Bluesfest Day 3: Rock night with Turnstile vs Pixies, plus Kurt Vile and Sue Foley

Yahoo

13-07-2025

The string of new-generation headliners at Ottawa Bluesfest continued Saturday with an ambitious main-stage showing by Turnstile, a band that emerged from the Baltimore punk scene just a decade or so ago.
Fresh from a gig at Glastonbury but in front of Bluesfest's smallest audience so far this year, the intense rockers bounced between punk, pop, emo and electronica on a darkened stage, demonstrating the depth of their evolution beyond hardcore punk.
At times they sounded like U2, other times it was Red Hot Chili Peppers mashed with a punishing rhythm section.
Livewire singer Brendan Yates ping ponged between his bandmates, screaming lyrics over the shifting song structures and demanding the crowd jump along.
It was quite the cathartic outpouring of emotion, but Yates was also a sensitive soul who recognized the magic of the moment.
'This is a beautiful gathering to celebrate music,' he observed, before the limbs started flying in the mosh pit.
Whether you were in the pit or not, Saturday was another sweat-a-thon at Bluesfest as temperatures soared beyond 30+ and the sun baked the plaza of the Canadian War Museum at LeBreton Flats Park.
Seasoned festivalgoers wore hats, smelled like sunscreen and carried refillable bottles, while others fried themselves with alcohol and sunshine, and still others sought relief in the air-conditioned lobby of the museum.
After the strong turnout of the festival's first two nights, the crowds seemed a little thin for the Saturday-night showcase of modern rock, which also featured a razor-sharp slice of college-rock nostalgia from the Pixies and a stellar ride with Kurt Vile and the Violators, plus outstanding shows by the Budos Band and Men I Trust on the side stages.
Fewer people on site meant shorter lines for everything, less competition for the few shady spots and more elbow room in the crowd.
However, one topic of discussion was whether the performance order should have been flipped, with Pixies headlining instead of Turnstile. An unnecessary debate, in my mind, I thought the order made sense.
Besides, people didn't exactly swarm to the Pixies. The band attracted a modest number of aging Gen X fans, satisfying them by careening through a ferocious show that showed they've still got the ability to slay a crowd.
Glistening with sweat, frontman Frank Black (aka Black Francis) growled and sang with a grimace, while guitarist Joey Santiago attacked his axe, producing a wall of fuzzified noise amid the angular melodies. Kim Deal-replacement bassist Emma Richardson held up the bottom end, and the white-haired wizard on the kit was original drummer David Lovering.
Earlier, Kurt Vile and his band, the Violators, kicked off the festivities with a set that seemed to pull every classic-rock lick of the past, give them a twist and make it all fresh again.
Vile, who's the former lead guitarist of the War on Drugs, played a different guitar on almost every tune, choosing from an impressive array of acoustic, electric and hollowbody instruments.
With a compact but powerful band rocking out behind him, the long-haired American channeled the Neil Young-Lou Reid end of the stoner-rock spectrum, winding through a set heavy on early material like the melodic rocker Pretty Pimpin, the gently grooving Girl Called Alex and a snarling KV Crimes that bristled with Crazy Horse-like energy.
In a grunge-hippie uniform of jeans and plaid shirt over a graphic T, the 45-year-old Vile spoke little between songs, except to say he was 'hella stoked' to be on tour with Pixies, and to be able to see both them and Turnstile that night.
Meanwhile, the daily dose of blues at Bluesfest came from the Ottawa-born, Texas-based guitarist Sue Foley, a Grammy nominee this year, and her band of Texans (plus a Canadian on bass). They dished out a tasty set of rocking blues on the LeBreton stage, filling the steamy tent with smouldering numbers by the likes of Clarence Gatemouth Brown and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
There was also one of Foley's signature original tunes, titled Ice Queen, inspired by growing up in a cold capital city.
'I wrote this song about being from Ottawa,' she said, 'because we know all about ice here in Ottawa.'
On a day in her hometown that she said was hotter than Texas, it was hard to conjure that image. Nonetheless, the Ice Queen of blues earned a warm welcome from friends, family and fans.
Bluesfest continues on Sunday, takes a break Monday and Tuesday, then resumes Wednesday. It runs to July 20.
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