AJR is NOT Real

My friend Jody texted me in April that AJR was coming to the Ottawa Blues Fest in July. We were both kind of out of that era, but they cancelled their last two Toronto shows so of course we had to go. I had already travelled to see AJR twice, but, I was down to see them again. Ironically, it was when I was at Jody's Mamma Mia party that the band posted that they would be cancelling all of their July shows for familial reasons. I knew that there was a risk of cancellation when I bought my ticket, but I gambled. I wasn't really familiar with any of the other artists who were performing that day. I had heard of Foo Fighters, who were headlining, but I couldn't name a single song (I still can't).

@ Lebreton Flats

Security made me bag-check my bag (even though I measured it) which was annoying, but luckily not too expensive.

After I joined the rest of the group, we walked around the festival grounds for a bit before getting a spot at the main stage. Waiting got boring after a few minutes, so we rotated splitting off into groups of two First, I went with Matthew to get rolled ice cream, and then I went with Jody to the outdoor lounge. For the record, I won the Connect Four game. The guys eventually gave up waiting at the stage and joined us. Before returning, we saw My Son the Hurricane and Katie Tupper perform.

We were surprisingly still able to get a pretty good spot at the main stage. The wait for the openers felt like an eternity in the heat. White Reaper was the opener, and honestly, they were the highlight of the day. Jody and Max missed them while they were out for food, but Matt and I had the time of our lives.

By the time Foo Fighters came on, I could barely stand. The show would've been fantastic if I had been remotely familiar with the band. The set was extensive, the energy was great, and Dave was SO entertaining.

Post Lebreton Flats

The line for the bag check collection was INSANE. We left after what felt like centuries. We all passed out pretty much immediately after we got back to the hotel.

OTW to Lebreton Flats

Jody drove us (her, her boyfriend Max, their friend Matt and I) all the way to our hotel in Gatineau. What a star, honestly. We stopped for gas and at an ONroute before checking in. We left the hotel shortly after putting our stuff down and walked over to the festival grounds (it was a shorter walk than we thought).

OTW Home

Jody slayed the day and drove us all the way back to Toronto. We stopped at McDonald's for breakfast before continuing on. We passed through super heavy rain as we were leaving Ottawa, but we survived. Once we got to Jody's house, Matt and I took the subway home.

Ottawa Blues Fest was my first festival experience and it was a lot of fun! Hopefully, there are some good acts next summer because I would love to go back.

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