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July 16th, 2009 was another busy day for me at the Ottawa Bluesfest. So busy in fact I think I saw more music than I possibly could have. Strange, but potentially true.
I started my day the wrong way, with an electronica act called M83. It’s not very often the Black Sheep Stage steers me wrong, but a guitar/drums/keyboard trio that used laptop computers and microphones running through rackmount effect units to create swirling maelstroms of 120bpm dance music much to the delight of hundreds of similarly loopy fans just ain’t my thing. Neither was Busta Rhymes on the main stage so I opted instead to sip on a beer over at the Hard Rock Stage and wait for Les Claypool’s set to start.
I felt good about my choice.
With a beer in hand and the sun on the wane, one-of-a-kind bass phenom and musical freakshow Les Claypool took the stage along with three accomplices on drums, ‘cello, and xylophone, all of them wearing wacky masks. With a creative genius that approaches Frank Zappa and/or Gary Larson and bass chops that seem to come from another planet, Les let loose with his ever-complex, always engaging weirdo music. I wanted nothing more than to stand and watch every note but such was not to be.
As I stood there grooving my main Bluesfest ally AJ wandered over and, as an apology for pulling my backstage access to KISS the previous night, he walked me over to the main stage for curated close access for Styx, and as it turns out I’m both a Styx fan and a Gowan fan. As I whisked up and down the walled off corridor that ran from the photo pit to the soundboard and beyond getting my bearings, the band came on to thunderous applause. I turned around and there they were right above me, clustered together like they were posing for a photo shoot, which I suppose they were, given all the cellphones raised in the air.
By the second song Styx had delved into one of their biggest radio hits (Too Much Time On My Hands) and followed up with the orchestral light-prog piece Grand Illusion that featured new-ish lead singer Lawrence Gowan on vocals for the first time of the evening. Then it was off to the races, as the band gleefully tore through one power chord symphony after another before an audience that was right with them for every note, myself included.
Well, not every note. I briefly ducked out to the Gold Circle where AJ bought me a frosty Molson Canadian but otherwise I saw their entire set. Which is kind of weird because it specifically says here in my ticket book that I also saw Live on this night, or at least some of their set. I just don’t know when or how I fit it in.
Anyway, just as I started sipping my beer the group handed the show over to their new singer and as he started his hit Criminal Mind I had no option but to pound my beer down in one big swallow and race back to the stage. You may not know this, but Larry Gowan has fans the way Jimmy Buffett has fans, the way Phish has fans, the way Jesus has fans. Seriously. Now I’m not a member of this clan, but c’mon now, Criminal Mind is a fantastic song. So is Strange Animal. So, race back I did. In his preamble to the song Larry mentioned how the guys in Styx thought it sounded like one of their songs and of course they were right. The track fit into the rest of the repertoire seamlessly.
Though it was a set that had more than one of those, “Oh yeah, they do that song too,” moments, highlights included a surprisingly fitting cover of I Am The Walrus and the show ending Renegade, a song I have loved since listening to it over and over again on 8-track. The band made special mention of their drummer being voted the year’s best rock drummer in Modern Drummer Magazine and well deserved; that’s quite a feat. Add in Gowan’s under-appreciated (by all but a cultish few) piano abilities and you had a pretty seriously talented band up there on the stage. Musically and nostalgically it was every bit as good as the the previous night’s KISS show, but without the cheesy makeup and platform shoes. Was it as good as the rest of Les Claypool’s set? Probably not, but here’s the thing: I’ll definitely go see Les Claypool every chance I get. On the other hand this will likely stand as my only Styx concert, so there’s that.
In summary: another great and busy night at the good old Ottawa Bluesfest. My thanks to AJ.
Todd Man Out 