I love going to Bluesfest every year. It brings back so many memories and I love creating new ones with the people I go with and the ones I inevitably run into. This year I didn’t do a full review of the festival food offerings since I’ve been on a bit of a personal health journey and have been really careful about what I eat. I did, however, nab a couple of Pepsi Zeros they were giving out for free. Do I regret it? Maybe my body didn’t feel the best after but I DID like the taste. So there’s my review on that. Although I didn’t have any food there, it seemed as though there were some more plant based options!
Anyway, I continued my nostalgic Bluesfest 2019 schedule eagerly anticipating The Backstreet Boys. No, I wasn’t a fan when they came out (although I was a Spice Girls stan) but I’m not saying that defensively. I’m saying that because I only started to respect them when I saw their Netflix documentary a few years ago. It seemed as though they went through the usual trials and tribulations of a young group of boys who hurdled into fame. However when they got back together for the documentary they reaffirmed their love of song writing. I really admired this and although I wouldn’t say I would die if I never heard a BSB song again, I always appreciate live pop music performed with all the stops. A little pre-show was by Francesco Yates.
Their show was interesting because it was one of the only pop shows I’ve seen where there was no band visible. The focus was really on them. Their vocals were great live and they kept a lot of their old choreography. Nostalgia to the max! It was also funny to see how many men in the audience were so into it as I’m sure a lot of guys back in the day wouldn’t want to be seen at one of their shows. I’d have to say that I also didn’t insist on going to their shows when they first came out out of pride. I grew up with a brother who was 7 years older than me and I low key wanted to only like cool music to impress him!
Besides BSB’s awesome closing show of the festival, I got to see some local(ish) acts: Sheepdogs and Silent Winters. Speaking of nostalgia, the male singer in Silent Winters was a guest on one of my past Eva Bee’s Jamboree cooking episodes representing Amos the Transparent. He is one of the funniest people I’ve ever graced the camera with and I hope him and can collaborate again. It’s so cool to see someone as funny as him also have such a depth to his song writing. Here’s the episode below.
I also had an awesome time at Murda Beatz because as much as I don’t like to admit it, I like trap music and the whole pop rap gossip world that surrounds it. There were some good songs performed by the producer / DJ and the audience was really into it.
It was a good year for the festival despite one of the main stages being removed. It’s always a good source of healing to get to experience live music. For me, anyway. It’s also an amazing place to go and have an excuse to get out to experience the sunset along the Ottawa river. I think that wherever you are on your personal health journey, definitely take some time to get outside and experience something you love. I know that it can be hard to just let yourself have fun without some kind of expectation for the outcome. Even if it’s in your own backyard, crank up a favourite nostalgic tune and enjoy the rest of those summer nights!
