Bluesfest 2009, Day 10
Date: July 17, 2009 I Don't Want to Fake It Day ten of Bluesfest was an odd one for me. With nothing on the bill that really interested me, I ended up taking in two acts that my wife enjoys, Cake and Clem Snide. I am decidedly not a fan of the former and I'm ambivalent about the latter, so this ended up being a quiet lead-in to the busy final weekend. Cake drew a sizable crowd as the night's number two main stage act and they treated the fans to a set that stretched about eighty minutes. Singer John McCrea was the clear focal point, standing out in his yellow T-shirt, orange ball cap, large sunglasses, and white gloves, while the rest of the band stayed low-key. McCrea did a good job of interacting with the crowd, remarking on the beauty of the river setting and later noting that being without a record label meant that they'd be releasing their next album "when we feel like it . . . if we feel like it." The setlist reflected the fact that they had no new album to promote, offering up fan favourites like "Never There," "Wheels," "Sheep Go to Heaven," and "Love You Madly." A late cover of "War Pigs" scored with Vince DiFiore's shining trumpet solo, although a follow-up of "Short Skirt/Long Jacket," with McCrea's trademark detached vocal style, reminded me of why I'm not a fan of the group. For anyone who likes them, though, I'm sure that it was a satisfying set. Following that experience, I switched to the Blacksheep Stage, where a handful of people were awaiting Clem Snide. Other nights at Bluesfest were overfilled with notable side stage acts, with the previous night forcing me to choose between Les Claypool and Sharon Jones at the headlining time slot. By contrast, it felt like Clem Snide didn't really have the draw to command the final position; and the crowd remained quite sparse throughout the group's generally mellow performance. Clem Snide frontman and only line-up constant, Eef Barzelay, recently recruited a new set of supporting players and released the first album to bear the group's name in four years. The trio sounded decent, although with Barzelay tending to sing with his eyes closed and the bassist Brendan Fitzpatrick equally understated, it was mainly the smile on drummer Ben Martin's face that reflected the fun of the performance. Barzelay seemed unfazed by the light turn-out, with his between-song banter seeming as quirky but endearing as the band's music. The final Friday of Bluesfest was an oddity, with Cake hitting a set that sounded grand enough for the big stage but which I couldn't really appreciate, followed by a Clem Snide performance that was nice enough but ultimately not very memorable in a festival of more dazzling moments. <--Prev (Bluesfest 2009, Day 9) | Next (Bluesfest 2009, Day 11)-->Return to Concert ListReturn to Main Page |