Cadence Weapon
It’s unfortunate Cadence Weapon was given such an early timeslot at Bluesfest. The Edmonton hip hop artist played a DJ set at 6 p.m. (on a Monday!), a time when festival goers were just arriving after work or Rush fans were busy adding to their prog rock t-shirt collections. Regardless, Cadence Weapon made the most of it, playing a rap music for the people (You can even hear him say it in his own words below).
His contemporary mix sampled everything from Kanye West’s recent album Yeezus to Nicki Minaj’s “Bees in the Trap”. At one point, audience members started yelling at him to do some of his own songs. He pointed to his head as to say “I’ll keep that in mind.” A few moments later he declared “Okay, I’m going to rap I guess,” taking a break from his DJ set to rap his track “Loft Music”. He then returned to the DJ set as more people filed in for the festival.
Mother Mother
Mother Mother played the River Stage while Rush rumbled on one stage over. The band kicked things off on a high note, playing the hit single “The Stand” from 2011’s Eureka. I was given quite the jolt when fireworks went off on stage over at the Rush stage fittingly while Mother Mother played “Infinitesimal”, a track that features the lyrics “They say it started with a big bang/But they say it came out of a small thing/Lately I’m feeling like a big bang.”
Lead singer and guitarist Ryan Guldemond dedicated “Simply Simple” to Rush because “Their shit is way too complicated”. This track was followed by “Wrecking Ball” on an electric banjo, the ultimate clash of folk and rock that pleased the crowd. Perhaps the biggest sing-a-long of the night came when they covered Nirvana’s “In Bloom” transforming the grit of the original into Mother Mother’s smoother indie pop-rock style.
The band has settled into a comfortable groove since the start of the Sticks tour (named after their latest album The Sticks), seamlessly transitioning from song to song, adding extended intros, outros and adding instrumental jams during the middle of songs to make their entire catalogue feel linked together.
Guldemond described Ottawa Bluesfest as “the soft pillow of existence” when describing playing festivals versus regular tour dates. This was the bands third appearance at the festival and it was clear they fed off the energy of the Ottawa crowd.
Photos by Scott Blackburn. Words by Jonathan Briggins
