Of the nine headliners at this year’s Bluesfest, Lord Huron was the dark horse, the least-known act of the bunch to have top billing on the main stage at LeBreton Flats Park.
Despite having played Bluesfest, Cityfolk, the Ottawa Jazz Festival and Canadian Tire Centre in the last decade or so, the Los Angeles-based indie rockers still don’t have the profile of, say, stars like Ella Langley or Gwen Stefani.
That’s why it was a smaller-than-usual crowd at the RBC Main Stage on July 16, although the overall attendance was balanced by the capacity crowds checking out aging punks Social Distortion on the Hard Rock stage and Australia’s Dope Lemon on the LeBreton stage.
According to Lord Huron singer Ben Schneider, his band was a “cast of characters in strange and unfamiliar territory,” and his first act of business was to find out how many in the audience were seeing the band for the first time.
“Welcome,” he said. “We’re tickled pink to be back in this part of the world, back at Bluesfest. It means the world to be so far from home and see so many damn people here.”
The band is touring behind last year’s album Cosmic Selector Vol. 1, their fifth, but the real reason for their recent spike in fame is the rediscovery of an old song, The Night We Met. The moody 2015 nugget was included on the Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why, and took off, hitting the charts and streaming in the billions.
That hit came towards the end of the show, following a long, slow buildup of haunting rock soundscapes. The drama started with Who Laughs Last, an oddball tune from the new album that features spoken-word poetry by actor Kirsten Stewart (who’s not touring with the band).
Other dark and poignant selections in the first half included Bag of Bones, Ends of the Earth, The Ghost on The Shore and Wait By The River, each one meticulously constructed by the four core band members, who are touring with three additional players, including keyboardist Misty Boyce. She supplied the stunning backing vocals.
Before the band let loose in the home stretch, some in the crowd lost interest. A steady stream of people headed for the exit gates throughout the set, perhaps bored by the slow-paced, minor-key moodiness, or maybe getting restless as the temperatures dropped.
Either way, the exodus left the most devoted fans to see things through, grooving as the band shifted into a slightly more upbeat gear, and watching Schneider sang into the receiver of a pay phone. The NIght We Met prompted a flurry of cellphone recordings, while the two-song encore of World Ender and Not Dead Yet made for a farewell with a hopeful note.
Earlier in the evening, singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus showed her rock-star potential with a terrific main-stage performance. The former folkie demonstrated a beautifully robust voice and sure hand on guitar, and was accompanied by an amazing band that included two women who played fiddle.
Improbably, the 31-year-old from Virginia offered to speak French, if the audience wished, and they responded with a roar, leading to some awkward between-song banter as Dacus stumbled valiantly through the other official language.
At one point, she also wanted to contribute some blues in the spirit of the event. “We tried to think of the bluesiest song I have,” she said, plucking out a slow, delicate version of the evocative Yours and Mine to do the trick. “C’est pour vous, Ottawa,” she said. “Merci.”
Another highlight of the July 16 Bluesfest program was Billy Bragg, the veteran rabble-rousing protest singer from England who played to a big crowd at the Hard Rock stage before Social Distortion.
Performing on acoustic guitar with a sideman, the 68-year-old singer-songwriter-activist was in fine form, despite England losing to Argentina in the FIFA World Cup semi-finals this week. “Any Blue Jays fans out there? he inquired. “I can sympathize.”
Politically, few topics were off limits to the outspoken musician as he addressed fascism, trans rights, Greenland, the 51st state and Alberta’s “Brexit moment,” a concept that got a round of boos from the crowd.
He also shared his theory that the United States should rejoin the British Empire since the president is so enamoured with kings. “Come on back to the Commonwealth and get a monarch,” Bragg advised.
Bluesfest continues July 17 with a main-stage triple header that includes country queen Ella Langley, classic rocker Sheryl Crow, and viral Quebec duo Angine de Poitrine, with an early opening set by Ottawa country darling Nayana at 5 p.m.
One of the rare Bluesfest occasions to sell out in advance, gates will open early to accommodate the swarms of fans. They open at 4:30 p.m.
