Bluesfest Day 5: The half way point with Iconoclast, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, The Specials and Mother Mother
I finally saw The Specials! No offence to Iconoclast, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, and Mother Mother, who did a great job…but I FINALLY SAW THE SPECIALS.
When The Specials were added to the line-up I lost my mind. They are a British two-tone ska revival band formed in the late 70’s and were the first ska band I ever listened to. On many nights my dreams have taken me to their show, but never did I think it would actually happen…well it did. From the moment they opened with “Do the Dog” to closing with “Too Much Too Young,” I was skanking non-stop like no one was watching (here is video to help you learn how to skank). They played a bunch of tracks of their self-title album, including “Concrete Jungle,” which felt very appropriate given with all the development going on at Lebreton Flats now. The band commended us on being “the land of no litter.” The crowd went insane upon the first note of “Doesn’t Make it Alright” and “A Message to You, Rudy.”
Now for the bad part. The whole band looked like it was having a riot on stage except for the lead singer. Several times there was trouble with his mic. When it died out at one point he threw it to the ground and grabbed another. Later on he kicked his water bottle and the stage side sound man. And when they played their final track “Too Much Too Young,” you could not hear him at all. Fed up he sang from the back of the stage and finished by dropping the mic and walking away. The rest of the band stuck around to salute us and thank us. But not even that could ruin this moment for me. The Specials are the highlight of my festival so far and will be very hard to overthrow.
How about the rest of the day, which was chalked full with some great tunes. Ottawa’s high octane rockers Iconoclast kicked off the day at the River stage. There loyal fans, and some new ones, came to see them instead of camping out for Rush. This was a great decision. They played a couple of really rocking new songs, “Another Reason” and “Nothing Owed,” that they hope will find themselves on the next album which is set to be recorded in the fall. They were shooting a video during the set, so who knows maybe yours truly will be making his music video debut. The boys look like they are having a lot of fun on stage, leaning on each other, bumping into each other and sporting smiles the entire set. They closed with the title track from their last album “Are We Dying.” Good show gents.
As soon as Iconoclast finished I rushed to the Claridge Homes Stage for a glimpse of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Thanks in large part to a scheduling change I was able to catch about five songs. Decked out in a flowing white gown, Grace Potter was looking gorgeous, and sounding even better. They did a great cover of Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl.” Afterwards she said “We love you Canada, thank you for giving us so many amazing musicians.” No problem Grace, it is our pleasure. I really like the song “The Lion The Heat The Beat,” and it was very cool to see the whole band on drums for the finale.
I could talk more about The Specials here, ok I will. Another highlight from their set was watching all the different ages groups dancing together. There were young teens skanking it up beside people with a full head of grey, it was a lovely sight. Also awesome, was watching the bouncers signing along, especially to “Monkey Man,” a song about them.
Ok, ok, ok, you get it. Closing out the evening was British Columbia’s Mother Mother. Readers of the blog know I’m a sucker for female vocals, and Mother Mother has two female back up vocals, who both also play keys. Their voices are very complementary to one another, and mix very well with the lead singer’s. About three songs in, out of nowhere I hear the very familiar guitar of the Pixies’ song “Cactus,” of which they played half and then flowed perfectly into another Pixies’ song, “Gauge Away.” This blew me away, not sure how many other people recognized it, but at least a few people beside me did. Later on they dedicated their song “Simply Simple” to Rush, who “are way too complex, but we love them anyway.” This captures how I feel perfectly about the rock legend. Just when I thought they were sticking it to solo heavy classic rock, the lead singer/guitarist did a solo.
They later pulled out an electric banjo and played the excellent “Wrecking Ball.” Regaining his guitar they launched into another cover, why not right? The crowd lost it to “In Bloom,” by Nirvana. Mother Mother delivered a great set overall, but it felt like they ran out of gas near the end, as they finished with three slow anticlimactic songs.
Monday marked the half way point of Bluesfest, being a glass half full guy, that means there is still 5 great days of music left! Tuesday is a day off, but we are back in full swing on Wednesday.