Lawrence Gowan & Styx
Sure it may have been pouring rain so hard that many of the roads surrounding Ottawa Bluesfest quickly turned into lakes and rivers but aside from a short break in the programing to allow for a thunderstorm to pass Bluesfest rocked on.
It was a full night of rock and classic rock Tuesday night at Lebreton Flats in Ottawa as the Tokyo Police Club, Styx, Queens of the Stone Age and Foreigner headlined the night.
Ottawa Bluesfest…on the water!
It was already a full on downpour when I arrived on the grounds shortly before Styx was scheduled to start their set, apart from a few who took refuge in an OC Transpo bus shelter, Booth Street was still heavy with fans streaming to the Bluesfest grounds. Some had umbrellas, others (us included) wore cheap emergency ponchos, hey they work in a pinch and are compact enough to fit inside the smallest purse or backpack and are disposable so once the rain stops you don’t need to carry it around with you any more.
Styx
I have been a Styx fan for as long as I can remember and was lucky enough to see them live in concert in North Bay shortly after Lawrence Gowan took over as frontman. At the time it was one of the first big name acts I’d ever seen live in an arena setting. I think to date that may have been one of the biggest bands ever to play an arena show in the city.
Lawrence Gowan & Styx
You can tell that, much like Journey on Saturday night, these concerts are no longer a job for these guys. After performing together, touring together and working together in close quarters for almost 40 years I guess you either start to have fun or you end up like bands like Pink Floyd or The Eagles. In 40 years of entertaining you also get to know your audience and how to interact with them. I had never seen Lawrence Gowan live in his pre-Styx days, nor had I seen Styx live in their pre-Gowan day but his on-stage antics and trademark turing keyboard stand definitely add to the fun. Tuesday’s performance was loaded end to end with every Styx hit you can name, with the exception of “Mr. Roboto”. Although the song was an iconic song for the band it was also solely written by former frontman Dennis DeYoung who parted ways with the band in 1999 the remaining band members didn’t like the theatrical turn Styx was taking and since DeYoung’s departure have avoided most, if not all, of the songs he wrote (“Babe”, “Mr. Roboto”). The only problem is that for many those are some of the key songs that come to mind when you hear the name Styx. An interesting fact is that “Lady” is the only song from the Wooden Nickel (label) days that the band still currently performs as part of it’s live shows. Replace the DeYoung songs with a songbook of tunes from new frontman Lawrence Gowan such as “Criminal Mind” and it fills the void nicely, although I don’t recall hearing any of his tunes last night.
Although I wasn’t that far from the Bell stage it was almost impossible to see anything due to the sea of giant umbrella’s in front of the stage, made me suddenly realize why Boots and Hearts wouldn’t allow umbrella’s into the festival grounds. One moment in the Styx set that sticks out for me was as the rain started to let up the band started into “Suite Madame Blue”. The imagery they were displaying on the screens was that of raindrops falling into puddles. Midway through the song the clouds parted and the sun could be seen poking through again and many fans had noticed a rainbow (a double one at that) that had appeared east of the venue. In almost mid sentence Gowan also noticed and was quick to point out the “RAINBOW!!” and then minutes later in the middle of yet another sentence he excitedly announced “DOUBLE RAINBOW”. He even took the time to poke fun at the recent events that plagued the band in New Jersey were two of their tour busses burst into flames. He said the band has heard every joke in the book including if you take 2 Styx (Sticks) and rub them together you get fire. Fortunately, he said, the busses weren’t on fire last night.
Styx has a colourful history, as most rock bands that started in that era usually do, but one thing is for certain they still know how to rock and have a good time on stage. And you can ask the fans that braved the torrential rain and threat of lightning to hear them play if it was worth getting wet and muddy for and chances are you’ll get a resounding YES!
…so it rained you aren’t made of sugar!
Muddy Waters
After Styx wrapped up I took my first trip of the year down to the River Stage, although last night it felt more like a Riverbank Stage as the rain had turned the grounds into a muddy mess, but that’s one of the things that I personally love about festivals. You don’t get dirty or wet during an arena show but if you see the same band perform in an arena twice on the same tour there’s a good chance you’ll see the same show. Go see the same band on the same tour on a festival circuit and the songs might be the same but the atmosphere will be different at every venue. I was shocked to see the number of negative posts on social media about Bluesfest’s decision to keep the concerts rolling in-spite of the rain. My two cents on that topic are simply if you don’t want to risk getting a bit wet, or dirty, or have to swat at a mosquito or two…stay at home and pay double to see the same artist come to the Canadian Tire Centre but please don’t go to an outdoor event and complain about the weather. From what I saw the Bluesfest staff took all necessary precautions to keep the fans and the grounds safe and hazard free. Most of us are too young to remember the iconic Woodstock festival which turns 45 this August but the pictures you see from that event are of wet and muddy concert goers having the time of their lives.
Don Felder
Don Felder
Don Felder, formerly of the Eagles, was the River Stage headliner and part of the tour that brought both Styx and Foreigner to Ottawa this summer. For over an hour Don took the audience through classic Eagles hits including “Seven Bridges Road“, “Heartache Tonight“, “Witchy Woman” and capping it off with “Hotel California” for which he invited Tommy Shaw from Styx to join him on stage. In my years of covering live music events I’ve never managed to catchup with The Eagles on any of their outings seeing Don last night was incredible and hearing those classic tunes performed live was amazing.
Should Hell never freeze over again and I never get the opportunity to see them live this was a decent alternative. While heading back to the Bell stage I overheard someone say that seeing Don was just as good as and much cheaper than buying an overpriced ticket to see The Eagles. I have to agree.
Foreigner
Foreigner
Headlining the Bell Stage was the third part of the classic rock trio that makes up the Soundtrack of Summer tour, Foreigner. Much like Styx I have been a Foreigner fan for as long as I can remember, the only difference is that until last night they hadn’t been scratched off my bucket list yet. From the moment the lights came on until the last note I was in awe. Much like their other classic rock counterparts Foreigner has had their moments and their lineup changes but the music never suffered. It was great to see Mick Jones on stage with the band he founded last night and at 69 years old he sure knows how to rock, of course he’s also the producer behind the albums 5150 by Van Halen and Storm Front by Billy Joel.
The band kicked off the night with “Cold As Ice” off their 1977 self titled debut album and from there it was smash hit after smash hit from “Jukebox Hero” to “Urgent” which included the renowned saxophone solo. The band saved a couple of their biggest hits for the encore namely “I Want to Know What Love Is” which included the backing of a local school choir and “Hot Blooded” which capped off the night.
Kelly Hansen is the fourth lead singer for the band, not that you would notice. He sounds note for note as good, if not better, than Lou Gramm. He knew how to play to the crowd too, and when you are joining an established band that will primarily be touring and known for material they recorded long before you joined them that’s important. On more than one occasion Kelly climbed down off of the stage and went into the crowd to engage the fans directly.
By the end of the night my feet felt like sandy prunes but I didn’t care and neither did the, I’m guessing just over, 10,000 fans that braved the weather. It was easy to tell because by the end of the night it was easier to hear the crowd singing the songs in unison than it was to hear the band.
Hansen wrapped up the night by telling the crowd that they loved Canada so much and that Canada loved them they expect to be spending a lot of time up here in the coming year. This is a band that I would absolutely love to see again in an arena setting!
It seems that at Bluesfest the magical nights happen after mother nature puts the venue through the rinse cycle. Last summer it poured rain on one of the days and started to clear just in time for Woo Tang Clan and Hunter Hayes and was perfect in time for one of the most memorable headliners I’ve ever seen at Bluesfest, Fun. Maybe it’s true, and Ottawa Bluesfest is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Primarily covering country music for the last few years I quickly forgot how much I loved to rock, with the help of Gowan, Hansen and Felder I was reminded of that last night!
Tonight
Tonight at Bluesfest it’s Cypress Hill and The Killers leading the charge. I had the opportunity to see the Killers about 10 years ago when they first played Ottawa and they put on a high octane show, at that time they were touring promoting their debut album so I’d imagine that tonight’s performance will be equally fantastic! Unfortunately due to work I can’t make the show tonight but I’m hopeful if funds allow for a few more trips back and forth to Ottawa that I’ll be back for the final part of this week. There’s still plenty of awesome music to look forward to including The Band Perry (click on their name to read my review of their show at Boots and Hearts last summer), Barenaked Ladies, Slash, Collective Soul and more.
Of course I’m still hoping to celebrate my 40th birthday, a day early, on Sunday at Bluesfest but time will tell if that will be possible or not.
For photo highlights from the entire event be sure to check out our Flickr page which we update after each day we cover!
For full schedule information visit: www.ottawabluesfest.com
