This past few days (Sept 10 - 14) I have been attending shows at the Ottawa Folk Festival - my first time attending this event and it is fantastic! Here are some photos I took from this event. Note: most of the shows were during night time and my camera is not good with high ISO, thus I turned most of these photos into black-and-white images.
Lee Fields and The Expressions - The most energetic show of the night! Super funky!
Black Prairie - On Friday night, there were two bands I wanted to see - The National and Black Prairie. In the end, I picked Black Prairie because they were "folkier" than The National, and I was very glad with my choice. Their music was incredibly artistic and the crowd was small enough for me to get up close and thoroughly enjoy the music. Definitely my favourite band from the festival (so far).
Craig Cardiff
Cœur de pirate - Out of all the musicians at the festival, Cœur de pirate is the only artist I listen regularly and the main reason why I wanted to attend this event. Her performance definitely lived up to my (quite high) expectations. Too bad I only took a handful of photos before the security told me that I can't use my DSLR.
The War On Drugs - After watching Cœur de pirate's performance, I heard this amazing music coming from the main stage, and I was completely mesmerized even though I am not familiar with rock music. Unexpectedly discovering new bands is perhaps the best part about attending festivals.
Joss Stone - Right after The War on Drugs, a large crowd started gathering around the second main stage waiting for Joss Stone. Knowing nothing about her, I was expecting pop music based on her (beautiful) appearance, but she surprised me with her amazing soulful and powerful voice. She also kept her audience engaged with her lovable and bubbly personality.
The Lone Bellow - This was the band I wanted to see on Saturday but I ended up staying home because of the poor weather. And then this show overlapped with Joss Stone's performance, so I only caught the second half of the performance, but their music is definitely worth paying money to see/listen again if the opportunity arises.
Overall, Ottawa Folk Festival surprised this first-timer (i.e., me) with their amazing line-ups and set-up (with the festival divided into free and paid areas for everyone to enjoy and partake). This is definitely the best experience I had since moving to Ottawa, and I can't wait for next year's folk festival (when I am less swamped with work and able to attend more shows).
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