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More photos on Flickr Live recording here It's been 7 months since one of the best local venues in Ottawa for live music, the Elmdale Tavern, changed ownership into the hands of the Whalesbone restaurant. This shift worried a number of local music fans who considered the fact that a restaurant that provides top-notch service might not continue to host live music. Tonight was a great example that proved they have continued the experience of super-talented musicians, that likely would not have found a venue in Ottawa in support of their tour across the border. It was one of those "I'm so fu@king amazed I'm seeing this at the Elmdale Fu@king Tavern" nights. It was on par with Marco Benevento, , and especially ( ). How would one describe the band in order to get folks out? The Elmdale Tavern made a simple post on Facebook today, highlighted by the previous owner, pointing out that a secret last minute booking by a band would be playing this evening. (Alright gang, the cat is out of the bag! Pokey LaFarge is playing TONIGHT. $15 is a small price to pay for the best night of your life.) It was enough to fill the joint, especially after their follow-up post about Pokey on Letterman the week before. The dinner service was finishing as the staff started clearing out tables. There was a birthday girl there who stuck around after her oyster party and walked away with a fantastic live music party that anyone might wish for. There's some captured vids, photos and audio that are integrated in this post since there were a few super fans that brought gear out to document one helluvafuckinevening at the Elmdale Oyster House and Tavern. A set-break debate tonight ended with just branding it the Elmdale Tavern (with Whalesbone Oyster House) This was another band (much like the gig) where the member's all exclaimed how much they loved playing at a tavern filled with super engaged people ready for some whiskey and dancing. Pokey and the band tonight showed off their Gibson's chugging skills. Benevento and the various Slip boys made sure there was lots of Jameson's flowing when they played. The Elmdale Tavern is a unique place in Ottawa that not only continues it's tradition and spirit but has been enhanced by the new Whalesbone owners. Here are a couple of videos from the Elmdale captured by TeamCanada2012 Set 1 Set 2 Update on 2013-07-27 22:53 by bouche Here's another video from a different perspective.

Henry Garza - Los Lonely Boys More photos on Flickr - Alejandro Escovedo - Los Lonely Boys - Los Lobos The Ottawa Bluesfest's River stage tonight had a very unique trifecta set-up yet missed in the promotion of the connections. Alejandro Escovedo, who couldn't be missed after stumbling into his just-started set a few years ago at the old Bluesfest site at City Hall, started it out early in the hottest festival day so far at 5:45. He's really too great of a performer to be playing that early to people that are shielding themselves from the sun. There wasn't much he could do to make them respond. But enough did and I'm sure they got it. They're from Texas,the audience was mostly from Ottawa. His band was followed by Los Lonely Boys, who launched into serious guitar chops with a cover of Hendrix's Voodoo Child (Chile? Can someone explain the difference?). While the three Garza brothers (Henry, Jojo, and Ringo) were going apeshit, and if you were there, you'd have seen Henry going serious apeshit on his guitar, there was a huge crowd forming in the main area for B.B. King at the secondary Main stage. It's clearly secondary, so why put a majorly reknowned act there and hope people fit in? The MC had to ask people to put away chairs in order to fit more people in. As well, word was the scanners were down at the main entrance, but conspiracy theorists guessed that this was a ruse to redirect the crowd to another entrance where there was actually room to breath. The real musical comfort was all happening again at the River Stage tonight, and since B.B. King was over at 9, a crapload of people that felt musically robbed headed over and filled that stage for Los Lobos. They started out to plenty of cheers, but the crowd engagement built as the night went on as the band started adding more energy to their performance including inviting out Henry Garza from Los Lonely Boys to add to the already, almighty guitar work of Cesar Rosas. Along with an on-stage-dancer-vocalist, there was an amazing energy that compelled people dance and party knowing it was the end of another year. PS Some people noticed that the Skrillex thing on the main stage during Los Lobos was a bit distracting. It wasn't evident during tunes, but it's still funny.

More photos on Flickr Having seen the Tragically Hip perform a poorly attended concert in Kingston at Frontenac Secondary School in the 80's, it's safe to say that they actually had one helluva show tonight at the Ottawa Bluesfest with an incredibly engaged and packed audience. A major highlight at the time was their cover of "Money" by the Beatles since no one knew their soon to be legendary tunes yet. The contrast between the two shows is astounding. One was partly filled with under-age drinkers, and this one was fully completely filled with both young and old drinkers. Lets face it, the chances are that the teachers who were supervising were probably drinking too Some kidding aside, the Hip have lasted this long and are still going strong. Their 8-bit three panelled light board was used as much as possible to highlight elements of the show from flashing "100" for "At The Hundredth Meridian" to spelling "HIP" that wasn't even needed to remind people to chant it for an encore. While there was quite possibly nearly the same sized crowd out for the other prog-country nights like the Dixie Chicks and the Zack Brown Band (a quick head count confirmed), this mass of fans seemed to feel like they were being played for by old friends. There were so many people who had something to say tonight in the crowd, who had a story about seeing The Hip years ago in some pop-up show back in Kingston, previous Bluesfests in Ottawa and other intimate events (like the NAC - Who holds a camera for an entire Hip show? Glad it was done though). Having photo access tonight challenged any photographer to keep up with Gord Downie for the allotted 3-song window. The guitar techs were doing a final tuning while an upbeat arrangement was slowly building through the sound system. It was a seriously last second thing because as those guitars were placed back on their pedastels, the Hip rolled out, and Gord Downie obliged the crowd with a very thankful pose. From there, the lights exploded (which made every photographer's lens happy) and then Gord began. While he was belting through "Grace Too", his poses started popping out. Without knowing how long he's been doing that for, it's at least clear that he's doing it for the benefit of all of the iPhones, Androids, point-and-shoots-, and SLR cameras pointing at him. But they had to be quick because he was firing off Bluesteel's without warning. Gord isn't the only bandmember aware of how cool they can look in photos. Bobby Baker, held some very elegant stature while landing his guitar solos and riffs without overdoing it like some other bands. Having 12 albums to choose from, it was great to hear a couple songs from their second album, yet the one that seemed to launch them, "Up To Here". "Blow at High Dough" and "New Orleans Is Sinking" are both great evidence of how far their professional performances have come. They rocked the fu@k out of those too. From being a bar band to a full on international festival closer, The Tragically Hip have already built a fantastic road story and history. The Tragically Hip RBC Ottawa Bluesfest Ottawa, ON 2013/07/11 Setlist: At Transformation Grace Too Escape Is At Hand For The Travellin' Man Man Machine Poem, Gift Shop Ahead By A Century Streets Ahead Poets We Want To Be It In View NOIS > Nautical Disaster > NOIS Bobcaygeon Courage Blow At High Dough Encore: At The Hundredth Meridian Little Bones