Bluesfest Day 10: Nas, Ben Howard and Ottawa’s fanclubwallet

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The 30th anniversary edition of Ottawa Bluesfest ended Sunday with terrific shows by rapper Nas and Brit-pop shoegazer Ben Howard after a power outage in the area caused a delay in kicking off the day’s program.

On the main stage, the delay was barely noticeable as generators were ready to go, and openers Training Season and Down With Webster didn’t miss a beat. 

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The main disruption was inside the Canadian War Museum, where there was no backup power for the early-evening concerts in the Barney Danson Theatre, resulting in the cancellation of shows by Ottawa’s J.W.-Jones and Quebec’s LeWinston Band. 

At the SiriusXM stage, dozens of children and their parents waited patiently for backup power. It was the final showcase for the youthful participants in Bluesfest’s Blues in the Schools and Be In The Band programs, and anticipation was high.

The other stages and food-and-beverage vendors soon had generator power, and festival business quickly resumed. By 9 p.m. or so, Hydro Ottawa had fixed the problem and power was fully restored. 

It was a minor glitch in an otherwise smooth final day of the 10-day festival, which started July 4 and featured mainstage concerts by Nickelback, 50 Cent, Jelly Roll, The Offspring and more. 

For the first time in years, the festival was plagued by a stretch of rain, but as executive director Mark Monahan pointed out, not much of it fell during the festival’s operating hours. 

“I can’t honestly remember a year when we had this much precipitation,” said Monahan in an interview. “Luckily, most of it was outside our operating hours, but it was challenging to deal with.” 

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The rain soaked the site, creating pathways of thick mud in high-traffic areas. Workers brought in loads of mulch and rubber mats to cover the worst spots, which were near the main stage and at the SiriusXM tent stage. 

“We tried to triage areas to make them passable,” Monahan said. “It was a tremendous amount, probably a month or two’s worth of rain in 10 days.” 

Despite the rain deterring some fair-weather festivalgoers, Monahan expects the final attendance numbers will be close to last year’s tally of 300,000. Whereas last year had a handful of huge, sold-out-in-advance shows, this year’s festival attracted consistent crowds every night, he said. 

Country music was a popular draw, with headlining concerts by Jelly Roll, the Zac Brown Band and Tyler Childers, opening sets by Orville Peck, Charley Crockett, Warren Zeiders, Shabouzey and Brittany Kennell, and side-stage shows by Noah Cyrus, Pokey LaFarge, Corb Lund, Josh Ross and more. 

Adding to the country vibe was the Crazy Horse Saloon, not to mention the barnyard smell of the mud surrounding it. The saloon, a new bar near the tent stage, was the result of a partnership with the Kanata country-music hotspot of the same name, and Monahan said it “exceeded our wildest expectations.” 

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With its mechanical bull and pop-country soundtrack, the Crazy Horse attracted hordes of young partiers every night, but also caused sound bleed that sometimes disrupted shows taking place in the tent. 

When the final numbers are tallied, Monahan said the biggest night is likely to be Nickelback, with close to 30,000 in attendance, with Jelly Roll coming in as a close second. 

Announced late, just three weeks before the start of the fest, Jelly’s whirlwind visit to the nation’s capital left the city buzzing. Part of his first international appearance, which also included concerts in St. Catharines and Toronto, the Bluesfest show was an uplifting affair as Jelly shared his own inspirational songs, as well as a string of covers representing his influences.

To add to his impact in Ottawa, the hefty singer with the face tattoos also paid a visit to the Royal Ottawa mental-health care centre earlier in the day. In a pop-up session for about 400 staff, patients and fans, he shared the story of his jail-to-stage trajectory and played four acoustic songs. Afterwards, the down-to-earth celebrity, himself a former addict, quietly visited with patients in the hospital who were being treated for substance abuse and other disorders. 

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Also worth noting at Bluesfest this year was the strength of the Ottawa-area acts on the bill. There are always local and regional acts included, but this year they seemed to land a notch or two higher on the music-industry ladder. 

For example, there was Juno winner Talk and his soaring, fun show on the main stage before Tyler Childers. Gatineau’s Mia Kelly was fresh off a U.K. tour when she opened for Noah Cyrus. Tyler Shaw, the Vancouver pop-rocker now living in Ottawa, held his own against Maroon 5 and fellow Vancouverite, Carly Rae Jepsen. Summersets, the duo of Kalle Mattson and Andrew Sowka, showed exquisite harmonies and finely crafted songs. 

Sunday also saw fanclubwallet, the band anchored on the singing and songwriting of Ottawa’s Hannah Judge, serve up a tasty set of low-fi indie rock before Ben Howard’s show on the River stage.

In general, improvements at the main stage made for a better festival experience. The most significant site change saw the addition of services, including a beer tent, portable washrooms and the merchandise tent, to the closed-off parkway, Kichi Zībī Mīkan, expanding the square footage available to fans.

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“Last year we opened up the street (for the festival’s use) for the first time, and I think, like with anything, it takes a year or two for people to figure out where to go. This year the street was utilized a lot more,” Monahan said. 

Video screens and extra delay stacks were added along the street, ensuring the people who hung out there could see and hear the show. In fact, across the plaza, the video screens were bigger and the sound was great. 

Another change that improved traffic flow at the gate was the addition of a second entrance, Gate 2, for VIPs, volunteers and staff. New handheld ticket scanners at the main gate also streamlined the entry procedure.

As a final nod to the festival’s impact in Ottawa, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe declared July 14, 2024 to be Mark Monahan Day. A small celebration was held at the director’s backstage trailer.

“For 30 years, (Mark) has helped evolve the Festival into a world-class event attracting top performers, thousands of music fans, and millions of dollars of economic impact for our city,” the mayor said in a statement. 

lsaxberg@postmedia.com

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