Bluesfest Review
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Modified at: 2024-08-02 7:20pm
After reaching a certain personal milestone, I decided to treat myself with a trip covering a two-week music festival in Ottawa, Canada. The 30th edition of Bluesfest. Below is a list of performers I saw or have a clear memory of seeing for a ton of fun was had, and the entire experience was well-recommended.

About 30 minutes of their set was shut down due to a torrential rain storm. My friend kept talking about them (he really likes their music) but the storm is all I remember of their set!

Very mellow country music. We drifted in and out of this show to other stages and areas.

Did they name their band after Tracy Bonham, the singer who did "Mother Mother"? The music was more like…Arcade Fire. Not my style.

Yes, Nickelback. It was a good show and we watched the whole thing!

I never got how Killer Mike was a main artist. He was better as an ancillary guy with OutKast and other groups. He rambled a lot during his live act.

Probably in the Top 3 of favorite shows I caught. Just hit after hit and lots of fun and clowning around. That's what you want to see out of a guy like 50!

This was a weird night. I swear to God, she has morphed into Bjork on acid. This was the same night we caught Future Islands, while Maroon 5 was on the main stage.

My friend likened these guys to Steely Dan. I really started questioning his ear for music about 15 seconds in their set. IMHO Steely Dan sounds far different (and better) than Future Islands.

At the time, had the #1 single in the world with a country version of a mid-2000's rap tune which was a one-hit wonder the first time around. I know, it blew my mind too when I realized that - maybe that's why it's #1 again? His show was OK, and we drifted in and out of it.

This dude may very well be the authentic, likeable version of Kid Rock. Or at least, more relatable. The face tattoos don't even make Corporate America blink anymore. The main point is Jelly Roll and his band put on an entertaining show.

Fascinating show! I'd love to see these guys live by themselves. They have that big jam-band Allman Brothers vibe straight out of the 70's, which meant we got a bunch of extended plays and encores. Some of the other artists started late and ended early but not Zac Brown!

Punk band - us old folks watched the mosh pit from a distance! I'm not afraid to admit it.

The original announced performer in this slot was Neil Young. I forget the reason, but when I heard the Offspring were the replacements my spirits went up, and I was not surprised that theirs was the best performance hands-down.

I wasn't expecting much from the new Motley, but in the very least a return or even acknowledgement of their biggest successes would have been nice. After a weird, budget-generated apocalyptic intro, the Crue which showed up to Bluesfest was on a crash course to nowhere. The rhythm section was noticeably aged slower, the new guitarist looked out of place with his bleached blonde hair, and the entire band's sound buried Vince Neil's pipsqueak vocal wail. Easily the saddest sight to behold throughout the fortnight.

Fun rap-rock style set, though we were far away from the stage and weren't really paying close attention.

Nas
Nas
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Decent, but a bit underwhelming. Also, I'm left wondering - because Nas was the last main performer on the last night of the festival - whether the sheer volume of Motley Crue essentially drained the life out of the thing a night early.

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