Review: Ottawa Pop Duo Shines in Bluesfest's Exciting Performance

This kind of rocket-driven success often provokes speculation as to whether the live show can compete with the prowess in the studio. Well, as they demonstrated in front of a hometown audience under the sun on Saturday, they have a great show, plus a bunch of songs. Wonders at once are not.

With Elijah Woods on his keyboard-synthesizer booth, producing endless inventive hooks, it was up to Jamie Fine to go out as a leader, a role that had been entrusted to him. Her boundless energy was contagious, and she emanated a confidence that compelled the public to follow her every request, whether it was to sing or put her hands in the air. His staccato vocal delivery style has brought the influence of a range of artists, from Alanis to Adele. When she plunges into her soul, it is a cathartic effusion that rings with raw emotion

In Relation

In their white shirts, Fine and Woods dazzled in the sun, a visual contrast with the entirely black scene and the group members. black shirts. The band, by the way, consisted of electric guitar players, bbad players, keyboards and drums, a setup that gave a hard rock side to the duo's electro-pop.

In addition to their own catchy tracks, like Chasing Feels, 8:48 and Is not Easy, to name a few, they tackle an ambitious version of Dream On. Aerosmith, disbadembling it with a rhythmic beat and some soulful-up moans.

Woods, who is also a composer, arranger and producer, seems to be the musical genius behind the duet. A young man with gentle manners, he and outgoing Fine make a great team. The spirit of love and camaraderie between them was endearing, evident in the smiles they exchanged. They are buzzing in the music industry right now, and they are smart enough to know that they are lucky to know each other.

Woods and Fine were the highlight of a day featuring pop and hiphop on the main stage, thanks to hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd, the darling of Jessie's pop Reyez and Electronic Dynamo Yaeji

Rae Stremmurd, featuring the fraternal duo of Slim Jxmmi and Swae Lee, occupied the main stand of the main stage, setting to work in front of an exuberant crowd by removing their shirts, lighting Joints and Exploding Pit With a full-fledged orchestra, Jessie Reyez gave a show that balanced her penchant for catchy dance music with singer-songwriter-songwriter singing, including a scream to the #MeToo movement in the powerful song, Gatekeepers, based on his own uncomfortable experience with a producer. The young crowd is unleashed for its honesty.

Meanwhile, the stage behind the museum was in the world in terms of music and audience. The older ones gathered at the Black Sheep Stage for a blues day, featuring Canadian guitarist Colin James, solo blues band Steve Hill and two Ottawa area blues, Lyle Odjick and Northern Steam , as well as River City Junction.

lsaxberg @ postmedia.com