178b. Enjoy Yourself: Ottawa Bluesfest 2013 (Pt. 2) with The Specials, The Waterboys, Animal Collective, Solange, and more, July 8-12

Oooh looky, there’s a curmudgeon onstage …

178b. Enjoy Yourself: Ottawa Bluesfest 2013 (Pt. 1) with The Specials, The Waterboys, Animal Collective, Solange, Balkan Beat Box, and more, July 8-12, LeBreton Flats, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

 Click here for Part One of my 2013 Bluesfest recap with The Black Keys, Sharon Van Etten and more or Saturday’s set from Belle & Sebastian. 

The Specials
Monday, July 8, 2013

Sunday was Bluesfest-free owing to the small matter of my visiting nephew — known here as Fast & Bulbous — and I going to see the surprisingly still fab Paul McCartney (that entry is eventually coming too, even with my re-focus back on the past).  Had “The Cute Beatle”™  not come to town on said night,

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016. End of the Party: The (English) Beat with R.E.M., April 12, 1983

As with the Gang of Four concert, I came away only with the end stub.  Luckily, that practice was quickly scrapped. 

016. End of the Party: The (English) Beat with R.E.M., Alumni Hall, UWO, London, Ontario, Canada, Tuesday April 12, 1983, $10.

In my memory-themed piece for the Boomtown Rats show, I pondered “In terms of the more review-centric pieces I am writing on contemporary shows, what am I leaving out now that I’d highlight later? What context and foreshadowing — invisible to me now — will become essential and evident as time passes?” This Beat/R.E.M. gig is a perfect specimen to examine through that lens.

011. What A Day That Was: The Police Picnic II with The Police, the Talking Heads, the (English) Beat, Joan Jett and more, August 13, 1982

Hmmm … this ticket looks familiar …

011. What A Day That Was: The Police Picnic II with The Police, The Talking Heads, The (English) Beat, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, A Flock of Seagulls, and The Spoons, CNE Stadium, Toronto, Ontario, Friday August 13, 1982, $22.

Sometime during the early morning hours of Saturday August 14th, 1982, a Music Mann Tours bus pulled up to Victoria Park in downtown London, Ontario, Canada. Among those descending from the bus were myself, Lady Bump, and Le Château: the same trio that went to the OMD show in March. Although, with us, it was more like we were crawling out of it rather than walking off of it. I seem to recall kissing the pavement upon our return.

OK, that last touch may just be my imagination running away with me. But there is no doubting the memory of my/our utter relief and joy at being back in the hometown we so often derided.

It was supposed to have been such a fun day. Where did it all go wrong?

009. The Boiler: The Police Picnic I with The Police, Specials, Iggy Pop, Killing Joke and more, August 23, 1981

The first Police Picnic and the only one of the three not held at CNE Stadium. 

009. The Boiler: The Police Picnic I with The Police, The Specials, Iggy Pop, Killing Joke, The Go-Go’s, Nash the Slash, John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett, The Payola$, Oingo Boingo, and the David Bendeth Band, The Grove, Oakville, Ontario, Canada, August 23, 1981, $20.

Exactly one year to the day from Heatwave and here I was once again sitting in a large field at an all day, open air festival under the baking sun.

This first Police Picnic (organized by the bleached blonde rock group, not the law enforcement organization) turned out to be the inverse of Heatwave.