A night of pop draws in 30,000
Buzzing festival-goers trickle into Lebreton Flats through orderly security lines beneath a dazzling evening sun. Water stations, beer stalls, first-aid tents, and long rows of portable toilets greet my cousin and me, reassuring us that the evening’s events have been thoughtfully anticipated. We amble down the concrete path, where the RBC main stage dominates a severely trampled stretch of what used to be a lawn.
At 6:00 p.m., Canadian multi-platinum-selling artist, music producer, and actor Tyler Shaw strides onstage, launching into his set with “Out of Sight”. Celestial instrumentals elevate his crystalline voice, and a light breeze sends his overshirt fluttering behind him as he whirls across the stage, twirling the microphone stand like a dance partner.
The tempo steadily crescendos with songs like “Wicked”, before melting into slower numbers, like “House of Cards”, where a surprising number of people sing along. Shaw draws a growing crowd in with his viral rendition of GAYLE’s No. 1 hit “abcdefu”, called “Love You Still” (abcdefu Romantic Version), which has to date over 5 billion views of videos using the song on TikTok. As he sings his closing number, he descends the stage and high-fives the front row of the audience.
Punctuated by messages of enjoying the present moment together, and catchy songs that clearly resonated with the crowd of all ages, I enjoyed Shaw’s performance more than I thought I would, having never heard his music before.
As the clock strikes 7:30 p.m., Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen flutters onto the stage. Honey-blonde tendrils caress her face as she opens with “Psychedelic Switch”, “Run Away with Me”, and “I Really Like You”. Towards the end, she indulges the audience with a rendition of her breakthrough hit single, “Call Me Maybe”, which was the biggest-selling song in the world in 2012 and the best-selling domestic Canadian single in history.
Her performance is complemented by live saxophone solos and spark machines onstage, and she engages with the crowd by inviting them to sing along and giving running high-fives.
As 9:30 p.m. looms closer, a crushing crowd — an estimated 30,000 people — is already gathered before the stage under a rapidly darkening sky in electrified anticipation for the headliner, Maroon 5. Right on time, the Grammy award-winning American pop rock band explodes on stage, jumping straight into “Animals”.
The screens around the podium project footage shot with a thermal camera, giving the impression of a predator stalking its prey thanks to its body heat, detected by primal instincts like in the song. The rich sound pouring from the speakers permeates my bones as it washes over the audience.
A wave of nostalgia whisks me back to morning car rides to school in the 2000s and 2010s as the band transitions seamlessly between songs like “One More Night”, “This Love”, “Stereo Hearts” (Gym Class Heroes cover), “Payphone”, “Maps”, and “Moves Like Jagger”, hardly taking a breath in between.
Hits after hits ensue, and it dawns on me just how many defining songs and memories this band has created that have resonated with the world. The band’s music has accumulated over 24 billion views on YouTube alone.
Audience members of all ages happily engage in lead singer Adam Levine’s “repeat after me” games. They sing along and cheer for his dizzying electric guitar solos at the top of their lungs. Levine jokingly remarks that some of the crowd hadn’t even been born when Maroon 5’s debut album came out in 2002. He expresses his gratitude for their continued support, without which “[Maroon 5] wouldn’t have a job”. A collective scream rises as Levine flings his sweat-soaked shirt off toward the end of the set.
Even as the stage darkens, the crowd lingers patiently for the encore: “She Will Be Loved”, “Girls Like You”, and “Sugar”. The band says their heartfelt goodbyes before the house lights flare over the crowd at 11:00pm.
A sea of bodies rolls toward the various exits, and I cling to my cousin’s hand as we make our way to Pimisi station, where uniformed OC Transpo employees facilitate a quick, secure departure. Transportation for people heading to and from Bluesfest was completely free.
Pleased by the thoughtful and effective logistics, touched by the music, and safely home within the hour, Bluesfest was a highlight of my summer I won’t forget anytime soon.
Bluesfest, Ottawa’s biggest summer music festival, celebrated its 30-year anniversary this year. It has shows running until July 14, featuring a wide range of genres and artists of varying celebrity. Feel free to book day passes starting at $75 for a memorable, sensory experience.
