Kemptville Live Day 3, Everybody was Surfin’

Well, Day 3 of Kemptville Live Music Festival was kind of electric. We saw tie-dye clothing, brightly coloured hats of all kinds and peace signs galore. This was all in anticipation of the headliners for the evening, The Beach Boys!

The afternoon started out with some Ottawa area locals. We saw Firebelly to open the show, playing some great sounding blues music. I like all sorts of music, but the blues are special to me. I really enjoyed listening to this band. Most festivals I go to, I get introduced to some new music that I hadn’t heard of. Firebelly will be on my radar now to listen to in the future.

Wicked Grin was up next and gave us another dose of local blues music. They were the Maple Blues Awards winner for Band of The Year in 2014 and their bass player, Leigh-Anne Stanton won for Bass Player of the Year in 2015. They have won several other awards and represented Ottawa Blues Society at The International Blues Challenge in Memphis in 2014. They have toured extensively in both Canada as well as internationally. This band is good! Their fun, energetic style of blues kept the growing crowd dancing the whole time they were onstage.

Following Wicked Grin, we had JW Jones, also an Ottawa based performer. Normally a tight three piece band, they added a keyboard player for this show. JW is a bit of a wizard on the guitar, playing a mixture of his original material along with some covers of many blues standards from the greats. JW’s influences are varied and he has studied the various styles extensively and put it all together to create his own style. Long time bass player and current Maple Blues Bass Player Of The Year,  Laura Greenberg and drummer Will Lauren round out the band.  A little band with a huge sound. In his travels, JW has had the good fortune to play with many of the greats, one being Buddy Guy who said that JW is one of the guys that will keep the blues alive. I agree with him, go see JW Jones when you get the chance.

Next up, The Commotions. This band is a must see Ottawa based band. They play funk and soul about as good as it gets with their 12 piece band featuring a horn section,  you don’t see that much nowadays. Lead vocals is provided by Jeff Rogers (Silver Creek and The Cooper Brothers) and Rebecca Noelle (The PepTides, Rumours, La Voix and David Gogo) and both do a wonderful job. This band is loaded with talent, it never stops. Song after song I was amazed with the music I was hearing.

I first saw The Cooper Brothers in Kingston a few years ago. They were an up and coming country rock band and had a couple of hits that I’d heard. After hearing them live, I was hooked on their sound. The band had a good run through the late 70s and early 80s but disbanded in the mid 80s. In 2006 they played together for the first time in 20 years after a “Best Of” album was released. This show lead to a series of shows and their fans are happy it did.  Twelve years later, the current version of The Cooper Brothers features a four piece horn section, backup singers and a whole lot of great sound! Brian and Dick Cooper are a piece of Canadian musical history and it’s nice to see them together again onstage and having fun doing it.

As if all this wasn’t enough, we still had The Beach Boys coming up! They have undergone many changes over many years and have played with different lineups along the way. It’s true, there are only two remaining actual Beach Boys touring under the name these days, but the fans didn’t mind one bit. A quick drive through the camping area indicated the fans were there for The Beach Boys. The camping area was adorned with signs, plastic palm trees, tie-dye, surf boards and just about anything else you could imagine that could be associated with the 60s. This band was formed in 1961 and have been legends in the ever since. The group had over 80 songs chart in their long career so you can only imagine the excitement of the Kemptville fans. When they came onstage, the crowd was on their feet and never sat down again. The band pumped out hit after hit and I have never been to a show where the fans were singing every single song!  The Beach Boys are one of the most influential bands of all time, listed on Rolling Stone’s list as no. 12 and I would have to agree after seeing this show. They still have a place in the hearts of all music fans.

Visit the Bands Online:

Firebelly

Wicked Grin

JW Jones

The Commotions

The Cooper Brothers

The Beach Boys

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