Bang! Bang! Bang! I want to be a dancer in Femi Kuti's band
I headed down to Lebreton Flats tonight at around 9 with the sole purpose of catching Femi Kuti's set on the River Stage, which - as its name implies - is conveniently located on a lush piece of lawn overlooking the Ottawa River. Mosquitoes notwithstanding, it was a perfect venue for Kuti and his back-up band, Positive Force, to commandeer as night fell.
While Nigerian-born Femi is the son of the legendary Afrobest superstar Fela Kuti, he has clearly come into his own musically and attracted a loyal following along the way. Many of his songs are weighted by the politics of Africa, yet they come off celebratory and, at times, almost anthemic. Not to mention danceable, which is what tonight's crowd had so clearly come to do.
The standout number for me was "Bang, Bang, Bang", one of the lighter, less political songs. Femi and the band gave it such life and built it up over a number of minutes before climaxing with the chant, "Don't come too fast." I think it took the audience a second to understand what he was saying, but once they did, there was much laughter.
Onstage, Femi's energy is frenetic. His hands and feet are never still as he moves across the front of the stage conducting the 9-piece band, all the while keeping one eye on the audience. He moves effortlessly from saxophone to keyboards to vocals and encourages the audience to chant or wave their arms at various points throughout the show.
Femi had three fantastic dancers/back-up singers with him onstage. Their costumes were amazing and the audience really fed off their energy. I was tired watching the trio, so I couldn't imagine how they must have felt.
Tomorrow marks the first full day of Bluesfest. All five stages will be up and running and I'm planning to catch a few acts, including Alexis Puentes (performing as Alex Cuba), Jetplanes of Abraham, and, of course, Sarah Harmer. Environment Canada is calling for warm and sunny weather, so it should be good.
*** Bob Dylan post-script: this morning's Ottawa Citizen claimed the touchy troubadour pulled a bit of a prima donna act last night by not allowing his picture to be taken and refusing to participate in a local fundraiser. The paper also reported there was about 20,000 people at the show, so omit what I wrote before about Dylan attracting just as many fans as the also-picky Van Morrison (who apparently did not play an encore).
*** I should also note that The Capital Letters is also keeping an ear to ground about if and when and where the White Stripes might play a surprise show before they go onstage Sunday night.
While Nigerian-born Femi is the son of the legendary Afrobest superstar Fela Kuti, he has clearly come into his own musically and attracted a loyal following along the way. Many of his songs are weighted by the politics of Africa, yet they come off celebratory and, at times, almost anthemic. Not to mention danceable, which is what tonight's crowd had so clearly come to do.
The standout number for me was "Bang, Bang, Bang", one of the lighter, less political songs. Femi and the band gave it such life and built it up over a number of minutes before climaxing with the chant, "Don't come too fast." I think it took the audience a second to understand what he was saying, but once they did, there was much laughter.
Onstage, Femi's energy is frenetic. His hands and feet are never still as he moves across the front of the stage conducting the 9-piece band, all the while keeping one eye on the audience. He moves effortlessly from saxophone to keyboards to vocals and encourages the audience to chant or wave their arms at various points throughout the show.
Femi had three fantastic dancers/back-up singers with him onstage. Their costumes were amazing and the audience really fed off their energy. I was tired watching the trio, so I couldn't imagine how they must have felt.
Tomorrow marks the first full day of Bluesfest. All five stages will be up and running and I'm planning to catch a few acts, including Alexis Puentes (performing as Alex Cuba), Jetplanes of Abraham, and, of course, Sarah Harmer. Environment Canada is calling for warm and sunny weather, so it should be good.
*** Bob Dylan post-script: this morning's Ottawa Citizen claimed the touchy troubadour pulled a bit of a prima donna act last night by not allowing his picture to be taken and refusing to participate in a local fundraiser. The paper also reported there was about 20,000 people at the show, so omit what I wrote before about Dylan attracting just as many fans as the also-picky Van Morrison (who apparently did not play an encore).
*** I should also note that The Capital Letters is also keeping an ear to ground about if and when and where the White Stripes might play a surprise show before they go onstage Sunday night.
posted by Capital Letters at 12:39 AM
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