Rebelfest rocks the Lansdowne Park lawn in Ottawa.

The Algonquin College Online Learning Rebelfest, formerly known as Mountain Man Festival, was held this week in a scorching weather at Lansdowne Park, after being relocated from last year’s venue at a Calabogie resort.

Ottawa’s rock radio station Rebel 101.7 had clearly put a lot of thought to this year’s festival, wanting to have more central location accessible to the Ottawa valley rock and metal fans, and bringing some of the best Canadian talent on the roster.

Day 1 on Saturday brought in three local bands on top of the headliners, Montreal’s The Damn Truth and the legendary Toronto blues/reggae band Big Sugar who were bound to bring old fans to the Lansdowne Park lawns.

Opening the day in the blistering sun was Big Jeezus Truck who have been rocking the stages in Canada and Europe for twenty years. The band always puts on an entertaining blues rock show for the crowds of all ages.

Gatineau’s Inire played the Mountain Man last year on the third and last day, and had the honors taking the stage on the opening day this year. The band recently opened for Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach at a sold out show at Barrymore’s, and it was great to see the band to take the big stage again for Rebelfest.

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Inire at Rebelfest. Photo by Laura Collins.

I had seen Ottawa’s Double Experience before at smaller venues such as House of Targ and I was curious to see how the band takes a bigger stage, and they absolutely owned it.

One of the absolute favorites of the festival for me was the Montreal rockers The Damn Truth, who always give their all on stage and were clearly one the biggest crowd pleasers of the festival. Big things happening to these guys in the near future!

Big Sugar closed the night on Saturday, and having just announced the passing of their long time bassist, Gary Lowe to cancer, the show was noticeably more melancholic than it would have normally been. The band pulled a large crowd of dedicated fans who all sang their way through the one hour set.

Day 2 on Sunday opened with the Rebel 101.7 rock search winner Stynger, who look and sound the part.. Leather pants and flowing hair and blaring guitar solos, guaranteed to be entertained.

Ottawa’s Quiet Crimes have been steadily on Rebel’s playlist for the past few months having just released their first EP late last year. I look forward to seeing and hearing these guys a lot more!

Returning to the fest again this year was Ottawa rockers Crossing Jane, who among their original tunes, belted out the Linkin Park cover In The End to the audience’s delight.

Ottawa’s Eagleson have been in studio this year working with the Cancer Bats guitarist and producer Scott Middleton on their new album coming out later this year. The band has brought some new blood on board and worked on a bigger sound, and it was definitely working for their favor at the festival.

The true north pop-punk rockers We Were Sharks put on a killer show on Sunday afternoon. The bands songs are playing on the radio regularly and these guys absolutely belong to the big stage.

The biggest pleasant surprise of the festival for me was Oshawa duo Crown Lands, who I had never seen live before, and clearly I have missed out big time. The band has a huge sound, and you would never guess there were just two guys on stage unless you saw it with your own eyes. If the duo’s original material wasn’t enough, they broke into the Led Zeppelin cover Kashmir and completely blew everyone’s minds in the audience.

What’s the best way to end any rock festival? Call The Lazys, and there’s guaranteed to be a one hell of a good time. The Toronto based Aussie rockers have been steadily climbing the rock charts and touring Canada and Europe, and even the downpour on Sunday night didn’t stop the rocknroll dance party at Lansdowne.

Even though the first ACOL Rebelfest ever didn’t draw a full lawn this year, being the only festival in Ottawa that is solely focused on rock, punk and metal, it has a huge potential to draw in a lot more people when the timing is right. Ottawa is saturated with amazing festivals all throughout the summer and I strongly believe there is room for one more.

By Laura Collins.