Record crowds descend on RBC Bluesfest for Greta Van Fleet and Foo Fighters

Anyone who still says Ottawa is the city that fun forgot needed to be in attendance at RBC Bluesfest last night, or really any night so far this summer. Last night, in particular, record crowds turned out early for prime viewing positions for one of the most requested acts in recent years, the Foo Fighters and newcomers Greta Van Fleet.

I kicked off the night with a visit to the new Claridge Homes Stage for Catriona Sturton’s performance. We last caught up with Sturton during JUNOfest in Ottawa few years ago and ever since I’ve had her on my list to see again ever since. There’s just something about her performance that draws you in. Anyone that says there’s no blues at Bluesfest needs to take a listen to Sturton, her skills on the harmonica and her bluesy guitar make you want to sit and listen for hours. Definitely looking forward to catching her again soon.

As much as I could’ve stayed in the tent and listened to Sturton’s full performance I had to make my way to the City Stage to catch Greta Van Fleet. I don’t recall a time when a band has performed in Ottawa that has the level of hype surrounding them as Greta Van Fleet does right now. Having listened to their EP, From The Fires, to say I was intrigued was an understatement.

As is often the case when a band has a lot of hype surrounding them it has an equal amount of critics. Many are saying that the band sounds too much like one of their influences, Led Zeppelin, and there are definitely noticeable similarities both in their music and in their performance. However here’s some food for thought…I was never a huge Led Zeppelin fan but something really drew me in to Greta Van Fleet, even before they took to the stage.

Once on stage all their influences really shone through, from Josh’s definite Zeppelin influences to Jake’s guitar influencers, such as Pete Townshend. It all combined for an incredible show that leads me to predict that if these boys can keep their focus and keep up appearances they could very well be creating a sound that will become immortal much like past masters of rock Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones and The Who; to name just a few. Watching this band perform this early in their career was something special, something tells me we’ll be talking about their first visit to Ottawa for some time to come.

By 7:30 when Greta Van Fleet wrapped up their set it had already been announced that, for only the third time in history, RBC Bluesfest had sold out for the night. Although I don’t have official numbers it’s widely estimated that between 38 and 40,000 people took to Lebreton Flats on Tuesday evening. I took to the other areas of the park to see what happens when that many people cram into a small area. What I found were 60 minute wait times for beer, surprisingly little to no wait for non-alcoholic beverages, and upwards of 30 minute waits for food and that was outside of the main bowl when the masses had gathered for the Foo Fighters.

If you follow me personally on social media you’d know, by now, that I’m not the world’s biggest Foo Fighters fan. Having been a big fan of Grohl’s previous band, Nirvana, I just find that the Foo Fighters were a bit of a sell out compared to how revolutionary Nirvana was when they broke out in the early 80s. Having never seen the Foo Fighters perform live I had high hopes that they would redeem themselves on stage, it was, afterall, the most anticipated musical event to hit RBC Bluesfest in years.

Once the show opened with Grohl screaming the lyrics to “All My Life” my hopes were dashed. Perhaps it’s just a case of Grohl’s voice been burnt out from too many back to back shows (4 shows with only 1 night off in between), no doubt the recent heat wave can’t be easy on performers either. I stuck around long enough to get through “Learn To Fly” before making my way to other areas of the venue to see what else was going on elsewhere at the festival.

RBC Bluesfest has become much more than a simple music festival with the addition of a ferris wheel and carnival games in Bluesville and a The Big Chill which includes a live DJ, refreshment areas and even a spa like area where you can get a foot massage and even a haircut. I highly recommend trying your hand at adult sized Jenga but beware of the tower when it falls, these aren’t the little blocks you’re used to when you were a kid and they tend to hurt the toes when they fall. There’s also several areas around the venue offering free WiFi and charge stations with adapters for most popular devices to keep your phones and accessories running all night long.

Around 9pm there was a shift as masses of young people converged on the Blacksheep Stage for popular rapper, Machine Gun Kelly. I too made my way to the Blacksheep stage and was pleasantly surprised by the variety of ages in the crowd. My first impression was that it was probably parents accompanying their children to get a feel for the music they’re listening to but as the show went on I started to wonder that too as many of the adults were equally engaged with MGK as the younger crowd. I took this opportunity to stand in line for a beer as well and was pleasantly surprised at how polite the youth in line were. Everyone was having fun and enjoying the show, it was a far cry from previous hip hop nights at RBC Bluesfest where security issues became paramount. To me it was perfect evidence to silence those who say that hip-hop doesn’t have a place at Bluesfest. MGK drew a large crowd and there were no major issues, each artist has a different type of following but to me banning hip-hop outright is not the way to go. There is definitely a demand for it so I say bring it on.

What I really enjoyed about MGK’s set was that he’s so much more than a rapper, he reminds me a lot of Kid Rock minus the country influences. He raps, plays guitar and sings and knows how to engage a crowd…what more do you want from a hip-hop show?

As MGK wrapped up his set I returned to the City Stage for the final few songs in the Foo Fighters set and the encore. The main show wrapped up with “Best of You” after which the band left the stage for a few minutes and returned with “Big Me”, “Times Like These” and “Everlong”. Dave told the crowd, before launching into “Everlong”,  “I know it’s been 10 years since we played your city but you know we always come back. If I come back will you come back? If you come back I’ll come back” the roar that followed was certainly heard in Barrhaven and Kanata and likely registered on the richter scale.

Overall Tuesday night was a massive success for RBC Bluesfest, fears of long delays getting into the venue, due to new security measures, were mostly avoided and at last check there were no major issues with the crowds either. Sounds to me like organizers have been listening and making necessary adjustments to ensure everything runs smoothly. As for the music I may not be the biggest Foo Fighters fan but it was unquestionably clear to me and everyone else at Bluesfest last night that the crowd response to their show was very positive and that’s not a bad thing either.

Coming up tonight at RBC Bluesfest, Ottawa’s own Andrew Waines kicks things off at 6pm on the Claridge Homes Stage with the Lucas Haneman Express taking to the City Stage at the same time. Other must see acts for tonight include The Suitcase Junket, Hat Fitz & Cara and, of course, the long anticipated performance by Dave Matthews Band. For tickets and set times visit www.ottawabluesfest.ca

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