There was a little more leather and a little less colour worn among the sea of people at CityFolk for the fifth and final night of the festival.
Perhaps people were going all out in anticipation for acts like the Sex Pistols and Alice Cooper, but the commitment to the glam rock aesthetic was in full force. With everything from face paint to fishnets, a couple of fans even went all out sporting a top hat better than Alice Cooper himself.
Even the kids were dressed for the occasion with many young ones in skeleton onesies to fit in with mom and dad.
Despite the very prominent rock line up there was still some roots and folk that slipped through the cracks, creating a wide range of music. It was the type of night where running between stages to catch a bit of everything was the only option.
On the Westside stage, a rather captivating show by Amigo the Devil had fans singing, laughing and cheering for the energy-filled performance. The alter-ego of singer song-writer Danny Kiranos, had no lack of personality on stage. He even said he was going to have to “stop talking” at some point or he would run out of time to perform.
[Photo by Sean Sisk]
Many songs also included pieces of powerful poetry, with little to no instrumental back-up. This really cemented his story-telling style of song writing.
He said that many songs were one-hundred per cent true stories based on his life, making every lyric much more fascinating as he dove into stories about his father, gambling and travel.
This was the second show by Amigo the Devil in Ottawa this year, returning after their BluesFest in July.
But he wasn’t the only large personality to take fans by storm that night. Over on the main stage Sex Pistols took their job opening for Alice Cooper very seriously.
Getting the audience both warmed up and hyped up was a task they seemed to be built for, given their status as veritable founders of the British punk movement, and they proceeded to prove that age really is just a number.
The lineup consists of the three surviving members of the original band — Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock — with Frank Carter recently added on vocals as a replacement for the late Sid Vicious.
From the very start they got the crowd going, Frank getting right down in the audience and encouraging everyone to jump.
“Lets turn this festival into a world icon right now,” he said as he encouraged the crowd to create the biggest circle pit ever. “Lets make history.”
He also joked that the average age of the audience was older than he was used to, whether he was referring to his time performing with Sex Pistols or his former bands it was unclear but he said “at least you have healthcare up here.”
“If you can’t jump just pretend.”
Once again the buskers series continued for its third night, closing out the first year of this event with David James Allen. David is a roots-folk singer based in Prince Edward County, Ont.
David lured in a crowd with his soft soulful sound, and, in true busker fashion, a guitar and harmonica. His soft roots sound was a contrast from the other performers that night.
He even included his songs from his newly released album, Jubilation Potpourri, which came out on Friday Sept. 18, just in time for CityFolk.
