Ottawa Bluesfest 2016 Review
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Zeds Dead
This year's Bluesfest concluded this past Sunday after a nine day jammed packed schedule featuring acts from all sorts of genres. From the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Duran Duran, country music stars, and more - this year's Bluesfest catered to a wide audience. The 2016 edition was light on electronic acts booked, but the ones that got onto the lineup all produced solid shows. Below are a few thoughts on what each one of these artists showed in front of the Ottawa crowd.
Cashmere Cat (Best set of the festival)
Cashmere Cat
By far the most enthusiastic crowd came at the hands of the young Norwegian producer known as Cashmere Cat. Fans knew the lyrics, chanted his name, and his whole set was bananas. Cashmere cat shown off some crazy dance moves, and the crowd ate it up. The slow build ups led to crazy dancing all throughout the night. Best set of the night hands down.
Madeon
Madeon
Bluesfest kicked off with Madeon as the first electronic artist booked for the festival. His set was warm, full of his hits, great crowd interaction and an amazing DJ booth set up. With his launchpad and mixer on full display, Madeon made full use of it all thanks to his well honed technique behind the deck. Madeon first came to Ottawa back when he was 18 years old and just burgeoning onto the scene. Back then his DJ set was unrefined and short, but now he shows remarkable maturity for a 22 year old as he showcased up tempo tracks filled with energy and optimism.
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Did his thing, his way. This set was a showcase of his tracks, and if you are a fan of his work, then watching him do it live was a real treat.
Destructo
Destructo
Rain did little to remove the enthusiasm that the crowd had for Destructo's set. G House never sounded so good and fresh as it does in 2016 and Destructo is one of its main proponents. Fans just loved the deep and more vibe oriented beats, and went even more crazy as this L.A. renaissance man dropped the heavier stuff as well. His background graphic game was tight, and this set was definitely one of the highlights of the festival.
Zeds Dead
Zeds Dead
Zeds Dead are Bluesfest veterans as they've been coming to Ottawa every summer for the festival for the past 3 years. Armed with an elaborate DJ booth, heavy smoke, and tons of confetti, this Toronto duo put on quite a show. Along with several classic Zeds Dead tracks, they also played a few new tracks from their upcoming album, while sprinkling in throwbacks like Nirvana and the Eurythmics added in.
The scene's future is bright as fresh faces like Cashmere Cat can hype a crowd like he did at Bluesfest. He didn't do it by blasting orders on the mic asking people to jump, but through his music and talent alone. Bluesfest is an Ottawa tradition for tens of thousands of music lovers every summer, and it will remain that way for a long time to come.