Escapade Music Festival Set Times

Here comes that daunting task of actually deciding which shows to see at the Escapade Music Festival. Being a veteran of large festivals myself, I dread this process and sympathize with anyone who thought buying your ticket was all the work you had to do. You will have to make terrible compromises, often causing nightmares of pain an regret just before the festival. Hopefully most of you will survive this ordeal, despite the stressfulness... Let's be honest, you can't really go wrong.  Check out the set times here:

For more info, go to http://www.escapademusicfestival.com/

'4in1' Ottawa Park Acoustic Sessions

Fevers @ Dundonald Park

What: Photogmusic Presents: '4in1' Ottawa Park Acoustic Sessions
Where: Dundonald Park, Centretown
Who:

- Avid Napper
- Scary Bear Soundtrack
- Jenna Tenn-Yuk
- Del Bel + Lisa Bozikovic Jessica Ruano
- Fevers
- Eriksen



Ok, so this whole thing is new to me. I've decided to snub the man and take on this project because I love music and want to write about it. As I walked to Dundonald Park in Centretown I realize that I am actually doing this. It's happening. I didn't really know what to expect, but it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon on the May long weekend.

Needless to say, my mind was a little bit blown. All the performers had a unique story to tell and did a terrific job at doing so. Here's how it went down.

Avid Napper, Gloria of Scary Bear Soundtrack's side project, came up and played a couple Springsteen covers. This was a great start as I became slightly more familiar/comfortable with my surroundings, and because who honestly doesn't like the Boss?

Scary Bear Soundtrack then came up and played a few politically/socially charged tunes that piqued my interest. I had seen the new 'Asian Fetishist' video a few days before and I was thoroughly impressed with their adaptation in a live acoustic setting. Gloria has a simple but engaging voice, and the harmonies were sick.

Jenna Tenn-Yuk came up and began with her 'Jamasian' poem. Let me just pause here and say that the only exposure I'd had to spoken work was a few Leonard Cohen pieces, so I'm no expert. I am a sucker for stories though, whether in song, movie, or as it turns out, poetry. She blended some poems with songs, covering Austra and playing originals. I was impressed how seamlessly the poetry and song blended together, something I can say I had never experienced before.

Jessica Ruano gave me a second, more forceful dose of spoken word. She was the designated 'time killer' since Del Bel and Lisa Bozikovic had to run for sound check. Wow. Jessica touched on themes I think we all experience at different points in our lives - particularly powerlessness, but also strength to recover from our our times of weakness. She kicked ass.

My most anticipated act came up, Fevers. This electronic/pop group formed last year has really been making a name for themselves. They impressed me by playing perfect acoustic versions of non-acoustic songs, Passion is Dead & Radiohead's Idioteque. Previously, I was convinced that Idioteque was a non-coverable song as it is extremely experimental and unapologetically complex. I was dead wrong. Colin beautifully adapted Thom Yorke's mutant vocal powers into a version that was very accessible to anyone listening. Something that stood out to me during their set was that I never felt as though one vocalist was more dominant than the other. Colin and Sarah are a highly effective duo, similar to the dynamic of the band 'Of Monsters & Men'. I spoke to them briefly after the show and they were very down-to-earth and obviously enjoying every minute of their musical endeavours.

Eriksen rounded things off playing a set of originals. His songs provided a nice end to what was a perfect Sunday afternoon.

I look forward to seeing Fevers play @ Babylon this Friday the 25th, and hope to see the other performers around Ottawa in the future.

Check out photos of the event on Photogmusic's blog:

Photos of 4in1 Acoustic Sessions in a Park #2 [May 20, 2012]