Ottawa Bluesfest coverage continues with sets by Natasha Bedingfield, Myles Smith, and Conan Gray

[More work from Melody Maloney on camera and Karen Coughtrey on text. – AC]

Ottawa Bluesfest kicked off week two of its 10-day festival with a night of acts on the RBC mainstage for the ladies on Day 5 (Wednesday July 15). The lineup consisted of millennial UK pop star Natasha Bedingfield and modern-day crooners Myles Smith and Conan Gray. 

It was a rare night when the opening act was arguably more well-known and more popular than the headliner. The traffic (both automobile and pedestrian) on the way to the festival was noticeably denser than on previous festival nights as the people of Ottawa sought to arrive at the opening in order to not miss Natasha Bedingfield’s early evening (6 pm) set. 

It was a beautiful night and the festival’s location near the Ottawa river as usual provided a refreshing breeze and Bedingfield’s beautiful clear voice resonated around the park as did the sense of joy and nostalgia. She opened with ‘Love Like This’ and then after a humorous story about growing up in London roller skating, played a song off her 2019 album Roll With Me ‘Roller Skate’ and played ‘Single’ for all the single people in the crowd. 

She commented several times on the beautiful sunny evening, in a way teasing her song ‘Pocket Full of Sunshine’ which she did eventually play mid set. 

For many elder millennials (women in particular) Natasha’s songs would have been a part of the soundtrack of early adulthood and with the crowd belting out the words to her mega hits ‘These Words’ and ‘Unwritten’ one couldn’t help but feel that this served as a cathartic experience, a bit of group therapy or group healing.

 

Although she has a wide discography of her own she played something for everyone and performed a wide variety of covers including ‘Glory Box’ from Portishead and Robyn’s ‘Dancing On My Own.’ Because it at its roots a Bluesfest Natasha declared she wished to make it a nostalgia fest as well and that they would do something special to take advantage of her wonderful band which was to play a medley of covers which included Whitney Houston’s ‘I’m Every Woman,’ Estelle’s ‘American Boy,’ Chaka Khan’s ‘Ain’t Nobody (Loves Me Better)’ and Sade’s ‘Smooth Operator.’

The covers didn’t end there and she played a snippet of Avril Lavigne’s ‘Sk8r Boi’ while applauding Canadians for their apparently globally known support of live music and also later mentioning the influence Canadian artists/music has worldwide and named Celine Dion, Jesse Reyez and Simple Plan. 

Natasha ended her set on a high note, with her hit ‘I Bruise Easily’ followed by a new song not yet released, possibly named ‘Dot Dot Dot.’ She promised new music is coming soon and the penultimate song must have been an unreleased song as well but she invited Ottawa based Indigenous artist and fellow Ottawa Bluesfest 2026 performer Aspects to join her on stage and to rap at the end of the song. She then capped off the early evening with a dance party to the Badger Remix of ‘These Words.’

In overhearing patron conversations while walking into the festival it was clear many were unfamiliar with Myles Smith and his music. He is very down to earth, humble and undoubtedly talented and he had no trouble winning over the crowd as many stayed at the mainstage and surely many realised that they had heard his music before. 

He opened with the lively ‘Stay (If You Wanna Dance)’ and yes the crowd stayed and danced. 

He expressed his gratitude several times for the people he gets to meet as he travels the world who choose to come see live music in general (with the prices right now) and him in particular. He mentioned onstage but explained more clearly in his Instagram caption posted the day after the Bluesfest performance that there are things going on in his personal life; he went home for a few days and arrived in Ottawa at 3 am. He wasn’t sure what he had to give the crowd, but then the lively, appreciative Ottawa crowd reminded him why he does what he does. His closest people had told him not to rob himself of his dream because of heaviness back home, and the Ottawa crowd helped him realize they were right. 

He performs with a live band and on this night some members were Joe Devine on guitar, Daniel Said on drums, Isobella Burnham on bass, and Julia DiGrazia on the fiddle. 

He has just released his first ever album, My Mess, My Heart, My Life, came out June 2026 and he very politely asked the crowd to check it out if they could. As of course most of his setlist is included on that album, (‘Gold,’ ‘Dying Days’ ‘Wait For You,’ ‘Hold Me In The Dark,’ to name a few songs he played) many will. 

Like many young artists his lyrics come from a place of struggle and he spoke about heartbreaks but also spoke poignantly about mental health (keep pushing, it gets better he promised on behalf of himself and everyone in his band who have been through it) on a few occasions throughout his time on stage. 

With an activity he does at every show, he even provided a visual of how many among us have struggles. He hoped the crowd would be brave enough to participate as he gave a list of “if you” statements asking the crowd to turn on their flashlight if it applied to them. He then performed ‘River’ which contains lyrics such as “Let it out, let it go, it’s okay to cry.”  

In the middle of River he performed a medley of covers including Adele’s ‘Rollin In The Deep’, Bastille’s ‘Pompeii’, and Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape Of You.’

Of course, he saved his biggest hit for last, finishing off with the beautiful ‘Stargazing’ and although it wasn’t the cool immersive, he’s in the middle of the crowd experience fans will have seen him do from clips from his small venue shows, he did come down off the stage to walk among the fans providing more personal appreciation as he sang his chart topper. 

Now although Natasha Bedingfield might have drawn out the large crowd early there was a noticeable difference in the crowd this night that offered a clue as to who the people were there to see. The seemingly ubiquitous festival dress code of white dress or top and cowboy boots had been replaced with a distinctly nautical theme to much attire, particularly the wearing of sailor hats, many with a long ribbon. If you didn’t know better (it’s inspired by cover art from Conan Gray’s latest album Wishbone and his own merch) you might have thought you’d stumbled upon some sort of Comic con bluesfest edition and that perhaps Sailor moon and her fellow Sailor Guardians/Scouts would be appearing from the classic anime/manga series. 

Conan Gray is not a cartoon character but he is a real showman and he knows how to pose and move around the stage with ease and there is something larger than life about him. The set was whimsical and dreamy (a cloudy dusk sky and later including a swing and stars), his black gauze jumpsuit was airy and flowy and his soft features, luscious locks and huge beautiful smile leave no doubt why the young fans love him and it’s as if he whips up the adoration as he spins himself across and around the stage. 

Not to say that young fans are not discerning and looks alone only take you so far. Conan Gray is a talented singer/musician with a beautiful voice and his songs speak to themes that are important and pertinent to young people, heartbreaks, commitment issues, social standing, family issues, trauma and the crowd loved his depressing songs as much as the more bubbly fare. 

He opened with ‘My World’ and ‘Never Ending Song.’ The set also included popular songs ‘Heather,’ ‘The Cut That Always Bleeds’ and ‘Memories.’

His backup band of course play a key role in creating the dreamy whimsical atmosphere in which he performs and notably they are all female. The band consists of talented musicians Renny Goh (keyboards), Hayley Jane Batt (bass) or Tiana Ohara (guitars), Eliza Pet (guitars), and Lauren “LJ” Jones (drums) and also features a live string section led by Emily Elkin and Grace Ann.