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Writing these things sometimes puts my brain into strange places. Sometimes I struggle with a fact or a memory and I poke around looking for some sort of confirmation or reminder either by consulting old programs and schedules, inquiring with friends, or looking up old posts on the internet. And this is when I generally get into trouble.
Take today’s story for example, which should be centring around my first night of the 2011 Ottawa Bluesfest, July 6th. I figured this one would be a slam dunk because I still have my old reviews from that year, the ones I wrote for the festival itself in exchange for a free festival pass. But when I glanced at the schedule I noticed that I had somehow skipped the actual first day of Bluesfest which featured Bootsy Collins and The Flaming Lips, two acts I would have been sure to see. I dug out my concert book and checked to see if I might have been out of town for a different concert but no, by then I would have been back from a Phish weekend at Watkins Glen for a couple of days already. Maybe I missed it because of work? Not likely…the latest I ever worked was 9:30pm so worst case scenario I could’ve raced down to LeBreton Flats on my bike and still caught the last hour of the headliner.
Then I found a post I had made on my preferred message board back then which read, “I worked until 7:30 last night then raced to the site on two wheels. I arrived at 8pm bang-on sweating bullets and the Lips were just hitting the stage. I went to the ticket buying area and noticed they had seven of fifteen wickets open for buying tickets. Then I noticed one of the longest lines I’ve ever seen. I did some asking around and discovered that I was looking at about a 2.5 hour wait to buy a ticket, which would’ve put me inside at around 10:30pm. Scalpers were looking for $120 a ticket for the night. My intention was to buy a pass, but I ended up going home last night and I will buy people’s extras for a handful of nights this year instead…”
When I read this my entire insides did a double-take. I went to my lanyard collection and yes, I still have my 2011 Bluesfest-issued media pass, which was my compensation for writing daily reviews. So the question is not only “why would I be trying to buy a pass on the first night,” but also “why didn’t the Bluesfest insist that I review the first night?” My mind reels.
The only possible explanation is that the Bluesfest had been dragging their heels on asking me to write reviews for them that year and the call had come late. I’m actually rather miffed that I don’t remember one way or the other.
But getting to July 6th it seems that The Roots were as funky as ever, their Jimmy Fallon fame granting them a significantly bigger audience than the last time I saw them play the same field at an amateur-ish festival start-up called Fresh Fest back in the 1940’s or so. According to my review the group attempted to “…resurrect the spirit of Cyrus from the classic cult-film The Warriors, chanting “Can you dig it!” over a thumping funk infused hip-hop beat before a jumping crowd…”
Thank ye gawds they weren’t actually paying me to write those reviews. I don’t think I’d be able to sleep at night. But wait, it gets better (worse):
Clad in denim from head to toe Ben Harper ambled onto the stage to thunderous applause, his arm raised in appreciation. Sitting himself on a chair in the middle of the stage, he warmed up with a few notes on his electric Weissenborn-style guitar, already sounding like he was channeling Jimi Hendrix.
When his five-piece band kicked in and joined him opening the set with Faded from Harper’s 1997 album Will To Live, it was clear the show was going to be a crowdpleaser.
It was certainly a great place to be for guitar aficionados. When Ben Harper wasn’t pulling searing double-stops from his slide guitar he was handing off solos to one of a pair of guitarists to his side that had no trouble holding their own. Never shy to share the spotlight with his bandmates, he even slotted in a drum solo as early as the fourth song.
A true innovator of lap-style guitar, Harper plays with a touch that ranges from delicate to ferocious. He can be positively eloquent one moment and mind-numbing the next. It’s rare to see a man break a guitar string using a slide, but Harper did just that mid-show, he was rocking that hard. Always the consummate professional he missed not a beat, finishing the song with most of the crowd oblivious to his technical difficulty.
A few songs into the set Harper began alternating between a Les Paul Jr. and a Telecaster and proved he’s no slouch on standard electric guitars either.
Addressing the audience early in the show Harper said what we were all feeling, that there was not a nicer night for an outdoor concert, with a placid half moon hung over LeBreton Flats and a slight breeze blowing off the river to keep the evening at a perfect temperature.
Harper picked up his acoustic guitar for the first time of the evening for a beautiful rendition of one of his more poignant numbers, Diamonds On The Inside. Weaved into an anthem that dropped from full instrumentation to plaintive solo guitar before returning again to a full-on driving rock number, Diamonds On The Inside was a clear early favourite with the approximately 15,000 in attendance.
Harper kept the acoustic on hand for a solo rendition of Burn One Down, his not-so-subtle nod to both Bob Marley’s Redemption Song and marijuana legalization, a moment that was met with howls of delight and a distinct smell of sage in the air. Though he has been performing the song for nearly two decades he still sings it with obvious conviction. So simple and obvious, Burn One Down would be in danger of coming off as cheesy in the hands of someone unable to deliver it with the compassion and honesty that Ben Harper put behind it last night.
It’s quite possible he burst a few hippie bubbles after the number, explaining that the song isn’t about “weed”, but rather, freedom. “Free freedom,” he repeated in a voice that made you believe. “Free freedom.”
That he invariably comes off as honest, humble, and respectful is clear to any astute observer, and those traits add a serious dose of integrity to Ben Harper’s already above-par music. It’s an integrity that has drawn in a dedicated following and after last night it’s clear he will continue to do so.
After being rejoined by his band for one driving amplified mantra after another, Harper stripped the sound down to a power trio of himself, bass and drums for Ground on Down, from his 1995 recording Fight For Your Mind. It was one of the most blatant rock and roll moments of the concert, a jammer that harkened back to the era of Cream and The Doors.
Harper closed the night off with a pair of cover songs that may have been the highlight of an already remarkable concert. He and his band started with a solid retelling of Led Zeppelin’s oozing and rollicking journey No Quarter, replete with soaring extended guitar solos and vocals dripping in reverb.
With the band too close to curfew to go through the motions of an encore the night finished with arguably one of rock music’s greatest protest songs, Buffalo Springfield’s Ohio. Though the group remained faithful to the grinding guitar parts from the original, it was Ben Harper’s gritty, pleading voice that made the song soar. He sang it like he was there when it all went down.
There’s that integrity again.
With a wave he was gone, and so went Day 2 of the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest.
Okay, that wasn’t so bad I guess. But I’m still glad they weren’t paying me.
Todd Man Out 