Memories of Bluesfest 2012

At Apt613, we sometimes get nostalgic. Whether it’s reminiscing about the Lynx or missing the sweet, sweet tones of 93.9 Kool FM, we’ve always had a soft spot for the past. And with Bluesfest 2012 behind us, and with another year to wait before we can enjoy the incredible heat of July in Ottawa while listening to blaringly loud music while hung over, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to reflect on what went on during the Bluesiest festival around. It’s a little something we like to call “Memories of Bluesfest.”

Bluesfest is always an experience. Through its front gates, 300,000 sweaty concert goers move. That’s a lot of people, something especially apparent when you attempt to use the sole indoor toilet on the grounds. For a crowd that large, hydration is a must, and Bluesfest’s organizers did a pretty good job keeping the water flowing with special water-bottle-friendly faucets located near the entrances.

The same could not be said of nature. Throughout what was a scorching week of insanity-inducing thirty-degree-plus weather, it rained only once–on the final day of the festival. Until then, the grounds of the War Museum felt something like the surface of the sun, but with more dust.

But out of shared turmoil comes unity, and though it was no doubt one of the hottest Bluesfest’s ever experienced, there was plenty to enjoy. As well as offering plenty of great performances on every night of the week (we thought the Electro Stage was a great success) this year’s Bluesfest introduced an easier, more comfortable wristband that you could (get this) actually take off when you weren’t at the festival.

Throughout it all, we were there. Blogging like maniacs and tweeting like fiends, we braved the hot weather, enjoyed the cool drinks, and watched people do musical stuff on stages. We asked a few of our writers give us their thoughts. Here’s what came out.

François

Realizing this is my last child-less summer, I took full advantage of this year’s Bluesfest and was out at Lebreton Flats almost every night. This year’s festival has allowed me to see acts I’ve been waiting to see ever since I’ve known them – A-Trak, Big Boi, The Weekend, Beirut, Grimes. For the most part they did not disappoint. Iron Maiden was a hoot – still able to rock well into their 60s. Those guys are t-shirt selling machines! As for discoveries, three acts stand out for me for different reasons. I watched Shred Kelly on the first Sunday afternoon. They were a banjo-led hard rocking band. “Totally from Newfoundland.” I told myself. Heck, there was even an old lady waiving a Newfoundland independence flag! But no, these boys and gals are from B.C. They rocked me hard and hope to see them back in Ottawa soon. The Dirty Heads were also a great discovery – taking me back to my teenage years when I started getting into hip hop and others bands like Sublime. Seeing them play at the River Stage with the sun setting was one of my best memories of this year’s Bluesfest. Finally, I can’t go without mentioning Skrillex’ amazing sound and light extravaganza. Many probably had their doubts but did he ever deliver.

Jared

I quite like electronic music. The synths, the pops, the air horns, all of these things appeal to me. I recently decided that music made on computers was allowable and often excellent. It seems as though Bluesfest organizers had a similar revelation, filling the lineup with such acts as Sleigh Bells, MSTRKRFT, Chromeo and Skrillex. You know, I just realized… that’s probably why they called it “Electro-fied.”

Anyway, being a fan of electronic music at this festival was a bit like being continually offered refreshing water on a hot day. (Actually, that sentence quite literally describes my experience of the festival—I must have downed a whale’s-worth of water every day I was there.) Acts like A Tribe Called Red and Grimes expanded my musical insides with their novel beats, bloops and warbles. It was a festival that introduced me to more music I now enjoy than festivals past, and for that I applaud it.

Gloria

On Tuesday, July 10, 2012, Lauryn Hill took the stage at Bluesfest and fulfilled the dream of pretty much every girl in Ottawa who spent her teenage years in the 90s waiting for a role model. The 90s was a tough time for a lot of girls musically, before Napster existed and opened up the doors to all sorts of music that wasn’t being played on Kool FM or Muchmusic. If you weren’t into the Spice Girls, and you liked Alanis Morrisette but wanted something to dance to… well…there was always Shania Twain. And then along came The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Lauryn was the big sister we wish we all had, talking sense like you’d never heard before on the top 40s. It was Lauryn who told us to be careful of “some guys”, that it was “silly when girls sell their souls just because it’s in”, and to never “be a hard rock when you really are a gem”. It was the most positive refreshing hiphop track for women since Queen Latifah’s U.N.I.T.Y., so empowering that even middle-class girls in the suburbs of Ottawa felt like Lauryn was talking directly to them all the way from New York.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one that felt like my fifteen-year-old self again when I saw Lauryn on stage for the first time in my life at Bluesfest. I sang along to every song like it was karaoke (sorry to everyone around me). And then when Lauryn brought her three small children on stage, to have them say good night, you could feel the ovaries of every single person in the crowd just pulsing – even the men. Lauryn the mother, the lover, the musician, the big sister to a whole generation of women – we finally had a chance to see it all in person.

“Music is supposed to inspire,” sang Lauryn Hill. Oh Lauryn, yours certainly did that night.

That’s enough of what we had to say. Here’s what you had to say!

Check out our downloadable Local Bluesfest Mixtape!

Here is a link to some more visual memories we put together, courtesy of photographer Joelle Guédon.