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[caption id=" align="alignnone" width="1024.0] The Roots - Ottawa Jazz Festival 6-20-2015[/caption] More from The Roots The music schedule on Saturday night at Ottawa Jazzfest was one of those nights stacked with performances. Evenings like this can pull in alot of music lovers, and it was very obvious that it would be a busy night, while it was extremely difficult to find parking as early as 7pm within a 20 minute walk to confederation park. This was most definitely due to the fact that Bruce Cockburn was scheduled to play in the Laurier St. Music Tent at 7:30, which brought it one of the largest crowds that's been squeezed in to that stage area. The line to get in was shockingly long, and many people realized that watching from outside the boundary of the fences around the tent would be just as satisfying as being inside, where anyone who wasn't seated in a chair underneath the tent were standing in a crowd struggling to see who was actually playing on the stage. There are those moments where the taller people inhibiting the view would move their head just enough so one could see what kind of guitar Bruce Cockburn was playing. More from Bruce Cockburn He was backed by a percussionist playing some delicate snare with his soft sticks or brushes and an acoustic double-bass to fill in the lows. Bruce was on a resonator guitar, and producing music that is so specialized by his own sound that it is timeless. It was hard to get that intimate show feeling while not having a spot within the tent. There is an odd change this year to the atmosphere of that stage. The north side of the tent used to be wide open to allow people to spread outside of the tent perimeter on both sides, however this year, one side is closed shut which creates a very unbalanced overflow on the city hall side. Perhaps the sound of the cars on laurier are too distracting and affect the sound in some way, but it never appeared to be an issue in the past. With 20 minutes left in Bruce's set, the crowd was thinning out as many were heading over to the Main Stage to catch The Roots. The last time The Roots were here, they had put on a high-energy party at the Ottawa Bluesfest. From the moment Black Thought, ?uestlove, Captain Kirk, Tuba Gooding Jr. and the rest of the band picked up their instruments, sticks and mics, they didn't stop pushing the energy limit until their set ended at around 10:30. Their performance spanned quite a few musical styles. Offering up Hip hop, reggae, jazz, rock, and funk, they promoted alot of dancing, and it was great to see the lawn chairs abandoned throughout the set as everyone capable took to their feet. The energy wasn't just in their playing, but is was highly physical. Members shifting positions nearly non-stop around the stage or synchronized bouncing (no trampolines!) which showed off tuba gooding jr's physical conditioning. He must be skipping rope on his off days. More from Reuben and the Dark Following this heavy dose of energetic music, a pretty large crowd was forming in line outside of the Laurier stage while Reuben and the Dark were still working on their soundcheck. For some reason, this show was behind by about a half-hour. By the time they started their set, it was 11pm and they had a full tent, the crowd divided with chairs on one side and fans standing on the other. When people setup chairs in that tent at night, and pull them RIGHT up to the stage, it can really affect the vibe. The previous night, the Soul Rebels slightly shamed those sitting down and challenged everyone to get up. Reuben didn't really play the kind of grooves where sitting feels out of place, so the integration of both camps seemed fine. While Reuben and the Dark have some very well written songs, it was hard not to lock in on Indie band musical clichés. Their songs have many of the ingredients found in other acts. The pulsing rhythm, reverby supporting vocals, the guitarist/synth/banjo guy, and that "mumford and sons"-esque singing voice kept them from feeling unique and new. was played early in the set, and as an example of this working formula, it's hook is very memorable and will get stuck in one's head for hours after hearing it. Reuben Bullock (aka Christian Bale) is also a very good front man, and displays lots of charisma. They put on a wonderful well-rehearsed performance. and are certainly worth checking out live.

More Soul Rebels Photos The Late Night tent at the Ottawa Jazz Festival is always worth stepping into at 10:30. Nearly every night, there will likely be something that will keep the curious around, wind them up and get them dancing until midnight. Last year a fine example of this experience was Lake Street Dive's set. They literally, not figuratively, promised to "come back real soon". It's been 1 year of that broken promise but don't be surprised to see a band from this intimate party turn up on the main stage on a following year. Snarky Puppy, another plywood-dancefloor shaker from last year's festival were slotted in the same tent, instigated a dance party, while this year they are elevated to the main stage. It's difficult to imagine a dance party anywhere close to what happened in the tent considering a large portion of the crowd have chairs or blankets to sit on. Smash cut to tonight where The Soul Rebels debuted themselves at the Ottawa Jazz Festival scene displaying their lung capacity and power with a full stage of horns. Their set was impossible to avoid dancing to, and those that weren't were encouraged with a few moves from the band. The set was loaded with their own tunes and a dusting of solid covers like the Beatles 'Come Together' the opening cover of while later on, they administered a dose of Daft Punk's . It's a strange feeling to have a deep bass loaded groove going when it's driven by a sousaphone (a tuba that you wear) and recognizing that there is a musician blowing air into it from his freaking mouth. For an hour and a half. How did he not pass out? Around midnight, it was time to say goodnight to the Jazzfest crowd but the audience would not leave without an encore. A few of the horns had already walked off of the stage towards the soundboard. That was a clue that more was in store. They launched into one more funky number, Uptown Funk, and the members who left the stage were walking through the crowd as they played their parts, enhancing the intimacy of the show, and landing a satisfying finish. The danger of missing a show like this is that they will likely be invited back and have their show escalated to the main stage. This is the kind of math one must consider when looking at multiple stages at any music festival. It's wise to pay attention to the side stage or the late show. Any of these acts could become the next headliner and become much harder to get close to.