Two weekends of great music came to a close on Saturday, Sept. 17
CityFolk seems to have a thing for married duos with solo careers who come together to perform as a band (see our coverage from Friday, Sept. 16.)
On Saturday, Shovels & Rope, a duo composed of married couple Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst, was the first act of the night.
Their music is a combination of folk, country, and rock and roll — which I’d say is a pretty good summary of all of the performers at CityFolk this year.
The next act, Sarah Harmer, was well-loved by the Ottawa crowd. She’s a Canadian singer-songwriter and activist. Harmer specifically talked about environmental activism throughout her set, reminding everyone of an upcoming climate strike, and later performing a song about cowbird migration.
When I told my parents about the last act, they called it “old man rock and roll.”
They aren’t wrong. At 77, John Fogerty is still putting on a great show after over 50 years in the music scene, complete with him jumping around on stage in a quintessentially rock-and-roll way.
Fogerty said in 1968, his band, Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) was “a one-hit wonder.” In the years that followed, the band had huge success. When they split up, Fogerty continued on to have a successful solo career.
Fogerty performed hits both from his time with CCR and as a solo act. The setlist included “Have You Ever Seen The Rain,” “Fortunate Son,” and “Centrefield.”
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer also recognizes the importance of the band behind him. Each musician on stage had a chance to solo on their instrument, much to the delight of the crowd.
He filled the space between songs with family anecdotes about his wife and kids, showing that there’s so much more to his life than just music and touring.
And with that, CityFolk 2022 is over, taking festival season with it. While I’m sure some people would be happy to don their coats, toques, and mitts to keep seeing live music outdoors, we’ll have to wait until next year to see which acts get on stage at Lansdowne Park.
