The temperature dropped Friday night in Ottawa but the energy at CityFolk remained high going into night three of the festival, both on and off the stages.
With festival goers bundled up in flannels and blankets the Canadian energy was strong and the community feeling that folk music brings really shined through — even at such a large venue.
The layout of the grounds at CityFolk allows plenty of space for people to gather with friends; there’s both standing room and seated areas with picnic benches near the food trucks.
A large area near the centre of the venue facing the main stage is reserved for people with lawn chairs and blankets who would rather not fight the crowds up front.
No matter where you are in the grounds you are never far from the show. The main stage overlooks the majority of the venue allowing you to hear the music from almost anywhere.
Tucked further back the Westside stage offers a more quaint setting where the show feels very personal and you can get right up close with the artists.
But last night there was a chance to feel even more connected with the artists and the people at CityFolk, with the start of the TD Busker Series.
Near the entrance of the venue, right on the lawn with everyone else, the buskers carve out a space to perform and share their music. Carson Cameron was the first of the buskers to perform with two sets on Friday, kicking off the TD Busker Series.
He had no microphone or amplification of any kind, just his guitar, a harmonica and accompaniment from his friend Gavin Newlands on the seated drum. Carson took the lawn and made it a stage.
Carson’s energy while performing drew a small crowd, catching people’s attention as they entered the grounds, and he engaged well with the audience.
What is special about CityFolk is the focus on the music. At all times and in all spaces, there is a show going, and the buskers added another layer to this.
While the main stage naturally draws the largest crowds, The Westside Stage had its fair share of foot traffic on Friday, starting with the indie-folk workings of Tennyson King.
Tennyson offers more than the traditional roots sound of many Canadian folk artists. The Hong Kong-born, Canadian-raised singer-songwriter has been developing a sound of his own for many years. More recently he has begun to incorporate traditional Chinese instruments into his own music. Through arrangements combining the zhongruan and the guzheng, he created a unique timbre that married well with his otherwise folksy sound.
Photo by Sean Sisk.
Often described by himself as a nomadic artist, Tennyson sings about finding your path and the comfort in the unconventional.
While Tennyson’s talent may have been missed by many due to his early showtime he still drew a decent crowd and even had a couple older couples in the audience dancing to his slower songs.
The tent at the Westside stage did fill up more and more throughout the evening, drawing in fans and lingering crowds from the pumped up performance of the New Hires on the main stage. The local pop-rock band may have had a home turf advantage, with many in the crowd sporting the band’s merch.
The dapper group took to the stage with some fierce and somewhat 90s boy-band-esque energy.
Photo by Greg Kolz.
They even played a newly-released single from that day called “Hold the Applause” and were the second act of the week to pull out a “Teenage Dirtbag” cover. But unlike Cameron Whitcomb the night before, their guitarist did not sport a dress to sing the female parts.
Despite the more rock heavy line-up for the evening, folk was still very present, and people trickled back to the Westside stage, spilling out of the tent to watch Jensen McRae perform.
Photo by Greg Kolz.
She took to the stage wearing her own tour merch hoodie, which she joked “was not the plan” and was due to her being from California and being unprepared for the fairly cold temperatures. She took the crowd through an emotional roller-coaster of musical numbers, broken up by sarcastic quips and dry humour that had everyone laughing.
Singing about love, girlhood and growing up, she makes music that is very personal but widely relatable to younger female audiences in particular. With songs like “Massachusetts,” which became widely known through Tik Tok, there were key resemblances to the sounds of Tracey Chapman, or more recently Phoebe Bridgers.
Jensen has become well recognized for her folk and alternative-pop sound, opening for artists like Noah Kahan. But she is also making waves for black-women in folk music, even though industry professionals have tried to pigeon-hole her into R&B or soul.
The rest of the night was taken away by a lively performance from Third Eye Blind.
“The summer is almost over,” Lead Singer Stephan Jenkins said “And tonight could be the best night yet.”
While night three came close there are still a couple nights left for CityFolk to claim the title for best night of the summer.
