Even for a beloved musician, trying something new for a crowd can feel a bit (okay a lot) risky.
The same goes for a beloved music festival, with a 17-year history, 17-million reasons to be nostalgic, and a crowd forced to face an awful lot of new: new year, new venue, new direction.
If opening night is anything to go by, the Folkers are embracing the change. But to be honest, it all looks pretty familiar.
After all, where other than the Ottawa Folk Festival would you find cowboy hats grooving alongside Bandanas and baby slings? Where else would you find yourself engaged in friendly conversation with a stranger about artisan belt buckles, while pondering the musings of Mother Teresa, Shakespeare, and Arundhati Roy on display just one stall over?
Plastic cups, cold beer, mint chocolate cookies (they are as good as they sound).
And oh - la musique!
One of the best bits of a festival is being treated to the unexpected. Either old favourites turned upsidedown, or new favourites in the making. Tonight’s performances delivered both.
Bruce Hornsby performed a beautifully unique Mandolin Rain that somehow managed to fill the entire festival grounds and just possibly the whole night sky.
No one would ever complain about seeing five incredibly stylish men on stage (@punchbrothers), but when you hear them called the Beatles of bluegrass, singing about all-too-relatable truths like we’re just two people who aren’t in love right now (but don’t get married without me), it's impossible not to want more.
To quote a fellow festival-goer, Justin Townes Earle (@JustinTEarle) was incredible, and just made you want to dance.
All of this, and somehow we even managed to keep the tornadoes at bay.
So doo do doo doo do doo doo do doo that's just the way it is, some things will never change.
Thanks for a great opening night #ottawafolk .
Andrea Petruzella
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