Photos and a review of Ottawa Bluesfest (part 1)

[There are a couple of teams on the ground to cover this year’s Bluesfest. This report is from Karen Coughtrey, Ross MacDonald, and Melody Maloney. – AC]

Ottawa Bluesfest 2025 kicked off Thursday July 10th, with a country night featuring Lainey Wilson as headliner on the RBC main stage, but acts putting the Blues (jazz, soul, funk) into Bluesfest could be found on the Lebreton Stage, located in a tent behind the main stage down closer to the shore of Ottawa river.

Chambers DesLauriers are a Blues / Soul duo consisting of Cornwall, Ontario’s own blues guitarist Paul DesLauriers, and Houston native and soulful singer Annika Chambers.

Chambers’ voice is incredible and she has star power, grabbing attention as she subtly shimmied around her position on stage and singing the powerful lyrics of songs such as set opener ‘Here I Am.’ As an introduction to their second number, she told the crowd, If we have to use our voice to speak out in the world, with everything going on we got to ‘Stand Up.’

The duo are releasing an album, Our Time To Ride, August 22nd, and performed ‘Written In The Stars,’ ‘People Gonna Talk,’ and the first single from the album ‘Love You Just The Same.’

Chamber’s took the crowd to Texas where she’s from singing ‘Flying High’ and explained that Chambers DesLauriers had been scheduled to play Bluesfest last year but had to cancel after the passing of her mother.

The music is groovy and permeating making it hard not to feel engrossed and to move your body even subtly and the crowds grew throughout the set and those who enjoyed it the most had the rare treat to catch them again at second show later on in the evening on a different stage but still within the festival.

Australia’s The Cat Empire https://thecatempire.com/ closed the night on the Lebreton stage and what a show it was. In the time between acts a smallish crowd appeared, ready and excited to be in the front row but by the time the band was introduced the tent was packed, the stands were nearly full, a mass gathered watching the screen outside the tent, and people were ready to have a good time. There was a palpable sense of excitement as the band took the stage.

They opened with ‘How To Explain’ and at first notes from the Empire Horns they had the crowd jumping and vibing. Lead singer Felix Riebl opened the song, but Lazaro Ernesto Numa Pompa wowed the crowd with a trumpet solo and also took a turn on lead vocals as did bassist Grace Barbé. The three would take turns in the role all set.

The crowd needed no encouragement to participate but they were asked to contribute their voices on ‘Oscar Wilde’ and really got into the groove on ‘Brighter Than Gold’ and ‘Two Shoes.’

They played ‘Blood On The Stage’ and the audience sang and danced along so enthusiastically you’d have no idea it was a song off their new album Bird In Paradise, released the day after this show, July 11.

The energy was high, the vibes were groovy, and if there was ever a show to yell “More Cow Bell” at, it is a Cat Empire show and Neda Rahmani is a star on percussion. The fans really added to the show, not only with their energy, but Bluesfest’s Bubble guy also made an appearance wearing the head of a furry cat costume.

They played a medley kicked off with ‘Hello’ and ‘Sly’ featured a lengthy drum solo by Daniel Farrugia and instrumental features from the rest of the band so Felix could take a much needed water break and breather as the energy was high but the temperatures were higher, it was a notably hot evening.

They made a point to mention and thank their entire crew, particularly their tour manager who they said have taken them through 7 weeks of bliss and horror and dedicated ‘Rock N’ Roll’ to them.

Of course the big draw of the night was the music on the main stage but those who failed to check out the side stages really missed out on a most excellent and apt kick off to Ottawa’s biggest and favourite summer musical festival.

Chambers DesLauriers
Paul DesLauriers – guitar
Annika Chambers – vocals
Gary Davenport – bass
Sylvain Coulombe – drums

The Cat Empire
Felix Riebl – lead vocals, guitar, percussion
Ollie McGill – piano, keyboards, vocals
Grace Barbé – bass, vocals
Daniel Farrugia – drums
Neda Rahmani – percussion, vocals
The Empire Horns
Kieran Conrau – trombone, vocals
Roscoe James Irwin – trumpet, vocals
Lazaro Ernesto Numa Pompa – trumpet, vocals