OTTAWA - With an airy new Lebreton Flats venue and a deep and exciting lineup featuring diverse acts like Bob Dylan, The White Stripes and Kanye West, the 2007 Bluesfest is getting a major makeover this year. Running July 5-15, the 11-day festival boasts 147 musical acts on five stages. It also marks a return to Lebreton Flats after five years at an increasingly cramped City Hall location.
This year, two main stages will face each other at the spacious, south lawn entrance of the Canadian War Museum, featuring continuous music and boosting capacity to 30,000 people from the 20,000 who fit into Festival Plaza. "This is just a site that's built for large scale events," said Bluesfest director Mark Monahan. As for the music, there appears to be something for everyone.
Monahan, "a huge fan" of The White Stripes, said he was personally psyched to get the eclectic former husband-wife outfit. The festival has also tried repeatedly to get Dylan, and, to work around his Montreal date, added the extra, opening day on July 5 to secure his performance. Monahan says another get was the Steve Miller Band, which rarely comes this way.
"The festival is definitely recognized as a great play in Canada," said Monahan. "I think that's happened over time, so when artists plan a tour they definitely look at this festival as a great opportunity to meet a lot of people." Monahan says because 25% of Bluesfest goers are under 35, hot rap acts such as Kanye West are essential to the lineup.
But the festival is never just about the main stage, and with acts like The Flatlanders, Los Lobos and the return of Buddy Guy, Monahan is confident there will be something for everyone. "There's a lot of stuff there for the blues guys. I think that audience has changed as well.
I think a lot of our audience loves Buddy Guy and The Flatlanders, but they also like some Tex Mex stuff, some rock stuff," said Monahan. "I think the way we program this, people actually like the opportunity to see all this other stuff." The festival is heavy on solid acts like George Thorogood the Destroyers, George Clinton The P-Funk All Stars, Randy Newman, Sam Roberts Band and INXS.
There are also many returning favourites like Michael Franti Spearhead and mainstays Blue Rodeo. This Bluesfest also features 25 Ottawa bands, including Jim Bryson and Souljazz Orchestra.
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