Nostalgia Festival hits all the right notes in inaugural year

For the first year in the capital, the Nostalgia Festival, a three-day long series of performances by tribute bands, who performed everything from Michael Jackson to Rush, blew away my expectations.   

Day 1 – headliner MJ Experience

The first band to kick off the inaugural Nostalgia Festival drove the audience to their feet.

The Toronto-based band, Funk Frequency, led by vocalist Chris Rouse, embodied the spirit of Prince, and took the concept of tribute bands from the cheesy into the stellar.

With a full bill of six bands per day at the Nostalgia Festival, there wasn’t much time for anything but the classics like “Kiss”, “When Doves Cry” and of course – “Purple Rain”. But Rouse hit all the notes, and the band had the “purple power.”

The performance had a rhythm that got the sleepy Ottawa audience out of their lawn chairs and to their feet. And in the end, everyone was partying like it was “1999”.

The U.K. based tribute band Abba Mania has been touring since 1999 and was the obvious choice for the festival. The cast of singers included Tasmin Stewart as Agnetha, Cleo Caetano de Souza as Anni-Frid (Frida), Duncan Walsh-Atkins as Benny and Justin Brett as Bjorn. The singers, along with the band excited the audience – “Mamma Mia”, “Take a Chance on Me” and of course, “Dancing Queen”.

The cast of characters on the first night ended with headliner MJ Experience, which did the King of Pop Proud, but in this writer’s opinion, it was Kara Chandler who stole the show.

Chandler turned back time with a performance as Cher that was spot on.

Even though it was the shortest set of the night – just a scant 30 mins – Chandler belted out the tunes so well, she prompted a full-on sing-a-long by audience members.

We definitely could’ve seen more of her.

Day 2 – headliner Floyd Factor

Queen Flash boasts as being the Ultimate Queen Tribute band, and they’re not wrong.

Montreal native Johnny Zatylny is a dead ringer for Freddie Mercury, with a voice to match.

The band ramped up the energy on the second day of the festival, with the classics everyone loves like the iconic “Bohemian Rhapsody”, but then the day fell kind of flat with Fleetwood Mac Mania.

The Toronto-based veteran band, formerly Fleetwood Mix just didn’t hit the right mix.

The front line of Fleetwood Mac Mania – Jenn, Connie and Jeremy – just didn’t quite nail the powerful vocal combination of Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham.

My 13-year-old, who had never been to a concert in his life, said more like “Fleetwood Go Back.”

The Blushing Brides, a band that formed in the early ‘80s, is so tight vocally and instrumentally that if you close your eyes, you might think you’re at a Rolling Stones show.

Even with your eyes open, Montreal native front man Maurice Raymond looks the part, with Mick Jagger’s build and signature swagger.

Paul Martin, who plays Keith Richards, also really looks the part.

Martin hails from Ontario.

While the other band members couldn’t pass for the Stones, it was easy to tell these guys had been playing together for decades.

They’ve also built up a fan base in their own right.

A personal favourite of the day – both as a tribute band and the real deal – was Led Zepplica.

The band was, you guessed it, a Led Zepplin tribute band.

They’ve been playing together since 1989 and lead singer Joe Retta looked and acted the part. He also hit the notes in Kashmir so well that you’d swear you were being transported back in time to 30 years ago.

The second night ended well with Floyd Factor, a Canadian tribute to Floyd.

Andre Filippetti, a Torontonian with a long-time Floyd obsession, plays frontman Roger Waters.

His voice is bang on and band plays well together.

A light rain came down just as the opening riffs to Wish You Were Here came on, lending a romantic feel to the last couple of songs.

Day 3 – Headliner Practically Petty

While it was hot, and the two previous days of music at the Canadian War Museum grounds, had left us feeling a little dragged out, a number of bands on the final day of the festival had us hoping there’s one next year.

Exodus, kicked off the show with a really fun rendition of Reggae icon Bob Marley and the Wailers.

Lazarus J. Finn (Lazo) did a great job as Bob Marley, not surprising since he is Juno Award winner (best Reggae performer 2000).

The show was light and fun, though I would have traded off some of the songs for lighter ones, as much as I love “No Woman No Cry” and “Buffalo Soldier”.

The audience heard I shot the Sheriff twice from Lazo, who joined Slowhand, the stellar Eric Clapton tribute that played later in the night for a second performance after the Exodus set ended.

The only real disappointment of the day was Message in a Bottle, the Police cover band. They didn’t look the part – which in my opinion isn’t that important if you nail the vocals, but that didn’t happen either.

There was a couple of times the frontman Dave Lafame sounded like a young teen going through puberty when he tried to hit some of Stings higher notes.

The drummer for the show was a transplant from Lotus Land (Rush tribute) as the band’s original drummer had injured himself.

Lafame said during the show that if anyone can play the drums for a Rush tribute, the Police should be smooth sailing. It wasn’t.

On the other side of the coin probably the most fun and silly was Face 2 Face, a Billy Joel and Elton John tribute that is all about showmanship.

Les Smith, who hails from Stratford, Ont. really looked the part, complete with the signature round glasses and a red sequin jacket. But more than that, it was obvious Smith and Niagara Falls native Elton Lammie have fun together.

The show was a bit like a karaoke sing-a-long, with the crowd cheering and belting out tunes like Bennie and the Jets.

But Road Apples, the tribute band for possibly the most Canadian bands of all time, Tragically Hip, stole the show on that last night.

The performance could’ve gone either way, as the band’s iconic lead singer and songwriter Gord Downie recently passed away, but you could tell the crowd loved it.

The band has been playing together since the ‘90s, and it shows.

Neil “Bobby” Baker is the bands lead vocalist, may not have the signature wardrobe of Downie, but he sure had the vocal pipes.

When the band played “Ahead by A Century” the crowd sprang to life.

I’ve seen the Hip four times in my life. I’d see Road Apples again too.

Practically Petty was a good choice to close the festival.

The Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers tribute was solid and performed classics like “Into the Great Wide Open” and “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” well enough to get the crowd singing along.

The Canadian band formed in 2009 and even uses the same equipment as the original band to maintain authenticity.

All in all, there was some real talent over the three days. The crowd was solid throughout the weekend; organizers had a steady stable of volunteers keeping things runningly smoothly; and the price – $75 – for a three-day pass, can’t be beat.

Everyone we’ve talked to that joined us at the event had nothing but great things to say so let’s hope the festival isn’t a one-hit wonder.  Stay tuned as we’ll be following this festival over the coming months and will have all of the details the minute they are announced!  More information can also be found at www.nostalgiafestival.ca

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