CityFolk Day 3: Bush at Landsdowne Park, Ottawa

September 15, 2023 – Landsdowne Park, Ottawa

Hard rock and maritime parties create huge crowds at CityFolk day three

The sun came out for day three of Ottawa’s CityFolk music festival for a beautiful evening of seven fantastic performances. TD Plays the Plaza was back again with another free concert outside the festival gates. C.A. & Sonny, a local folk duo made up of Sonny Aiken and C.A. Jackson, brought their uplifting and cheery tunes to people walking around and enjoying the warm weather before making their way into the festival grounds.

See Also: CityFolk Day 2: Arkells at Landsdowne Park, Ottawa

Geneviève Racette, a Canadian Folk Music Award winner from Montreal, was first up on the Courtside stage to begin an evening of folk music. The small but tuned in crowd enjoyed her sweet voice and gentle guitar as she sang in both English and French. “I hope by the end of the show you get to know me a bit better,” she said as she told stories in between songs. She decided to play an unreleased song, Same Old Me, to help encourage herself to get outside of her comfort zone and to not let fear control her. 

The chairs filled up at the Courtside stage as Villages began their enchanting set next. The band from Cape Breton has an upbeat and soft indie rock sound with that beautiful Celtic flair that could make anyone smile and dance. Singer Matt Ellis has a stunning voice as he yipped and yowled in authentic Celtic fashion. Their sound is very natural, like winds that can be gentle or wild, and I could picture us all dancing in the woods around a fire with wolves and owls adding their sounds to the songs as well. They brought the folk to CityFolk and did not disappoint. 

“We’re from Cape Breton, can’t you tell?” said Ellis. It was obvious and there’s nothing wrong with that! Villages brought the maritime kitchen party vibes to CityFolk and the crowd was loving it. The sides of the tent filled in as people started dancing and two women beside me really wanted to run up to the front of the stage to dance. I nudged them to do it and by the last song we all went up to dance with the band who was having the time of their lives. Ellis was so into the finale that he smashed his tambourine repeatedly on the ground as the whole crowd jumped up and went wild with them. It was an amazing and energetic moment as they walked off stage, leaving us panting for more.

Fortunate Ones closed out the Courtside stage and kept the maritime party going after Villages with a huge audience. The iconic contemporary folk duo from Newfoundland made up of Andrew James O’Brien and Catherine Allan put on an amazing show with a multitude of delightful stories in between songs. O’Brien loves to chat, and I could listen to him tell stories for days because of his charm and energy.

“A daunting band to follow,” said O’Brien about Villages, “such titans.” It’s not often that you hear a headliner talk about the opening bands, a testament to O’Brien’s grateful and sweet nature. He went on to tell many stories about their time in Ottawa and their lives, adding character to their songs and drawing me in even deeper to their sound and the experience. In a touching moment, he mentioned the hurricane about to hit Atlantic Canada and dedicated their next song, Steady as She Goes, to Nova Scotia. The audience hung on every word and song and swayed with the gentle folk beats and perfect harmonies.

Fortunate Ones then met fans at the merch table after their set and signed shirts, CDs, and records. I picked up an iconic loon shirt and took a photo with them—it was lovely to meet them in person and chat about the design and their show. As O’Brien said earlier, “be a merch hero, support the band.” And I fully endorse that message, pick up merch when you can and support the bands you love!

Sven Gali, from Niagara Falls, set a different mood on the main TD stage with their hard rock music and heavy vocals. While the crowd was small because it was still early in the day, the rockers were out to support them and were ready for the heaviest headliner of CityFolk later that evening. Horns were up and heads bobbed along with the heavy guitars as the sun glared down on us. 

“All the rockers show up at the beginning of the night,” said singer Dave Wanless as he joked with the crowd. He was happy to be up first because he said he’d be out drinking with us later. “Is this the way to start off a Friday night or what?” he continued as he ran back and forth on stage, filled with energy as he tried to get the crowd moving.

Headstones, a punk-inspired rock band from Kingston, followed and kept the heavy music going as singer Hugh Dillon almost immediately took off from the stage and ran into the crowd. It looked like he was on a leash as a crew member fed the cable and tried to keep it from getting tangled or pulled too hard. He sang with fans, took phones and videoed himself and the crowd, and got up in everyone’s faces—you could tell he loves what he does. It was definitely a rock show as people jumped around and crowd surfed, with Super Kyle Humphrey making an appearance as he surfed from the front row.

As Fortunate Ones finished and everyone gravitated to the main TD stage for Bush, CityFolk was packed from stage to exit. The English rock band from London continued the night of hard rock with high energy and heavy guitar riffs. 

Singer Gavin Rossdale spoke about how it was the longest summer of their lives with show after show and how they were grateful as a band to get to do so much and be back in Ottawa again. “It’s good to be together,” he said, “don’t be lonely now.” He tried to motivate the crowd to get moving and jump along with their upbeat songs, but I think sometimes the heavy bands are lost on the Ottawa crowd. The vibe would be very different in Montreal, and perhaps in a smaller venue rather than a spaced out field.

Read More:
>> CityFolk Day 1: Iggy Pop at Landsdowne Park, Ottawa
>> CityFolk Day 2: Arkells at Landsdowne Park, Ottawa
>> RBC Bluesfest come to an end with a performance from The Smile

Rossdale was a sight to watch as he moved deeply with each word he sang and jumped around the stage. I could feel his passion emanating as he belted out song after song and stopped to speak in between about how grateful he was to be here. They felt like a very wholesome rock band, which fit in well at CityFolk.