If you had never moshed before, last night at Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest was probably one of the best opportunities to give it a whirl. A line-up that included pop-punk acts Billy Talent, the hardcore Cancer Bats and darkly industrial 90s rockers The Tea Party – the young crowd was smushed into each other at the main concert field all night, feeding off the electric energy pumping from their dynamic punk idols.
Before the night air was battered with the familiar punk of Billy Talent, The Arkells took over the coveted time slot on the Claridge Stage on behalf of mainstream pop-rockers Theory of a Deadman, who fell ill last minute (whether or not it was a mystery Ottawa shawarma that plagued the lead singer, we’re still not sure). The Canadian alt-rock band stepped right up to the stage plate and swung away with their feel-good rock, resembling fellow Canuck rockers Sloan or The Trews and hitting home with upbeat melodies and an air of excitement about them. The Arkells – although only behind one full-length album to date – are a Canadian act to watch out for, and one that will only grow bigger with another three years of experience to add to those they already have. Lead singer Max Kerman’s pretty rock barking fit like a glove with both uppity piano anthems like “The Ballad of Hugo Chavez,” as well as the sweeter strut of “Abigail” that was comically interrupted by their take on Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” therefore becoming a crowd-pleaser for everyone including those pouting over the cancelled Deadman show.
Airwave-savvy Billy Talent stormed the stage for an eager teen-heavy gathering whose jubilant cheers filled Lebreton, proving that the first-time Bluesfesters have been long anticipated by Ottawa’s younger fans. Quirky lead singer Ben Kowalewicz was impossible to look away from – pacing the stage to fire up both corners and erupting into shrieks while both hands squeezed life out of the microphone. Impressive guitar-work by Ian D’Sa (who is also famous for his modern-day twist on the Flock of Seagulls hairdo) egged on the admiring crowd during speedy punk anthems like “Devil in a Midnight Mass” and “This Suffering” – so much so that it got a little boisterous in the pit, and Ben had to take a minute to address his pushy pals. Puffing his chest out with authority at a dead stop in the middle of the third song, the singer put a hush over the crowd saying, “Alright, everybody back the f**k up.” He straightened out the partiers with wise advice: “First thing, at a Billy Talent concert, when someone falls we pick them up. Secondly, we respect the women in the audience. We are not Limp Bizkit; we are not here to break your face. We’re here to have a good time.” Lesson learned, and that they did.
On the Hard Rock stage, grey and grooving celebrity Tim Robbins and his Rogues Gallery band played odes to his parents and Johnny Cash with a whack at “Folsom Prison” – pleasing the older crowd but earning a tease from the neighbouring Tea Party show, of whom he complained were too noisy. Jeff Miller, the lead of the 20 year-old reunited Canadian rock group on the Subway stage, of course acknowledged the silly complaint and continued to play noisier progressive rock like “The Halcyon Days” and a cover of “Paint it Black.” Ever the Middle Eastern-influenced set, Miller’s ornamented deep voice curled into the hit “Temptation” shouting, “You can’t write a rock song unless you live it, learn it, bleed it; so, are you ready to be lead into Temptation, Ottawa?” – sending reminiscent fans into a shoulder-bumping sway to kick off the last weekend of the festival.
