Live Review: Son Volt/Mark Kozelek/Joe Grass, Black Sheep Stage, Ottawa Bluesfest, July 11, 2006

I parked it down in front at the Black Sheep stage last night not knowing what to expect because I was completely unfamilar with all three artists, but pretty sure that I'd enjoy it more than I would have enjoyed Blue Rodeo (seen em once, seen em a million times) who was playing over at the main stage.

Moncton's Joe Grass started things off by playing his acoustic guitar on his lap. Very impressive picking and not a lot of grinning by this 20-something, whose husky voice makes him sound world-weary well beyond his years. He came close to venturing into male Alanis territory, but thankfully he kept it just short of that.

Even more pickin' with a heck of a lot less grinnin' by Mark Kozelek, who expressed his disappointment at both the bleeding sound from the other stages during his set as well as the fact that his audience was by and large white-skinned (I'm serious). He cut his set short after 45 minutes with nary an AC/DC cover to be heard. I think it was because he was having difficulty concentrating. A very morose sound that would be the perfect soundtrack to an afternoon of self-mutilation, but talented nonetheless.

Finally, critical darlings Son Volt were up. I had heard rave reviews about them from my pal Goggles Pizzano but at about the third song, I had them pegged as a poor man's Tom Petty and Crazy Horse (or is that Neil Young and the Heartbreakers?). They all looked like they hadn't bathed in six weeks, were dressed in the finest attire Value Village has to offer, and were trying their best to revive the grunge scene from the mid-90s, which was never really my speed (Beavis and Butthead would have had a great time tearing these guys to shreds).

I'm also naturally skeptical of anyone who the Rolling Stone crowd adores. As the first half of the set went on, I started to really want to hate them even more as I was increasingly surrounded by Birkenstock-wearing plain Janes and horn-rimmed collegiate boys probably in town for the summer on co-op, but I didn't. They were actually pretty good ... but certainly not mind-blowing.

Individual ratings:

Joe Grass: 7.75/10
Mark Kozelek: 6.5/10
Son Volt: 6.75/10

Overall rating: 7/10