PrettyInScarlett

First big music festival of the summer (and my first full summer in Ottawa) and a meditation on the steel city on the Don, Sheffield. The previous time I saw Robert Plant , in Sheffield way back in 2002, it was in a packed-out university venue. Not a shade on the crowd gathered in Confederation Park on 23rd June, though. According to a fellow attendee, this was maybe the biggest crowd ever at JazzFest?! Due credit to support act Bahamas - new to me but the band, with frontperson Afie Jurvanen, payed a good mix and received more than a polite response from the ever-growing audience, and not just for a few lines of Led Zeppelin.  Thunder and lightning added to the atmosphere as Robert Plant and the Band of Joy (including Grammy winner Patty Griffin) took the stage with a 'jazz time' take on Black Dog. The majority of the set comprised songs from recent albums Band of Joy and Raising Sand, with the combined vocals of Plant and Griffin and talents of the Band creating a captivati...

Summer is pretty much here and with it a plethora of festivals. Firstly, to recap, M and I finally made the Canadian Tulip Festival on its last weekend. As well as tulip-related events, there was a live music stage, food tent and market - a lesson for next year to go earlier! Friday 20th May we turned up for the Capital Sounds evening. The schedule featured local bands, only slightly disrupted by a thunderstorm. We saw The New Records; Claude Munson and The Storm Outside; and Shannon Rose and The Thorns (Capital Sounds bios available here ). The New Records (photo above) played a mixture of covers and original songs , which was a smart choice for a high school indie band. A momentary 'what year is it' moment during their rendition of The Strokes' 'Last Night'; generally quite polished, and I think their forthcoming EP should be interesting. Claude Munson, plus his band The Storm outside, played a set much more rooted in blues, folk and country in the singer-song...