Hugh Dillon shouts “You’ve got great taste in Rock n’ Roll Ottawa, some things never change!”
The festivities for CityFolk kick off long before I touch the TD Lawn, the bus ride there is littered with volunteers dawned in purple event shirts.
Soundcheck emanates across the field. A historical routine poutine review is in order and, unfortunately, it was not the eight fleur-de-lis of bygone days.
I digress. After interviewing some attendees, the consensus seems to be “see all the acts” or a strong “I’m here for Headstones and Bush!” Fair!
Making my way to the second stage – a small and intimate venue – I’m greeted by the first act of tonight.
Folk-pop star Geneviève Racette welcomes Ottawa and begins pouring her heart out on stage with a deeply personal setlist of songs like “Maybe,” “Les lignes de ma main,” and yet-to-be-released “Same Old Me”. Between songs, Racette tells stories. After her performance, I snag a signature! Score!
Making my way to the main stage, Sven Gali’s drummer, Dan Fila, sits on his throne on stage. Their vocalist, Dave Wanless, bewitches the crowd. Numbers double in response to the siren song of a gorgeous guitar solo. This is the hard rock and thumping bass performance. Ripping through their set, they land on “One Gun”, knocking it out of the park and me to the next act.
Villages is big and bombastic, serenely quiet then triumphantly full in a sound that eclipses the room. Between dedications to their hometown of Cape Breton and delightfully frightful ghost stories, it’s no wonder the crowd was clapping along by the end of the set.
The main stage calls me forth, Headstones Hugh Dillon screams out, “Let’s get this show on the road!” Booming onto the stage, Dillon jumps down to the crowd, singing directly to them. The scene is almost biblical as the crowd reaches out. Flashing lights decorate a set full of hits like “Tweeter and the Monkey Man” and “Everything or Nothing at All.” The guitarist, Trent Carr, strangles his guitar in a hauntingly memorable solo.
Dashing over to Fortunate Ones, the venue has transformed itself into a get-together. Singers Andrew James O’Brien and Catherine Allan joke with the crowd between performances of “A Thousand Tiny Ways” and wedding dance icon “Before You.” Closing out their set, we’re invited to sing along to “Lay Me Down”, a moment of community blankets the crowd. After their show, I snag their signatures. Double score!
Capping the night off with headliner Bush, the crowd has swelled to incredible numbers. The beat of rapturous drums harkens one last hurrah into the cold fall evening.
Lead singer Gavin Rossdale dances across the stage bathed in red light. The excitement is ineffable, projections of John Wick play as they play “Bullet Holes”, featured in the film. The set moves forward, with “Heavy is the Ocean” enchanting all and then – it all stops. Rossdale invites the stage crew out to be thanked and then begins a solo version of “1000 Years,” out of the darkness, the rest of the band kicks in. Exploding across the field, Bush tricks the festival into thinking time has stopped for a moment. Lasting forever and a moment, it comes to an end. Rossdale yells out,
“This has been an endless summer for us, and this is just the way to end it – thank you Ottawa.”
Thank you, Bush, and thank you to Geneviève Racette, Sven Gali, Villages, Headstones, and Fortunate Ones. Be sure to catch the remaining nights, this is not something to miss!
