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After a merciful day off – even we concert professionals appreciate the occasional opportunity to recoup – on July 13th, 2010 the Ottawa Bluesfest was back for another week of world-class entertainment.
This was in that small window of time when the Bluesfest added a free downtown stage, and that’s where I started my night. Legendary laid-back bluesman Taj Mahal mounted the York Street Stage with an equally laid-back sounding nylon-string guitar and an even more laid-back looking fedora and Hawaiian shirt and cast his understated spell on we of the concrete concert field. Backed up by a decidedly un-flashy but quite solid drum and bass duo by his side and the majestic Peace Tower rising behind him, Taj Mahal delivered a brilliant set of blues that could only be played by him, and in front of probably the biggest crowd the free stage would see.
And though I was enjoying Taj as much as anyone, when I glanced up at the clock on the Peace Tower halfway through his set I tore myself away and hopped on my bike. A quick journey past some of Canada’s most historic buildings brought me to the main festival site where I would chew on my second chunk on music for the evening.
It’s only too true that I never really “got” Arcade Fire but I was still willing to give them a fair shot by taking in their full headlining Bluesfest set. The young, hardworking octet from Montreal had taken over the indie planet just a few years earlier so they were in their prime and pumped when they hit the stage in front of a bursting 20,000-strong crowd. And for the next seventy-five minutes Arcade Fire squeezed their violins, guitars, and accordions into a bombastic drone that was well-orchestrated (literally and figuratively*) and very high-energy.
There is something intangible and indescribable about the “indie” sound, but whatever it is these guys ooze it. Eschewing riff-oriented rock in favour of textured layers of grinding intensity, Arcade Fire can build a mood from the simplest of components almost like a modern Pink Floyd. Being honest, I think ears as old as mine crave a blatant and recurring melodicism the likes of which buttresses the bulk of classic rock, and indie rock just ain’t interested.
Though it seems on this night I stood alone. As the manic lights flashed, the fountain of energy that surged from the band was returned in kind from the vast crowd, who howled with delight at the opening notes of every song the band played. The audience stayed with the band every step of the way until lead vocalist Win Butler broke the wall during their last song, jumping down into the pit and dancing the front end of the crowd into a mild frenzy.
With the sonic fervour just reaching it’s apex the band screamed a final thank-you goodnight and disappeared, leaving their buzz-saw instruments echoing through the speakers on a slowly diminishing loop as we all spilled out into the night.
And though I was probably the only one among the exodus that still didn’t “get” Arcade Fire, I could no longer doubt the band’s enormous concert presence.
*If you don’t know the difference between “literally” and “figuratively” please – for the sake of us that do – look ‘em up.
Todd Man Out 