More photos and a review of Ottawa Bluesfest: Def Leppard, Tom Morello and more!

[Ross MacDonald, Karen Coughtrey, and Melody Maloney were on the ground for us once again. – AC]

Ottawa Bluesfest kicked off its second weekend Wednesday night (July 16th) in a big way. The mainstage featured Canadian classic rockers Luscious (est. Kingston) opening for Tom Morello and was headlined by Def Leppard.

Luscious was the perfect opening band for the evening. They have nailed the classic rock sound and look. Lead singer Brielle is incredibly engaging and continually attempted to interact with the small but growing crowd.

They played 10 songs including ‘Bombshell,’ ‘Hollywood Heart’ and “Caution Signs.’ Also included was a fantastic cover of Michael Jackson’s ‘Dirty Diana.’

Legendary guitarist Tom Morello was next to grace the Ottawa crowd with his presence on the main stage. He appeared in his usual uniform of sunglasses and red bandana.

One of the most remarkable elements of the show was that Morello was joined on stage, for several numbers, by his son Roman. The senior Morello called him a 14 year old firebrand and the young man can shred, even playing behind his head at one point.

Roman often looked at his dad for cues, and as Tom was looking back, you could feel the pride that swelled inside him watching his young son command the stage in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans.

Tom and Roman also timed multiple jumps together much to the delight of the crowd (Roman can jump high with a heavy guitar strapped over his shoulder).

Morello is just back from being musical director at Ozzy Osbourne/Black Sabbath’s last show and spoke about the cultural impact of the band before playing a cover of ‘Mr Crowley.’

“Heavy metal was the music that made me love music and Black Sabbath invented heavy metal, so for my generation to be able to pay honour to that generation was a real treat but here was the surprise, that that music is seeped into the DNA of that generation.”

Tom paid a beautiful, yet sombre tribute to his friend, and Audioslave lead singer, Chris Cornell before playing ‘Like A Stone.’ He left a microphone open on stage in the hopes the voices of the audience would fill the void. His notes rang out hauntingly over the fans singing along with guitarist Carl Restivo, who took over Chris Cornell’s vocals.

He also paid homage to his time in the E-Street band by playing a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad’ which offered a perfect opportunity to really show off his unique guitar playing skills and style.

Of course Morello did not shy away from getting political. He is a very proud American, he literally wears the flag proudly on his sleeve. Nevertheless, as he introduced his brand new song ‘Pretend You Remember Me,’ (released July 10) he would tell the crowd:

“In the aftermath of the I.C.E. raids in LA, when smelling tear gas I thought Fuck I.C.E. and Fuck Trump and Fuck Racism and Fuck people who are trying to tear apart families.”

He flashed a “Land Back” sign hidden on the back of his guitar, led the people to believe that ‘Killing In The Name’ would be a local Indigenous People’s war cry or song and gave an impassioned speech on speaking truth to power before his last song ‘Power To The People.’

“Where the ideas expressed in our songs, and the people who write and play them, maybe even those who sit in the audience… They find themselves censured, smothered, evicted, erased. But not today because history is not something that happens it’s something we make. So head out into that world to confront injustice wherever it rears its ugly head, in your school, in your place of work, in your country.”

He would leave the stage with this quote and food for thought : “The future is unwritten and the rest is up to you.”

There was no doubt that many of the festival patrons were very excited to see the night’s headliner, as it would appear that one in every two Ottawan’s own a Def Leppard T-shirt and space in the main bowl got very crowded as a countdown clock appeared on the main stage screens.

Joe Elliot marvelled at the size of the crowd before jumping into ‘Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)’ and then straight into ‘Rocket.’

They played ‘Foolin,’ one they claimed to have played on their first ever Canadian tour back in 1983, then celebrated that Vivian Campbell is back and healthy, and he had a solo on ‘Armageddon IT.’

In a truly special moment of the night, they did something they haven’t done in a long time, and invited a special guest to join them on stage. They brought back Tom Morello to join them on ‘Just Like ‘73’ “as he played on the recorded version of the song and it was the right thing to do.” said Elliott.

Elliott had great things to say about Ottawa Bluesfest stating that the band was honoured to be included at a festival that has and continues to bring in such big names.

You would think a band of their stature would not need introductions but the band brought the tone down for a minute and introduced all the members and then all showed off their singing chops on ‘This Guitar’ and then requested the crowd sing along with them on ‘Two Steps Behind.’

The background visuals were bold and often futuristic and outer spacy and somehow the band managed a few outfit changes throughout the set. Many in the crowd marvelled aloud at how great the band still sounds after over 40 years of being rock royalty.

With a promise that they would be back;“Til next time and there WILL be a next time. Don’t forget us and we won’t forget you,” Def Leppard capped off the night with ‘Hysteria’ and an electric performance of ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me.’

Luscious
Brielle LeBlanc – lead vocals
Cole LeBlanc – bass, vocals
Kurt Paquette – guitar, vocals
Doug O’Handley – keyboards, vocals
Wyatt McMullin – drums

Tom Morello
Tom Morello – guitar, vocals
Roman Morello – guitar
Carl Restivo – guitar, vocals
Eric Gardner – drums, backing vocals
Dave Gibbs – bass, backing vocals

Def Leppard
Rick Savage – bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, guitars
Joe Elliott – lead vocals, occasional rhythm guitar, keyboards, piano
Rick Allen – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Phil Collen – guitar, backing vocals
Vivian Campbell – guitar, backing vocals