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July 14th was unquestionably the weakest night of the 2005 edition of the Ottawa Bluesfest but to be fair it had some heavy competition. With a lineup that included such musical monstrosities as ZZTop, Dr. John, Daniel Lanois, Kid Rock, John Prine, Percy Sledge, and Bill Frisell it was hard for a quiet-ish Thursday night roster to compete, as good as it was. It’s like coming last in the Olympics; if you were in any other company you would doubtlessly be the clear winner but in this particular instance you might just want to work on your personal best.
That said, when I started out the evening with India.Arie on the mainstage it looked like the underdog had a shot. Taking the stage alone, the emotive Motown artist belted out soul-piercers that were soothing and honest. Her soaring confidence made the poignant lyrics instantly believable. Vibe-wise she was very much an updated version of the best of ’80’s Tracy Chapman but sound-wise India.Arie’s was wholly her own.
After a few numbers she was joined onstage by her band and I let that be my walkaway music, though I walked away slowly. In retrospect this was my big mistake, but you won’t know if you don’t go, so I went. To the other stages.
I found myself at Rufus Wainwright’s set which didn’t have much of a chance no matter how you cut it. I have long placed Rufus into my Ron Sexsmith file, a rarely-opened folder that I know contains some wonderful artifacts but just seems a little too musty for me to spend much time on. Come to think of it, there’s a fair chance that this was a Martha & Rufus set but either way I slammed the drawer closed and moved on to the Black Sheep Stage for The Dears.
Oh dear…there I was in the wrong place again. I don’t know what came over me, but when I had had enough uninteresting indie rock I went back to The Grassroots Stage for more Wainwrighting, which was obviously Waywrong. I wrack my brain wondering why I didn’t just go back to the main stage to try and catch what remaining bits of India.Arie’s set that I could…but I didn’t. Elsewise I might have started off this missive with something more positive than [put on your inner grumpy-voice] “…worst Bluesfest day ever…” like, oh I don’t know…maybe:
“India.Arie came out of nowhere in my consciousness on this random Thursday evening and delivered a set so unique, so engaging, and so uplifting that she elevated what could have been a ho-hum festival weeknight all the way to the top of the Bluesfest pile for 2005, crossing the finish line with a set that easily took the checkered flag and left even some of the biggest names in music eating her dust.”
But I didn’t, so I didn’t.
Todd Man Out 