A Perfect Circle, My Morning Jacket, Arkells
Ottawa, ON
July 10-13, 2011
Review by: Jordan David
Photos by: Jamie Kronick
Jordan and Jamie bring us photos and reviews of A Perfect Circle, My Morning Jacket, and the Arkells from Bluesfest in Ottawa during mid-July.
A Perfect Circle
This was the first time I'd seen A Perfect Circle live, so I was extremely excited just to simply hear Maynard James Keenan (vocals) sing. Unfortunately, the rest of the show just didn't do anything for me. Maynard spent the entire set hiding at the back of the stage, and their light show was kept so dark that the audience was unable to see much of anything. Billy Howerdel (guitar, vocals) was the saving grace for the band as he was front and centre, seemingly carrying the band's entire performance. They played a good mix of their new and old material, which seemed to please the sizable crowd.
My Morning Jacket
Fresh off the release of their new album Circuital, My Morning Jacket headlined day eight at Bluesfest. It's hard not to get drawn to these guys, between their dreamlike music to their entertaining and high-energy stage show. Jim James (vocals, guitar) lived up to all of the hype surrounding him as a frontman, from his amazing guitar playing to his soaring vocals — he was very entertaining. My Morning Jacket played for almost two full hours, blowing through 20 songs. The set list was composed from mostly new material but they still played some of their older crowd favourites. This set was a serious contender for the best set of the festival.
Arkells
Hamilton, Ontario natives Arkells seemed to have done the near-impossible feat of steadily growing in popularity while touring on a debut album that came out nearly three years ago. While they do have a new record out this year, of which they played "Whistleblower" live, the band cranked out the hits from their now seemingly classic album, Jackson Square. A very sizable crowd was singing along to almost every word alongside Max Kerman (vocals, guitar) who gave the kind of charismatic performance for which he's become known.
