Photos and a review of Ottawa Cityfolk Night 1 featuring The Beaches, Softcult and more

[Ottawa correspondent Ross MacDonald was on the scene yet again. – AC]

In Ottawa the unofficial end of summer coincides with the CityFolk music festival. (note: Ottawa seemingly has misleading festival names as the festival beginnings may have been folk, but it is much more diverse now). And fortunately, this year’s lineup was heavy on indie and alt-rock artists.

Opening night of the five-day festival was on Wednesday 11 September and the evening’s headliners were this year’s Group of the Year Juno winners The Beaches.

Kicking off the night was Toronto artist Päter. The weather was perfect, clear skies and warm weather, which aligned nicely with Päter’s warm sounds.

Päter entertained the crowd with her soft rock sounds, at one point sitting down on the edge of the stage to get more personal with the building crowd. They definitely made a few new fans during their set.

Next up was Juno award winner Hawksley Workman. Unfortunately Hawksley was tucked into the side stage which offered nowhere near enough room for the crowd he drew in. Next year the festival definitely has to offer a much larger space for the side stage.

Hawksley brought along his longtime bandmate Todd ‘Mr. Lonely’ Lumley to join him on keys and backing vocals. It was a wonderful musical experience for anyone who could squeeze into the side stage area. And although Hawksley played a number of his more popular singles, he left the crowd wanting more.

Next up was post-grunge rockers Softcult on the main stage. The band is fronted by twins Mercedes (lead vocals, guitar) and Phoenix (drums, backing vocals). Softcult has been described as shoegaze, but that is an unfair assessment. Yes, the band is prolific with guitars, and using a plethora of effects; however, Softcult is so much more. Mercedes is engaging with the audience and embodies the punk and riot grrrl culture (which is even spelled out on the tattoos on her legs).

It is refreshing to hear Softcult’s lyrics. Throughout the night they sang about inclusivity and equal rights for all. It was like listening to old-school punk, but with today’s issues.

Both Mercedes and touring guitarist Brent McSwiggan were using Fender Jazz Masters with their unique single coil pickups that are less piercing than the Strats, but still lend themselves beautifully to a range of effects.

And backing up Mercedes on vocals was her twin Phoenix. It is remarkable to hear them sing together. It is like a slight reverb effect, but it is clear and clean. Phoenix also led the rhythm section beating the drums hard and fast; one has to wonder if Travis Barker is an influence.

Softcult was an outstanding choice to warm-up the festival crowd for The Beaches. Their one-hour set was upbeat and fun, with a serious message in the lyrics.

It was a large crowd, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather, waiting for the stage change before The Beaches came out. After some introductions from the morning show announcers at Ottawa’s alt-rock radio station LiVE 88.5, the stage went dark, then lit from behind in blue light, and surrounded with smoke, the four young ladies in The Beaches took the stage.

The Beaches started the show with their latest single ‘Takes One to Know One’ which is currently the #1 alt-rock song in Canada. Then after another recent song, ‘Cigarette’, the band performed their top-10 single ‘Fascination’ from 2019’s EP ‘The Professional’.

At this point lead singer Jordan mentioned that Ottawa is a special place because it was when they were playing a local club The House of Targ in 2015 when their agent told them that they were on their way to make it as a band “that there’s something here”. And make it big they did with four Juno awards, including two in 2024 for Rock Album of the Year and Group of the Year.

Most of the 90 minute set was devoted to songs from their recent album ‘Blame My Ex’. This is hardly surprising because the songs are fresh and upbeat, perfect for a late summer festival. And ‘Blame My Ex’ has been hugely successful with four singles, and the aforementioned Juno award. Also blink-182’s Mark Hoppus was recorded singing along to ‘Blame Brett’ in a video clip a few months ago.

‘Blame Brett’ was the final song of the band’s main set. But of course the exuberant fans were clamouring for more. As the band came back on stage Jordan pointed out a fan that was holding a sign that said “itty bitty titty committee”, a line from their first #1 single ‘T-Shirt’. Jordan loved the sign, but thought that the girl holding it looked very young.

And of course The Beaches broke into ‘T-Shirt’ to the delight of everyone. It was another upbeat moment on an energy-packed evening. Ottawa’s CityFolk festival started on the right foot to everyone’s ‘Fascination’.