Ottawa Bluesfest 2006 : Full Throttle

well family, i have to say this is was your birthday present to me. i spent half a weeks wages on a weekend pass to the ottawa bluesfest and i wouldnt have been able to do that with out everybody's gifts of money!

it was friday night, i had just finished work and my boss told me i should go and see if i can hear any of the blues fest (without buying a ticket). i called up les and janks, but janaki was still working and lesley couldnt be bothered. so i was making my way to the parliament pube, when i ran into josie on her way to the bluesfest to meet joey. i wandered down with her and said i would come and see how much the tickets were. it was $30 for the night, $70 for the weekend and $110 for the whole 10 days (yes, 10 days). i checked out the line-up for the weekend, and i was sold. saturday had keb' mo' and bonnie raitt head-lining, and then on sunday ani difranco and michael franti + spearhead.

that night, joey wanted to see broken social scene, who i could probably get into but a bit difficult when your first exposure is a live gig -know what i mean? acquired taste. so josie and i ditched it and went to hang out at the cuban dance party. fun.

saturday i checked out the line up and headed down in the afternoon to catch the brazillian girls and matt costa. then keb' mo', bonnie raitt and the end of the bell ochestre (think dirty three with french horns and other bits and pieces as well as strings).

yesterday i got down there pretty early for meredith luce. and im so glad i did. unfortunately i missed half her set, but she was great. only 17, just her and her guitar (or mandolin as the case may be). she is a bit like missy higgins, and really sweet. she was so happy to be playing the bluesfest -her biggest stage yet.

after meredith, i discovered the detroit women. WOW. what an absolute powerhouse. 7 women, each one with the most amazing set of lungs. seriously, they belted like nothing i have ever heard. not to mention their band, motor city, with a SHIT HOT guitarist. it was so much fun. every woman had a go at being up front, and as it says in their bio -no competition at all, they were in perfect collaboration with each other. just amazing. and such an entertaining show too. they were so colorful and fun.

after that i caught the tail end of the electric ukelele playing jake shimabukuro, not as exciting as i had hoped. at around 5.30 i met up with josie and joey and laura and a little bit of quarter life. then over to the main stage for ani and michael.

michael was of course fantastic. joey and i went down the front for a bit, we broke the rules by standing in the 'lawn chair area'. (see pic: left standing, right lawn chairs)

ok, this is a phenomenon i have never seen before, i hope it never hits australia. people and their lawn chairs. (camping chairs). especially for keb mo and bonnie raitt as the audience was generally a decade older, there was a sea of chairs. i cannot fathom the mentality of this. it is an OUTDOOR concert, bring a blanket or stand up. so, this year at the bluesfest they have a special lawn chair section, however, that doesnt stop the lawn chairs from being everywhere else as well. joey and i tried to make a stand (literally, ha ha), and met a pretty cool security dude, who agreed with us that it was fairly ridculous, and that the stupid woman complaining about us standing in the lawn chair area should get a life, but we still had to go. grrrrr.

anyhoo, we were down there for a good 20 minutes, then back to the lawn, where i had a good boogie with a 3 year old boy (so cute), to 'all the freaky people'. basically i danced my tush off, and had a great time. go michael.

today i am working a shadow shift for a marketing company. tomorrow i am working a shift at a retaurant. i want to work the restaurant and my current job, but i will probably still be getting pitiful money, but we shall see. but then the marketing job is not guaranteed steady income either, and its 10 hours a day 5 days a week. urgh -not exactly a working holiday job....

>>>i just returned from the marketing job, i didnt go shadowing. it was door to door. and comission only.