I guess Green Day tired everyone in Ottawa out on Friday night because crowds were considerably smaller last night than it has been but those in attendance were treated to, yet another, incredible show featuring stellar performances by Daughtry and Papa Roach. Plus a milestone performance by The Texas Horns as they celebrated their 25th anniversary at Ottawa Bluesfest.
The Texas Horns have been performing at Ottawa Bluesfest for 25 years and, as a former tenor sax player myself, I always take a bit of time to enjoy part of their set. I mean if they’re coming to Ottawa Bluesfest year after year there must be a good reason for it.
I wanted to make sure I got to the RBC Stage for some of We Were Sharks’ performance. This Ottawa based group was delivering a powerhouse performance to a decent sized crowd that had gathered at the main stage. While it’s been a few years since they’ve put out new music they’re gearing up for a fall tour with Teenage Bottlerocket which will kick off in Winnipeg in a few weeks and travel across Canada before wrapping up in Ottawa at the 27 Club on September 28. Things may have been quiet in the shark pit for the last little bit but something tells me they’re about to get stirred up again so definitely keep an eye on them.
American Idol alum, Daughtry, was up next. Although I became a fan, more so the process and talent than the show, of American Idol several years ago I wasn’t watching the show the year Daughtry was a contestant. He’s always been the perfect example, to me, of why winning these competitions isn’t always the most important thing. It was season 5 of the series and Chris finished 4th. Taylor Hicks, who?!?, and Katharine McPhee was the runner up. Since Idol his self-titled debut was the then-fastest-selling debut rock album in SoundScan history and, the band, found immediate and sustained success on the Hot 100 and Billboard rock charts, including a self-titled 2006 debut album that sold more than 6 million copies and spent two weeks atop the Billboard 200. The project’s lead single, “It’s Not Over,” peaked at No. 4 on the Hot 100 and topped both the Pop Airplay and Adult Pop Airplay charts, while earning a Grammy nomination for best rock song and best rock performance by a duo or group with vocals (two of four nods earned for the album).
Daughtry brought a much harder and heavier sound to the show last night than I expected but I was all in. The energy was top notch and the, obvious, respect he had for the crowd made the performance even better with plenty of sing-a-long moments. A standout moment, for me, was when he invited his daughter Adalynn to join him on stage for an acoustic duet of “Waiting for Superman”. One thing was clear…talent runs through the veins of the Daughtry clan. Will we see more from Adalynn in the future? With a talent like she has one can only hope.
Daughtry rounded out his set with “Home”, “Over You”, “Heavy is The Crowd” before closing things out with “Artificial” .
Papa Roach took to the stage next to close out the night. The crowd was notably, and expectedly, thinner than it was on previous nights but Jacoby Shaddix and company didn’t let that deter them from putting on an incredible show.
To be honest, as much as I was looking forward to a good rock show, I wasn’t expecting much out of Papa Roach. Sure they have a couple of tunes that have appeared on my playlist from time to time but not an artist I would expect to have an incredible live show…boy did I underestimate them.
They came out hitting and actually managed to tap into some of the energy that was still clinging to parts of the venue from Green Day the night before. About midway through the show the rough and tough metal armour that we often associate acts like Papa Roach with softened as Shaddix spoke about mental health. “Our band has talked about mental health since the beginning of our career,” he said. “There’s no greater feeling than when somebody says, ‘Your music saved my life.’
It was a poignant moment when the band, Shaddix, out on the catwalk, performed “Leave A Light On (Talk Away the Dark)” and asked for everyone in the crowd to turn on their lights. It’s rare to get emotional moments from a rock show but yet here we are.
The band asked for a moment of silence to remember those who we lost over the years…the music stopped and it was almost completely quiet but the energy was so high it was tough to keep everyone quiet for too long and eventually a familiar “ole, ole” chant started near the front of the crowd and the band took that as their queue and jumped into “Scars”.
The rest of the show continued the same as it started, full throttle right to the end when the band closed the show with “Last Resort” and a tease about a possible return to Ottawa in the fall? Can’t wait to hear more about that.
And so here we are…down to one last day of Ottawa Bluesfest 2025. It’s been an amazing year with incredible performances pretty much every night.
