Bluesfest: Days Nine and Ten

Friday night I headed to the Flats straight after work to kick off the second weekend of Bluesfest. And right at 6pm, we were sonically kicked in the head by Gogol Bordello, a gypsy punk band from New York. These guys have a completely out-there live show, which was awesome to watch, but I think the busiest guy in that band was their stage manager, who you can see poking his head out from behind the speakers in the above photo. He was essentially running around straightening up equipment that the band was throwing around, dropping, and kicking over. Anyway, it definitely woke me up after showing up a little groggy. I also credit them with the best show-closing line so far: "We'll be back soon. Keep in touch! Join our band!" Very cool show.


Next up, I caught a bit of Cat Empire on the main stage, after opting not to join the crowds for Tokyo Police Club (who I saw at Osheaga last year & wasn't too impressed with). These guys kind of drew me in with some really funky Rhodes keyboard leads. Seriously though, I'd probably pay attention to any band with a heavy Rhodes presence. Anyway, they were definitely the surprise act of the night for me.

Next up, it was over to the River stage for Built to Spill. I don't know what was up with the River stage schedule that night, since I got there 15 minutes before they were supposed to start, and they were already playing. But anyway, they're not one of those bands I'm particularily familiar with; I have a couple of their albums which I enjoy quite a bit, but they have so much material to draw from, and I didn't recognize anything they played. Still, I'm glad I got to check them out. After venturing over to the Black Sheep stage afterwards, I started getting a little tired (for a variety of reasons) so I caught a few songs from Ten Years After, a couple of songs from INXS and then I headed home early.

Up until Saturday, we Bluesfest patrons had been extremely lucky, weather-wise. While it was a little chilly at times, I don't think it actually rained at all... until Saturday. I was going to head over mid-afternoon to watch the Empiricals, but there wasn't anything I really wanted to see until later that evening, and it was raining off and on all day, so I opted to give the afternoon a miss and head over in the evening. I got there around 6:30, in time to catch the end of Patrick Watson, and then I headed over to the River stage for Jim Bryson's show.


Jim Bryson is one of those guys that just never does a bad show. The music is really good, and he always just seems so comfortable on stage. We didn't have a really great view, due to excessive lawn-chairing in the front, but it was still really fun to watch. We caught some of Blackie & The Rodeo Kings who played after him, but the excessive bass coming from Kanye West at the main stage made it a little hard to hear anything, and it was still pretty rainy, so I headed home after they were finished, to gear up for the final day of the festival.

Next up: The last day, and a general festival wrap-up.