With barely any hiccups, Ottawa’s RBC Bluesfest managed to prove that a) it fancies everyone from Joyce Manor to RL Grime to Bob Saget; b) Lebreton Flats Park continues to be an underrated destination in the country’s capital; and c) the festival’s quickly morphing into an 11-day jaunt that’s a lot more riveting than exhausting. The sheer size of Bluesfest has always been its achilles but this year’s edition sported enough new faces to keep blog hate in check as ST. VINCENT, MAC DEMARCO, PHANTOGRAM, BADBADNOTGOOD, and RYAN HEMSWORTH were a huge compliment to the mature programming. Don’t get us wrong, we love Blondie’s Parallel Lines. It’s just the fest riffed on with a lot of star power and firepower to induce an experience that truly deserves a standing ovation.
Check out our galleries below via Sean Wilkin and dig into his stills of Ottawa Bluesfest’s foray into hip-hop.
MAC DEMARCO
AWOLNATION
ZEDD
PHANTOGRAM
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
ST. VINCENT
