Blue Rodeo at Bluesfest

Last night was the giant sing-along night at Bluesfest’s main stage, featuring one of Canada’s most popular bands, Blue Rodeo. As usual, there was a large, enthusiastic crowd, many sporting cowboy hats for Blue Rodeo’s pop country tunes.

The boys from Toronto put on a good show, playing many of their standards, including such hits as “Til I Am Myself Again,” “Head Over Heels,” “Rain Down on Me,” and “Bad Timing.” Among these oldies, they peppered three songs from their upcoming album, which will be released in October. These new songs fit rather well with the old ones, adding a hint of intrigue to the evening.

The best part of the show in my estimation was an opportunity to watch Jim Cuddy, BR’s resident crooner, belt out the sweet melodies. He is something else to watch live, all charm and deep emotion. When he hit that one high note in “Try” during the encore, he sounded almost angelic, it was a moment of pure musical beauty.

Also, watching Cuddy and BR’s other singer, Greg Keelor harmonize together was a special treat. Their timing is flawless, no doubt due to years of performing these same songs together.

Overall, it was a good show by a Canadian musical institution. I think next time I’ll skip out on Blue Rodeo though and check out the likes of Xavier Rudd, because it feels like if you’ve seen one BR concert, you’ve seen them all. But I still have a soft spot for them, in which case you never really know.