themselves away from the main event into the Ravenlaw Stage area. This crowd was serious about Wintersleep, they were all there for the band and weren't just taking advantage of having paid for a festival pass. If there's anything worth seeing inside this building, be sure to get their early or risk missing a sweet experience *cough* *cough The CityFolk Festival doesn't just retain the charm of a smallish yet powerfully memorable music festival, but it really seems to be anchored by it. With it's new prospects, this version of FolkFest 3.0 matches the zeal towards a positive communal impact.