Day 1 of Ottawa's Bluesfest with Adventure Club and DVBBS
/The first night of the 2 week long Ottawa Bluesfest at Lebreton Flats started off with a bang with the power packed set by DVBBS which followed by the ever popular Adventure Club. The festival itself is sectioned off by 4 stages, where the "Blacksheep Stage", situated at the back of the Canadian War Museum, is where all of the EDM acts will be held with the exception of Dog Blood on the last night. This suits me just fine as the stage's acoustics are perfect and because it is a little sequestered from the rest of the festival, it truly feels like a place that fans of electronic dance music in Ottawa can call their own.
This year's Bluesfest, just like last year, has incorporated RFID bracelets for ticket holders which makes coming in and out of the festival grounds seamless. Once you get your ticket and/or bracelet, getting around the festival grounds have never been easier. The prices for basic necessities like water ($2) were reasonable, and even the food options are interesting and diverse. Are you in the mood for a Pad Thai, sweet potato fries, and a deep fried oreo for dessert? You can do that at this year's festival. There's even a free water station for those that want to refill their bottles. There are no shortages of restrooms as there are plenty of portable toilets outside around the grounds and you can even get access to the restrooms situated within the Canadian War Museum. First impressions of festivals are important and in this case my first impression of the organization behind this year's festival is very impressive. The organizers have been doing this for a long time and it shows.
The music was good too as DVBBS provided a high energy performance that really set the tone for the evening. The two brothers from Toronto gave the crowd a heavy electro-progressive house set that was a mix between well known tracks and their own. If I had to compare their performance to any that I've seen in recent history I'd liken them to another famous brother duo, Showtek. These guys did everything on stage including a double jump off the decks towards the end.
Adventure Club's transition from DVBBS was seamless as Leighton James, one half of the Adventure Club duo from Montreal, continued on the electro sound for a while until he transitioned into the more familiar dubstep tracks that they are known for. But he certainly didn't keep it strictly dubstep as a few trap tracks were played like Brillz Remix of Zedd's "Clarity" were mixed in with Adventure Club hits like AC's remix of "Crave You" and "Youth" that had the crowd singing. For an encore Leighton played their well known remix of Lullabies "Yuna" while giving fans in the front row a personal farewell while thanking and sharing the stage with DVBBS. Classy.
Overall the first night of Ottawa's Bluesfest was a success with a solid crowd turn out. I'm looking forward to checking out the rest of the festival which includes a special B2B set with RL Grime and Baauer tonight on the Blacksheep Stage..