RBC Bluesfest Day 7: Blondie + John Mayall + Gogol Bordello + Procol Harum + Young The Giant + The Districts
Blondie performs live at the RBC Bluesfest in Ottawa on Thursday, July 10, 2014. Photo: Mark Horton, RBC Bluesfest Press Images
Day seven of the RBC Bluesfest provided time travel, gypsy music and some great rock.
The time travel was provided by Blondie on their 40 year anniversary tour, classic rockers Procol Harum and blues legend John Mayall. Blondie took to the stage with the sun setting and the full moon already on full display. They opened with “One Way or Another” to get the crowd instantly hooked. Debbie Harry was decked out in all white matching her wig and wearing what looked like bondage straps on top of her clothing. Dressed for the occasion and still dancing and rocking out at 69 years of age is pretty sweet. With a crowd varying extremely in age, Blondie delivered a very cool moment where they worked in the Beastie Boys’ “Fight for your Right to Party” in the middle of their dancy classic “Rapture.” I grew up reading about Blondie and their contributions to the punk rock scene in its beginnings. I never thought I would ever get a chance to see them live.
The winner of the most people on stage at the same time during the 2014 Bluesfest goes to Procol Harum. The classic rockers were joined on stage by the NAC Orchestra and Ottawa’s Lee Hayes’ Vox Choir to create some beautiful sounds. The depth of the music was great, so many instruments teamed up with incredible voices on the festivals biggest stage. They played a wonderful rendition of “Simple Sister” and many more great songs. It’s not really my thing, but I can recognize amazing talent and musicianship when I see it. This was quite the spectacle.
Later on that night we got some blues thanks to John Mayall. You know that real gritty blues where every song becomes a jam session never lasting less than seven or eight minutes. It was fantastic. Once again being treated to great musicians who truly excel at their craft. It was pretty cool to watch John play the keys and harmonica all at once. John took the mic at one point and said “this next song is by one of my all-time favorites, Otis Rush.” There is something pretty special about watching one of the all-time greats cover another.
The highlight of the day came in the form of the first act, the gyspy rockers Gogol Bordello. With a bottle of wine in hand Eugene HĂĽtz and his merry men got people jumping, singing and smiling constantly with a great set. They played a great mix of new and old while running and dancing all over the stage. I learned that there is no instrument more punk rock than an accordion when played like it is by Pasha Newmer. There were two moments that really stood out during the energetic and engaging performance. First was the mid-song jam during “Last One Goes the Hope,” which made me think of the famous intro to the Talking Head’s concert movie “Stop Making Sense.” Secondly was during “Start Wearing Purple,” when HĂĽtz was using his wine bottle to strike the huge drum being played at the front of the stage by multi-instrumentalist Elizabeth Sun. The set concluded with a statement by playing “Think Locally Fuck Globally.” Great show indeed.
Discovering new music is one of the best part of big festivals like Bluesfest. The find of the fest so far was The Districts from Pennsylvania. Saw them the day before but they were mostly background music as we relaxed among friends and chatted. This time though we sought them out and headed to the best sounding stage of the festival, the Barney Danson Theatre. I am so glad I checked them out again because they are freaking great. They play a sort of bluesy rock that captivates. They have great energy, cool harmonies and look to be having a lot of fun. It is great that they are still smiling considering their tour van and a bunch of gear was stolen two weeks ago (you can help them out here, and you have until midnight!). Don’t sleep on this band check out their latest album Telephone, they are about to explode, well at least they should.
Young the Giant are one of those bands I hear about every now and again but never really gave much time to. But two songs in I couldn’t help but think they are a modern version of bands like New Order. Excellent blend of electronic and synth sound blended over rock you can dance to. Their guitarist has a broken leg (or maybe two, it wasn’t clear) so their tour manager Stu stepped up and saved the day, learning all the songs in a few days. The show must go on, as they say. Days turn faster than a minute. It seemed like almost every song was introduced as a new song, but they did play their hit “Cough Syrup” and a very cool track called “Anagram.”
Another day of excellent music in the books. The Bluesfest is in the home stretch now going into the final weekend. Be safe, stay hydrated and rock on people.