Blue Rodeo, Serena Ryder, Odd Years - Riverfest (Aug 23)

Blue Rodeo

The epitome of Canadiana (alongside The Tragically Hip alone) and they are still wowing with their performances. Almost nonstop for well over an hour they mixed in all sorts of tunes, both beloved (5 Days in May) and new (New Morning Sun, Mattawa) - and even the new stuff sounds beyond good. Their lasting power definitely has to do with the shared songwriting, primarily provided by Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor, as each has written definitive classics and performs them magnificently. It was really stunning to watch up close, and they've surrounded themselves with the finest musicians on offer too - writing and selecting songs that showcase those talents by including pedal steel, drum, and piano solos (Disappear) galore. Jim performed his own mini piano solo, but Greg also got a few moments in the limelight (Diamond Mine, Rose-coloured Glasses). The crowd had it's chance to shine by singing along to Hasn't Hit Me Yet before the encore. Try had to be one of the standouts among great songs all night but as it should it all came down to Lost Together in the end. As previously they've allowed guests to share the stage and have a go at the vocals (Wayne Petti - Vancouver Olympics, Cuff the Duke - Amphitheatre) this time they invited Jadea Kelly and Dan Mangan himself (his bandmates could be seen grinning sidestage cheering him along too!). Jadea just harmonized but Dan went a step further and utilized his sandpaper voice for the second verse which was really neat to see. But it wasn't like the rest of us were left out, we all had the opportunity to sing it out together into the Elora night.

Odd Years
While sitting at the back just listening to Odd Years after the mind-stretching Dan Mangan set I didn't realize that there was a contemporary Guelph indie rock supergroup playing, but it did sound like it so I moved my lazy ass into the tent. Perhaps because of their combined experience the sonic territory they covered from song to song was incredible. At first I was going to peg them as a folk group, borrowing elements from this night's headliners, Blue Rodeo. Then on the very next song they would change it up with a bluesy number and then an indie rock tune (and even some Super Mario music from the keyboard.) Regardless of the genre they were consummate musicians and with a deeper Beatles cover they had people, both young and old, dancing in the tent. Only afterwards when I went to get their album, inspired as I was, did I realize that their ranks include members of Cuff the Duke, Minotaurs, and Lowlands.

Serena Ryder
Serena Ryder has never been anyone I've called myself a fan of but I don't mind her from what I've heard. That being said, I didn't feel the necessity to watch all 60 minutes of her but only felt the rumble in my belly. I suppose this isn't the place to complain about the "No Outside Food" policy with very limited (and then sold out) vegan options but as you can imagine I was a little perturbed when I returned for the end of the set. Rather than fight the crowd we hung out partway back which showed just how into her the patrons were. Even in the limited five songs she showed off her vocals, sultry at times, and guitar work, as well as the solid work of her multicultural band with their big drums. The Sharon, Lois and Bram-esque actions to the one song were rather obnoxious but it proved how she had the crowd eating out of her hand even before Stompa and that bank commercial song (What I Wouldn't Do).

Dan Mangan, Elliott Brood - Riverfest (Sat Aug 23)

Jadea Kelly had very nice vocals for laying in the grass near the tent.

Elliott Brood
As the black-clad Young Galaxy had joked earlier they had lost the coin toss with Elliott Brood to see who got to wear white so the trifecta came onstage (early due to a botched intro by the awful MC) blanc top to bottom. Rather than get right into it they opened slower but next got into the favourites with Oh, Alberta (but no If I Get Old). As this was a folk fest you think people would be getting down but perhaps put off by the couple new tracks from the forthcoming record it wasn't all-encompassing buy-in, though the folks from Windsor seemed to enjoy it, earning a special shout-out ironically before Northern Air. When they decided to The Valley Town the folks were coming around and reinstating the old tradition of passing out pans and wooden spoons the lucky bunch got to bang along to the set-ender Write It All Down for You.

Dan Mangan
Always a pleasure to see you Dan but this time around there was a sense of anticipation - I know you're done the album so give us a listen already! Blacksmith, the newly christened five-piece backing band including violin and horn, did their part as Dan sang into each of his two mics opening with Oh Fortune and 'classic' Road Regrets. Then we had it, a first glimpse of the much-anticipated new record via a song entitled Mouthpiece. Whereas after the last record came out things like "departure" and "giant leap forward" were batted around this song seems like a fitting follow-up to the grand sound of Oh, Fortune as it was musically thick, featuring a healthy dollop of violin, and self-proclaimed "the wordiest song yet." Later in the set was another new song that sang something like 'forget real life and dwell' and was less Postwar Blues and more Leaves, Trees, Forest (both of which were played this show.) On Blues the instrumental lead-in, despite a couple technical difficulties, built and built until it was a recognizable swell the song tore up although not quite to the degree that it has before in its unbridled live incarnation. Following this onslaught Blacksmith temporarily excused themselves so Dan could win over any remaining crowd talkers with beautiful Basket. Upon their return they played Starts with Them.. before the second new track and Leaves along with its extended outro. This outro carried on and on until you could make out Robots which was the natural singalong that it is. I suspected this would be the finale, as has been the case so many times before, but an emboldened Dan blew through the 2 minute warning and began Rows of Houses. Who was going to stop him? It was another impressive song and something that would have been lacking had they cut it. Nobody on stage seemed too concerned about running over as Dan left Blacksmith behind to take their time and finish the song properly. Totally worth a hand slap.

Young Galaxy (Final set with bassist) - Riverfest Elora (Sat Aug 23)

Young Galaxy
This was the set that I have been waiting for from Young Galaxy. Since I've known them they have made beautiful synthy records and then cranked their live shows to drum-blowing 11's and attempted to overpower with noise. What gives? Well this Saturday afternoon, as the weather attempted a turn to the sun, I finally got what I was after. And it was just in time too, as they would reveal, but not until prior to the last song, that this would be their parting show with their bassist, Stephen Kemp, after some eight years of faithful allegiance. If I hadn't seen this I would have thought he was the one to pin the loudness on!

Beginning with Peripheral Visionaries their visibly pregnant front lady, Catharine McCandless, sang it out with her emotive posturing and alongside her lead male counterpart, Stephen Ramsay, they carried into other favourites Cover Your Tracks and Pretty Boy. Without knowing what was on the go I noticed that Kemp was rather charismatic and flashing smiles with bandmates. Exchanging broad grins with their female drummer, Andrea Silver, he also had a bit of a showdown with Ramsay and was flashing smiles all around. Not only did they all seem to be playing for the moment but the setlist was also great such as In Fire, New Summer and a certain set highlight, the clapalong on Fall for You. When they did make the announcement the emotions got the best of a few of them as a couple of tears were shed, extending the intro until Catharine could compose herself to sing the lyrics. During the appropriately-titled closer We Have Everything Stephen and Stephen got together again and in the process displaced the guitarist's sunglasses which he promptly tossed to the stage. That was nothing though, as visibly overwhelmed while the last note hung in the amp he lightly tossed his guitar and turned to exit the stage before crashed. The feedback hung, as did the instant nostalgia, in this expectation-defying lovely summer set and fitting goodbye.

Arkells, Bahamas, Strumbellas, Kim Churchill, Charles Bradley - Riverfest Friday - (Aug 22/14)

Strumbellas

Running up to the stage, for lineups had delayed our entrance since the strum of the first notes, we managed to dance and hoedown for the final four songs or so. With the heat it was shocking that all members were still wearing shirts, including Dave's emblazoned with his face reading 'Straight outta Toronto!' The aforementioned heat from the sun blazing down on the band didn't keep them from leading a fun show including a Sailing singalong led by Simon and Dave pitting the audience against one another. Would have been nice to dance and not just listen to the whole set but with the likes of Sheriff and Home Sweet Home it was a great start to the weekend fest.

Bahamas

Afie seems to feed off the adoration which is great when he gets it, but without it he can come across as downright sour. Being a late addition to a lawnchair festival doesn't assure you of a loving crowd and the reality was that many people were chatty even while standing near the main stage. With his fellow guitarist and just one female backing vocalist this time, plus his drummer - all of whom outwardly appeared nearly as miserable as Afie himself - their hushed music wasn't meant to and did not overpower the inattentiveness. It's almost understandable that the band playing an album called Bahamas is Afie would be a little perturbed and they did play a number of cuts from the very recently released disc mid set, so even fans wouldn't be overly familiar with the new material yet. The music is well-written and played well live, special recognition to the lovely lady's vocals, but even the more well-known older tunes played off the top and in finale hardly enraptured the crowd who seemed more focused on smoking cigarettes than appreciating fine guitar work.


Kim Churchill
A beloved Hillside name, having drawn a massive crowd on this year's main stage, he has built his reputation on being a one-man band. Yet not a gimmicky busker with cymbals between his knees but a multi-talented musician performing full and dynamic sets all by himself. With that said it was slightly disappointing when he admitted he'd left his gear behind and chose to perform what he termed a "busking set" playing just the acoustic guitar, plugged harmonica and a borrowed kick drum. Even with this minimalist set he was able to win over the moderately sized tent stage crowd by focusing on his songwriting. He played a song he also broke out at Hillside which deals with his grandfather's funeral - a song that was meant to be a celebration in opposition to the morose affair he was subjected to as a lad. This young man has true talent and it was appreciated throughout.


Arkells
Although there was some excitement for night-closer Charles Bradley there seemed to be at least a few others who joined me in thinking that the Arkells were Friday's true headliner. With the greatness of the recently released High Noon I was excited to hear the new material live from a band who obviously have a lot of energy at the moment. They didn't make me wait any longer as the set opened as the album does with Fake Money followed by Come To Light, the latter being one of a large handful of new standouts. These Hamilton boys are crowd-pleasers though and quickly gave some former singles to keep everyone happy - Boss is Coming and Kiss Cam, among others. Despite having just flown home from London and their European tour the night before they were far from phoning it in as they included the late-night Hillside backstory of Never Thought This Would Happen, introduced a keyboard solo against their keyboardist's wishes and even completed an ALS ice bucket challenge by dumping onto their drummer who stood on the ground in front of the stage. Cynical Bastards went over well, especially with the local area referencing lyrics, and Leather Jacket was another that I wished to see live and it came true, with the biggest bummer being that they couldn't fit in 11:11. As a finale they went with Whistleblower so we could all pump along to the chorus. Impressive enough that I just may try and catch them again when they headline their hometown Supercrawl this fall.

Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires

They truly are extraordinary and I was really digging their groovy instrumental work until the band's namesake came and ruined it all. In a bright red, bejeweled jumpsuit he came out and crooned and although his vocals were respectable the rest of it was laughable. With the whoops and shouts, the twirls and moves it seemed like a shoddy James Brown impersonation that I could hardly take serious. He touched on his rags to riches, homeless to headliner story which I suspect is one of the biggest reasons for his popularity. When he went offstage after a few tunes the band kept going and again it was the best of times but sure enough Mr.Bradley had to ruin that by returning from his costume change - all black, still sequined - and that was around the time that I called it a night. His booming voice echoed down the gorge all the way back to the campsite for some time to come but I regretted nothing.