Another hot and humid night at RBC Ottawa Bluesfest saw an eclectic crowd in attendance for Fetty Wap, The Zombies, July Talk and Jake Owen.
Fetty Wap
Fetty Wap's crowd last night was mainly comprised of young teens who were ready for a good time. There was also the odd, plaid-clad, boot-toting fan thrown in who were clearly at the festival for Jake Owen, but thought to catch the other acts as well.
Although on the smaller side, Fetty's crowd seemed pleased with his performance. The bass was bumping hard and everyone was moving to the music. Fans were literally running from the streets in order to see him perform live. Leading up to the grounds, and everywhere on site, you could hear Fetty's performance.
Talking with a couple girls in the crowd, they said that the show was incredible! Although they were disappointed that they didn't get to hear, arguably one his biggest hits, "679". The song's outro started playing, and the crowd went wild, but before the song itself played, Fetty switched into "Trap Queen". Although arguably as popular as "679", fans would have loved to hear both.
July Talk
July Talk stole the show on Tuesday night at RBC Ottawa Bluesfest. Many fans in the crowd for Jake Owen and Fetty Wap are now fans of the Juno Award winning band.
July Talk opened with their current single "Picturing Love" and quickly had the crowd hooked. Filled with new fans and old fans alike, the crowd was swaying to the very different but complementing vocals of Leah Fay and Peter Dreimanis. The duos very different styles had a way of drawing the crowd into the performance. Although a lot of their performance was not what one would expect, from passing a mic mouth to mouth, or crowd surfing... it worked!
This is a band that will now be on everyone's radar. Including one fan who was attending his 75th July Talk show. Fay commemorated the event by sharing a shot of Jamieson with him in the front row.
Jake Owen
The headliner for night 5 was Jake Owen and he was the last to take to the main stage. Jake's easy vibe and breezy attitude was well-complimented by his beach theme. He even performed the entire night without shoes, proving he has well-earned his moniker of 'barefoot Jake'.
As soon as he took to the stage, the crowd went crazy. This is who they were here to see. Jake performed crowd favourites "Real Life" and "Good Company" and had everyone pushing in closer to try and have one fleeting moment of his attention. He then teased the crowd with a little of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire", getting everyone to jump in and sing along.
After this his performance deflated a little. He played some of his lesser known songs and it wasn't until the end of his set that he had the crowd back in it and more than just the die-hard Jake fans singing along.
Although amazing, I think myself and fans, would have appreciated a few more songs to sing along to when it came to Jake's performance.
Night 6 of Bluesfest continues tonight with many more amazing performances. As always, you can find more information here.
Hi there! I just finished a joint honours BA in Psychology and Linguistics. I love meeting new people, and hearing their stories - which is what led me to my love of music.