A little rain never hurt anyone, and that old adage it proved true on Saturday when thousands of folks descended upon Deer Lake Park for the annual Blues +Roots Festival.
Burnaby resident Leslie DeLuca has been attending the festival since it started 16 years ago, save for three or four years where family obligations conflicted with the date. Last year she invited a friend and former co-worker Dar Bosley – she was impressed enough to come back again this year.
“I love it. I loved it last time, I love it this time. I love blues,” Bosley said.
This year’s lineup featured everything from well-known, long-time musicians, including Lee Fields and the Expressionists, to up-and-coming acts like Devin Cuddy and Colleen Rennison. It really offered something for everyone, DeLuca said.
“If you’re a music lover, you’re a blues lover because blues is at the root,” she added. “You’ve gotta have an open mind, open ears and listen to everybody and anything, and if it’s not your cup of tea, cool.”
DeLuca’s favourite blues and roots festival memory is the year KD Lang was the headliner; Lang was amazing, she said.
Bosley’s favourite so far?
“For me it was Imelda May,” she said. “I want her back.”
When asked who they were most excited about seeing at this year’s festival, DeLuca said it was more about hearing new bands play than pining for one big name, adding she typically buys her tickets for the festival before the lineup is even announced.
“When we find out what the lineup is, … I YouTube them, Google them, I listen to all of them and get my favourites from there,” she said.
A couple acts that had already caught the pair’s attention included afternoon main stage act Eagle Rock Gospel and Jesse Roper, who appeared with his band on the garden stage.
“He’s a winner,” Bosley said with a smile.
After a slow start to the day, the crowds finally started letting loose. By the end of Jesse Roper’s set, a large crowd had gathered in front of the stage, many dancing and jiving to the music.
Later in the day, well-known actor and musician Jim Byrnes and the Sojourners rocked the Westwood Stage, and by 7 p.m. the clouds had started to clear and people were busy getting down to the soulful sound of veteran blues artist Lee Fields and the Expressionists.
But it wasn’t until headliners, and Canadian success story, The Sheepdogs hit the main stage that a large group of people finally gathered.
Not since Tegan and Sara and Dan Magan performed at CBC Music Fest last year has there been so many 20- and 30-somethings at Deer Lake Park. At least a few hundred young people were willing to forego the revelry at Squamish to watch The Sheepdogs perform in Burnaby – and they didn’t leave disappointed.
The boys from Saskatoon kicked things off with hits including The Way It Is and Feeling Good, throwing in a couple jam sessions in the middle, like blues and roots artists of decades past.
The Sheepdogs capped their set shortly before 9:45 p.m. with I Don’t Know, but after a couple minutes of cheering from the crowd returned for two more songs, described by frontman Ewan Currie as classic Canadian covers – Southern Man by Neil Young and The Guess Who’s Share the Land – ending the night promptly at 10 p.m.
The NOW is still waiting to hear how many people attended this year's festival.
