Many bands graced the stages at this year’s annual Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest, but Great Big Sea brought something extra on July 16: familiarity and an authentic love for their fans.

Montreal-based indie-pop band, Stars serenaded a packed crowd at the Subway stage as the sun set on the first week of Bluesfest 2010.
 

If there was one thing I learned at Bluesfest on July 15, it was that it never hurts to get there early. One benefit of this advice was that I got to catch cult garage-blues act, The Gories on the main stage.

I walked in knowing little about the Detroit band, but left a converted fan. Active from 1986 to 1992, their Bluesfest gig was the beginning of a North American tour following a string of reunion shows last year.

Walking around near the main stages became quite the task, particularly while fighting against the current of eager fans rushing to get a good spot to see Santana play the MBNA stage. The Hard Rock Café and Subway stages along the Ottawa River were less crowded, especially near the former, where fans were scattered along grassy knolls leading up to the War Museum.

The first of two acts I attended was that of The Rural Alberta Advantage. The Toronto-based band fused energetic and up-tempo drums with soft keyboards and acoustic guitars, forging a breed of sound alternating between indie-pop and driving folk rock.

On July 10, 2010 Bear in Heaven took the Hard Rock Stage, which proved to have the worst sound at the venue and made the psychedelic-electro band fairly inaudible. The band used a lot of synthesizer which drowned out what they were playing — not a great idea when already faced with poor acoustics.  
 

The lead singer may have called the audience “a handsome crowd” but there was not much interaction apart from that. They were not a particularly memorable band; the lead singer’s sweet moustache stands out in my mind more than their performance.

There were really three headlining bands tonight. St. Catharines, Ont. post-punk group Alexisonfire started the main events at 9 p.m., while Montreal indie giants The Arcade Fire began just before 9:30 p.m. – with Melbourne's The Cat Empire set to begin at the other end of the festival.

Alexisonfire opened their set with the lead single off their latest LP, the song “Young Cardinals,” leaving out a few of the vocal lines for fans to eagerly sing in place. Alexisonfire is all about the energy, and they went all out – playing a five song encore.

The big act to see tonight was Rush, proven by all the fans clad in the Canadian prog-pop band's official merchandise. Even though I got to Bluesfest nearly two hours before their set, the black t-shirts were tightly congregating already.

The first group I saw was Strippers Union, co-founded by Tragically Hip guitarist Rob Baker. The first song suffered through bad sound, but once that was adjusted I could hear just how unimpressive their singer was.

 
One of the best aspects of the Bluesfest is that it has a variety of performances to cater to all individuals. Scrolling through the 2010 line-up, it’s hard to imagine someone not being able to find their own personal favourite.

In a way, July 9 was like any other day at the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest. Thousands of people casually ambled from stage to stage taking in whatever great music happened to be playing, while either drinking a beer or munching on a slice of pizza.

It was a nostalgic night for many as the Bacon Brothers, the Moody Blues and The B-52’s took to the stage for the third day of Bluesfest.
With temperatures soaring well into the 40s all week, a short rain shower was welcomed by many who revelled in the rain.

After a high-energy kick-off on Tuesday, today was all about chilling out to music and building that feeling of togetherness. No one could accomplish these two things better than Phil Lesh and Bob Weir.

Lesh and Weir are former Grateful Dead members who formed a new band, Furthur.

As I stepped off the bus at Lebreton Flats I was hit by three things: a record heatwave, the sound of live music and the realization that it was finally summer in Ottawa.

While we’ve been on break for two months it still never feels like summer for me until Bluesfest starts. I was drawn in by the sound of Dream Theatre, the opening metal band for the legendary Iron Maiden who would be headlining the festival kick-off.