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On July 13th, 2017 i trekked down to the Ottawa Bluesfest for another night of crowded, bland-beered revelry. My soundtrack for the night was a single artist (and his band): Alan Doyle, formerly of Great Big Sea.
Though I wasn’t really there to hear the music; as a matter of fact I found the evening’s lineup lacking enough that had I not felt compelled to be onsite for a little stealth videoing I probably would have taken the night off and drank bland beer in my own backyard, which was much less crowded than LeBreton Flats.
To explain: Earlier in the summer I had spent a couple of weeks travelling through Labrador and Newfoundland chasing down musicians and industry bigwigs in search of footage to make the second episode of my personal pet project Earth Beat, my self-written/self-edited/self-directed/self-inflicted travel/music program (think Parts Unknown, but centred on music rather than food).
In my travels I was lucky enough to secure an interview with Mr. Doyle that we shot on the docks at Quidi Vidi, an astoundingly beautiful (and completely authentic) fishing village on the outskirts of St. John’s. When I saw that he was slotted to play Bluesfest I knew it would be an opportunity for me to get some B-roll footage of Newfoundland’s favourite frontman performing live, so I was locked in.
So, armed with my tiny, stealthy GoPro (as if those things weren’t invented as 007-level spy-cams) I cycled down to the site, left my steed with the bicycle valet, and headed straight to the Black Sheep Stage where Doyle and his band were already rocking out in front of a really, really big crowd, all of whom were on their feet and dancing.
I circled the crowd several times with my camera hoisted high over my head before parking myself on the floor about thirty feet from the stage. I did a few camera lifts and turns hoping for a couple of good transitional shots but the gold came with the clapalongs, of which there were many. Heck, a solid chunk of Newfoundland music on the whole is clapalong music, being so blatantly rhythmic and infectious and drawing (as it does) on so many ancient traditional styles from around the planet that the music is bound to have a pull on just about everybody. Suffice to say, I walked away with a lot of usable footage, and most of it with the sizeable crowd jumping, clapping, and generally whooping it up in unison.
That said, I did my walking away well before his set was over, back to the valet and back along the darkened canal back home*. As much as I love Newfoundland (and I do – I often refer to it as my favourite place in the world) and as much as I love music, I’m just not that drawn in by most Newfoundland music. I wish I was, but it’s just a little too traditional and a lot too upbeat and happy for me. Don’t get me wrong, the stuff doesn’t grind on my ears or anything, but it’s certainly not my goto musical preference.
But I sure do like the people. Including Alan Doyle. He’s a heck of a nice bloke, very friendly and accommodating, and when I was cheeky enough to close my Quidi Vidi interview with him by asking a final question: “How many Newfies does it take to screw in a light bulb?” he was kind enough to use it as a learning moment (for me, of course) and instead of a punchline in the nose he gave me a friendly, accommodating lecture on the N-word.
And now I know better.
*I considered going over to the main stage area for a quick look-see but the vibes from that side of the museum just felt ugly, so I exited behind the Black Sheep Stage and went home. As a result I managed to avoid an unprecedented pile of violence and anarchy that was happening at hands of the young whipper-snappers who had come out in droves to see hip-hop trio Migos and Lil Yachty. Things got thrown and people got hurt and I’m glad to have missed it.
Todd Man Out 