Miscellaneous - Ottawa, 11/7/2005...17/7/2005

  by Andrew Carver

published: 23 / 7 / 2005

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Article

Those of us whose first exposure to music came via videos and not radio can attest to the outsized influence of two acts - at least in North America. The first is Billy Idol. The second is ZZ Top. When I was a wee lad it seemed like every second song was on Much Music was a ZZ Top tune. Thus, sentiment drove me to the Main Stage on Tuesday night, along with tens of thousands of others to catch the notorious Texas trio. ZZ Top has been trooping along for more than three decades, so we aren't talking about spring chickens, but they were still tight and powerful. It's a tribute to their ubiquity that I recognized every song they played with the exception of their new one, 'Buck Naked' (which I confess to finding not that great). Opening act David Gogo also performed a powerful set of blues rock. Wednesday provided the first unexpected highlight of the festival in a set by C.R. Avery, a Vancouver performer who manages to combine rap and rock and not suck horribly. A dynamic performer with a real way with words, a natural raconteur, a tight band – it all came together in one high energy performance. Unfortunately the rest of Wednesday wasn’t so well-favoured. I’d hoped to catch famous British bluesman John Mayall and his Canadian counterpart Dutch Mason, “The Prime Minister of the Blues”, but only managed to catch a few songs from the now wheelchair bound Mason before a torrential downpour and a ferocious lightning storm shut the festival down for the night. I also caught a few moments of jam band the String Cheese Incident, about which I can’t remember a thing … Thursday the highlight was Montreal band the Dears. Band mastermind Murray Lightburn is frequently compared to Morrisey. One can see why, as his sometimes melodramatic music is combined with a hard-hitting band (in addition to the traditional bass, drums and guitar, the Dears have a pair of keyboardists who double as backup singers). Everything came together: The lighting was perfect, the sound was perfect and the band pulled out all the stops in an emotional and moving performance. I also saw another set by Elmer Ferrer, and found him somewhat more interesting. American folky Willy Porter also put on a good set using an acoustic guitar and a looping pedal. On Friday I started things off with rootsy American folk singer Josh Ritter on the Black Sheep Stage, who sounded decent but couldn’t hold a candle to the visceral delights of Grassroots stage headliner Martha Wainright. Her self-titled debut is my favourite album so far this year. Her live set lacks some of the production gilding, but still lands plenty of punches, thanks to Wainright’s striking voice and cutting lyrics. She’s even more talented than her brother Rufus, in my opinion. Saturday was another full day with some interesting sets by sexy blues-rock singer Daniella Cotton and breathy Parisian singer-songwriter Keren-Ann, but the real highlight was the two Main Stage acts: Calexico and the New York Dolls. Calexico’s dust-on-its-boots cinematic music was as compelling live as it is on record. Though they left the mariachi band at home, the core duo of Joey Burns and John Convertino were ably abetted by four other musicians (five if you count the young girl who appeared beside Convertino’s kit to play the maracas). With a variety of percussion, brass, accordion and keyboard instruments, as well as pedal steel, guitar and bass they brought the sun-baked Texican tunes to an overhung day. In fact, their set was cut in two by a rain shower, but it was only a brief intermission in a very satisfying set. The closing Main Stage act for Saturday was the New York Dolls. There’s something downright odd about the proto-punks playing to thousands at a music festival. The two remaining members, David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain, have continued to perform long after the Dolls ground to a halt in the 70s, and were in very good form. The newer Dolls were also excellent, particularly guitarist Steve Conte and bassist Sami Yaffa (of Hanoi Rocks). Far from being hired hands, the on-stage back-and-forth between Sylvain, Johansen and the new chaps was like that between a bunch of seasoned troopers (indeed, several of them have worked with Johansen solo). Johansen himself looks more like Mick Jagger than ever, and has loads of stage presence, while Sylvain was obviously having a ball. If there were any possible complaint it’s that the group is a little too capable and lacks its former shambolic charm, but no one seemed to mind as they sung along to songs from the two classic albums and a cover of Johnny Thunders’ 'You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory' dedicated to the departed Thunders. Sunday threatened to be anticlimactic. An early set by the Pernice Brothers was entertaining, but lacked something of the fragile charm that distinguished their earlier records. A later set by Holly Golightly was far more satisfying. The crowd seemed a little sparse at first (as it did just about everywhere I looked on Sunday) but it filled up as Holly Golightly worked her way through her fab originals and covers of such folks as Memphis Minnie and "Wreckless" Eric Goulden. The highlight of the day was a romping Afro-beat set by Mauretanian singer-guitarist Daby Toure. Toure and his multinational band blew the roof off the Black Sheep Stage with their energized rhythms and his excellent singing voice. Even though it wasn’t the most entertaining bluesfest I’ve been to, it still provided a wide variety of first-rate music.

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