bouche Posted July 11, 2008 Report Share Posted July 11, 2008 Ottawa Bluesfest Blueslog Stardate 071008 Live Music Review Review By: Velvet Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 photo by: Andre Bouchard Bluesfest has made a lot of improvements this year. The addition of an extra stage, the connecting of the staging areas so you can pass between them with beer and without getting rechecked for said beer, the staging positions, and hell, I’m even finding that the elimination of a full program doesn’t bother me that much. The lawn chair issue seems close to working itself out (in our favour, thankfully), and they even ditched the moronic text-messaging annoyance from the main stage screen after the first night. There is a sound bleed issue this year but I’m confident plans are already in the works to alleviate that problem as much as possible. It seems the only real complaint this year is conflicts. Steely Dan versus Zappa Plays Zappa, Taj Mahal versus The Tragically Hip, hell, Widespread Panic versus The Wailers versus Johnny Winter! The festival has posed some hard decisions because of their prime programming, and tonight was another toughie. When the lineup was first announced I pored over it with enthusiasm, roughly planning out what great bands I was gonna see. For this night I initially thought I’d check out the Plain White T’s until I got my Hey There Delilah (say what you will but I love that fuckin’ song), then split my time between The Black Crowes and Seun Kuti. Plans change. I was talking to Tony D the other day and he was saying how it was a great festival but there was so much going on that people only stick around for twenty minutes and then they go check something else out. I got to thinking how that wasn’t really fair to the artist; not so much on their behalf, but on mine. You can’t appreciate and album sort of album from just a few tracks, if you know what I mean, you gotta listen to the whole thing. Lots of shows are gonna have a lull but if you don’t stick around you’re not gonna get the whole show, in a manner of speaking. I had noticed that I had been spending more time at single shows as the fest progressed, but after talking to Tony I’ve been making a point of thrying to pick my show and stick to it. One success story from that strategy so far is last night’s Brian Wilson show. I sooooo almost left before it got great. Tonight’s show of choice was Seun Kuti. The son of famed Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti (and brother to Bluesfest alumni Femi Kuti) led his pappa’s band through a glorious dancing-not-optional set at the Blacksheep Stage and I was happy to be there. There was an uncountable amount of musicians on stage and while half of them churned out the hypnotic overlaying repeated figures indicative of North African music, the other half simultaneously blasted out the best Motown has to offer. Seun split his time between playing the alto sax and dancing in the style indigenous to his culture while dressed in a suit made for cheap dinner parties in 1979. The band delivered a relentless rhythm punctuated by horn shots that kept the crowd with them the whole set. I was actually surprised at how many people I know held out for the whole thing without venturing over for a peek at the Black Crowes. I popped over there mid-set to hit the ATM and it was crowded and sounthern rockin’, but not at all where my mind was at, being in the middle of a soul-African dance-athon back at the Blacksheep Stage. The band left the stage at precisely 11pm and as I sit here typing I bet the woodblock player still has titak titak titak going on in his head. Another great night at the Bluesfest. Bring on the weekend! Previous Logs: Blues Log 07032008 Blues Log 07042008 Blues Log 07052008 Blues Log 07062008 Blues Log 07072008 Blues Log 07092008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Wish Posted July 12, 2008 Report Share Posted July 12, 2008 Good blueslog, bad decision. The Crowes were really special on this night...... But as you said you can't be everywhere at once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler Posted July 12, 2008 Report Share Posted July 12, 2008 Far from being a bad decision. That Kuti show was in the top 3 of the fest (for me). Nothing can beat the Breit/Manx show (for me) though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouche Posted July 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2008 (edited) haha. I love the judging going on here. Edited July 12, 2008 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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