Renaissance at Bluesfest, and Stuff
Another hot, extremely humid day in the Ottawa valley shaping up today.
I am very tired, very sleepy, and very grumpy today. The heat in the house and the humidity therein has me feeling soaked and sweaty all the time when I'm home, and the air conditioner definitely needs replacing.
Last night, I got in rather late from the Ottawa Bluesfest. I'm not going to talk about a lot of the stuff I saw, other than to say that the current line-up of Renaissance was in excellent form, despite the occasional shower that occurred. I got to hear them perform some of the classics, and also heard "The Mystic and the Muse" from the current EP, and had a decent time hearing them. With the crowds, the bands on other stages, the somewhat softer style of music that Renaissance plays, I was expecting to be unable to hear some of their stuff, but had no real problems with that for the most part.
I wish I had managed to catch The Moody Blues last night, but they started their set after Renaissance time-wise, and I had to make that choice. I did manage to catch some of the B-52s set, and have to say that I was...disappointed. While I think they managed to entertain the huge crowd that I could see, they waited until the end of the night to perform their greatest hits like "Love Shack" and "Planet Claire", but still, I had an entertaining night listening and watching the live music.
And that leads me to a statement or an observation, I'm not sure which. I am a long-time fan of blues music. The Ottawa Bluesfest has long stopped being a blues festival, as there are far more non-blues than blues acts at the shows each year. One of the things that I really wish the organisers of the Ottawa Bluesfest would do is to devote one stage completely to the blues. By doing so, people who attend to listen and watch performers doing the blues wouldn't have to hunt around for the blues performers buried among the rest of the acts that take the stages during the two weeks of Bluesfest. Just sayin' is all.
I am very tired, very sleepy, and very grumpy today. The heat in the house and the humidity therein has me feeling soaked and sweaty all the time when I'm home, and the air conditioner definitely needs replacing.
Last night, I got in rather late from the Ottawa Bluesfest. I'm not going to talk about a lot of the stuff I saw, other than to say that the current line-up of Renaissance was in excellent form, despite the occasional shower that occurred. I got to hear them perform some of the classics, and also heard "The Mystic and the Muse" from the current EP, and had a decent time hearing them. With the crowds, the bands on other stages, the somewhat softer style of music that Renaissance plays, I was expecting to be unable to hear some of their stuff, but had no real problems with that for the most part.
I wish I had managed to catch The Moody Blues last night, but they started their set after Renaissance time-wise, and I had to make that choice. I did manage to catch some of the B-52s set, and have to say that I was...disappointed. While I think they managed to entertain the huge crowd that I could see, they waited until the end of the night to perform their greatest hits like "Love Shack" and "Planet Claire", but still, I had an entertaining night listening and watching the live music.
And that leads me to a statement or an observation, I'm not sure which. I am a long-time fan of blues music. The Ottawa Bluesfest has long stopped being a blues festival, as there are far more non-blues than blues acts at the shows each year. One of the things that I really wish the organisers of the Ottawa Bluesfest would do is to devote one stage completely to the blues. By doing so, people who attend to listen and watch performers doing the blues wouldn't have to hunt around for the blues performers buried among the rest of the acts that take the stages during the two weeks of Bluesfest. Just sayin' is all.