Dallas Green performs on the Main Stage as City and Colour.
It was less neon and more lawn chairs as the vibe at Bluesfest simmered down from Thursday’s party atmosphere. It was a reasonable change as the folky City and Colour were set to perform on the main stage later that night.
The first on my list of people to see and hear was Ottawa’s Kalle Mattson on the River Stage. Kalle Mattson played a lively folk-rock set to a small but growing crowd. At one point, Kalle Wainio even got them to clap along during a new song. They were a perfect compliment to the Arkells, who performed afterwards.
The Arkells received excited cheers from the young crowd as they stepped on stage. There was one young dedicated fan who made his mom wait with him an hour and a half before they were set to perform. They gave a solid performance which included the popular, “The Ballad of Hugo Chavez.” As I was making my way to catch more music on other stages, I could hear them work the Black Keys’ “Lonely Boy” into one of their songs.
Between Kalle Mattson and the Arkells, I managed to catch the end of Freelance Whales performing at the Claridge Homes stage. The quirky indie band from New York had the largest crowd during the early evening slot. They received a few rousing cheers as they announced they were going to play, what I assumed, was one of their most notable songs. Freelance Whales entertained the crowd with their upbeat, catchy, and almost Vampire Weekend-like music.
The vibe around the main area dropped as City and Colour took to the stage. Dallas Green of City and Colour was greeted by a large crowd in their late teens and twenties. The music was slower and quieter, characteristics that were enhanced by the sound bleeding over from the loud dance-punk music of Sleigh Bells on the other stage. It also highlighted the fact that Green’s melodic and folky tunes seemed more appropriate in a smaller, more intimate venue, not a large stage in an open field. In the time I watched him, Green barely moved away from his mic stand. At one point of his performance, he asked the audience to turn off their cellphones, a request I doubt anyone heeded. I overhead an older gentleman saying Green was “the poor man’s Dylan.”
While Green sang his songs just fine, Charles Bradley and the Extraordinares grabbed my attention and pulled me away to the Blacksheep stage. The soul singer had the hands-down best stage presence of that night. He moved across the stage like a man younger than his 64 years, commandeering the attention of both the young and old. He would dance here with moves that only he could ever pull off. Among his repertoire of dance moves were what I like to call “the eagle” (flapping his arms up and down), and throwing his mic too quickly to catch it again after pulling on the cord. His energy was just as infectious as watching James Brown perform. At the end of the night, Bradley jumped off stage and hugged everyone at the front of the crowd, thanking them for coming out. To see someone with that much energy and enthusiasm even after performing on the main stage the night before was a pleasure.
To see more photos from Bluesfest, check out the gallery HERE .