Opening day for Bluesfest 2019 and we are excited. It’s always nice to start off with a fairly light day to get yourself ready for the busy week to come.
Once we hit Lebreton Flats we got right to work scouting out our locations and getting right to shooting.
It was insanely hot all day long but we expected nothing less and made due with what we had.
NAO
We started out the day with the lovely NAO at the big City stage. Her band was all dressed in white with a simple stage kit.
NAO came out in a bright orange outfit making sure to bring the vibrant color and energy to the opening crowd and she did just that getting everyone dancing along with her.
She brings a pleasant energy and smooth yet dynamic sound to her stage and captivates the audience right away. She even had balloons passed out to people which was fun.
Zaki Ibrahim
Up next is Zaki Ibrahim. She stationed at the new VideoTron stage (Formerly Black Sheep stage from last year).
Her set is a more intimate moment where she can bring her soulfulness right to her fans.
Along side her keyboard player they made sure to give the people a nice smooth melodic performance.
Eagle River Singers
Up next was the Eagle River Singers.
A very special moment for myself with this one as I am Indigenous myself so it’s nice to see more representation.
The Executive Director of Bluesfest Mark Monahan came out to introduce an elder from Kitigan zibi to the crowd to perform a traditional greeting before the Eagle River Singers performed their song.
Touching moment for sure.
Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar
The team has split up at this point so we could make sure to cover as much as we could.
Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar was the next target on the list. Our very own Morgan was there to catch them in action.
They brought a great dynamic energy to the crowd with their 11-piece band which included a pretty awesome brass section.
It’s always fun to watch a full band in action.
CHVRCHES
One of the big acts of the day was next in line. CHVRCHES took the stage with a simple stage kit but that just made it easier to flow around the stage.
Lauren Mayberry looked like she was having so much fun on stage and the crowd was eating it up.
The sun was starting to go down which made the performance a little more intimate and enjoyable (especially with less heat).
There was smoke and dancing and overall just a fun show to check out.
U.S. Girls
Morgan quickly made it over to the stage with the U.S. Girls.
They had the whole band in full swing when we got there and were having a great time on stage with the crowd dancing along with them.
Their sound is unique in the fact that it’s both familiar and different all at the same time.
You could tell just how connected their fans are to them with the turn out and the people just loving every minute of it.
Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul
Morgan was on fire tonight as she got to check out Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul next.
Steven Van Zandt is well known for so many things it would be a while listing them all here.
Most notably to some will be his time playing with Bruce Springsteen and helping create the Jersey Shore sound.
The performance was full of energy and Steven brought that funky rock and roll right to the fans. Vibrant and colourful this was certainly one not to miss.
Alt J
The night finished off with the Indie rock band from England Alt J.
These guys had one of the most dynamic stage kits we will probably see for the whole festival. LED light bars filled the stage from top to bottom, front to back and made for one hell of a light show.
They started playing and fans erupted. The lights were fantastic and made the overall experience very memorable and a good way to close out the night.
There were so many other acts and we would like to cover them all, but you can only divide yourself in so many ways. We would love to hear what your favourite parts of the opening day of Bluesfest 2019 was in the comments below.
Visit the Bluesfest site here – www.ottawabluesfest.ca
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epic!!!!
Loving the photos. Impressive!
Thanks for the love…keep and eye out for more!
The pictures are bomb! Loved the writing as well. Made me feel like I was there.
Thanks a lot…you are the best!