Ottawa Buzz: MC Hammer Comes To Town

It may have been cold, rainy and generally shitty in the capital for the last few weeks, but fear not folks — summer is coming. I can't really prove this, but for feck's sake, it's June. No more frost warnings, please.

But looking ahead at the upcoming concert skeds for Ottawa, it doesn't really seem like much of a summer's coming anyway. (Insert lame pathetic fallacy remark about the current bad weather hanging over the summer symbollically. Ooh, ahh.)

Not a single major rock festival is coming by Ottawa this summer. No Edgefest. No Summersault. No Warped or Ozzfest. Not even a Fresh Festival this year as of yet. Nada.

If people in O-Town (no boy band will ever take that term from me) want to take in some local festival action, they'll have to look beyond those name-brand festivals and explore what the non-rock-genre fests are offering this summer. They almost make up for what isn't coming to town.

The Cisco Systems Bluesfest (July 6-8,12-15) at Lebreton Flats is the big mother of them all. This year a giant tech corporation's sponsorship has made one of the continent's biggest blues festivals even bigger. We're talking about THE Godfather of Soul and All Things Funk-ay, James Brown. We're also talking about a huge bill including (takes deep breath) Wilson Pickett, Jonny Lang, bad mofo Ike Turner, Blues Traveler, Blue Rodeo, Los Straitjackets, George Thourogood & The Destroyers, R.L. Burnside, Southern Culture On The Skids and the Reverend MC Hammer.

No, that last one wasn't a misprint.

Hammer answers to God now, and will play the Bluesfest's gospel stage. If you think that's strange, just remember that we live in a world where The Artist Formerly Known as Prince became Stupid-looking Symbol then Prince again and now a Jehovah's Witness Because He Likes Making People Scratch Their Heads And Wonder Why.)

The Bluesfest is so big this year that it's swallowed the Capital Music Conference, Ottawa's indie music showcase. The industry weekend will run July 13-15 on the Bluesfest site, and feature dozens of local acts like Big Jeezus Truck, Jacob Two-Two, Daddy Cool And The Groove Bug and THERMOclineE.

The expanded Bluesfest this year actually overlaps with the Ottawa International Jazz Festival (July 13-22, Confederation Park). Headlining this year is the eternally suave Tony Bennett. Also notables kicking out the jazz are tenor sax player Sonny Rollins and classic rocker-turned crooner Lee Aaron.

Even the CKCU Ottawa Folk Festival (Aug. 24-26, Britannia Park) is working to fill the rock fest void this summer. According to the festival's literature, Ashley MacIsaac has apparently cleaned up his act and returned to traditional Cape Breton fiddling, and he'll be bringing a (hopefully) tantrum-free set to the Folk Fest this year. He's never really been described as folk, but drama-king Hawksley Workman is also on the bill, as is folk-punk-jazz-etc. singer Ember Swift.

But for the drunken revellers, save up your beer money for the always colossal Canada Day bash on Parliament Hill, where native gal Alanis Morissette will perform. Sloshed hosers chanting "Isn't it ironic?" en Masse — what's more Canadian than that?

Jason Markusoff is an Ottawa student/Chart hack who wishes a universal festival pass meant he could get into every single festival in the universe.