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OTTAWA - With Cajun, Latin flamenco, a feminist folk icon and the singer Elvis Costello once declared one of his favourite songwriters anywhere, you could say the Folk Festival Main Stage lineup was about as unpredictable as the weather last night.
What am I saying? Between Balfa Toujours, Robert Michaels, Ferron and Ron Sexsmith, last night's Folk Festival was a format-stretching free-for-all of mostly happy music, regardless of category. And while there were some obviously strange juxtapositions, the effect of the whole evening was memorable.
Too bad then that there was only about 3,500 fans at Britannia Park to see festival and Elvis Costello favourite Ron Sexsmith and his band jam late -- well, late by Folk Festival standards -- and get virtually carried away with an upbeat set of bouncy rock.
Wearing one of his Sally Ann sportcoats, a rejuvenated Sexsmith opened with Secret Heart and over the course of his set, played Hands of Time and I Think We're Lost off his new album Time Being as well as Cheap Hotel, Strawberry Blond and That's What Passes For Love.
Now, I'm, not saying that Sexsmith's high energy was uncharacteristic. However, his outgoing show was a downright fun way to close out the night as well as pleasant change from his introspective solo appearances, proving why the self-effacing 42-year-old singer's been dubbed a songwriter's songwriter. Who else can so seamlessly go folk and then flex a little rock edge?
For many veteran Folk Festival goers, the night belonged to Ferron. The Canadian feminist icon, whose rollercoaster career peaked once in 1984 with the seminal Shadows on a Dime and again with her latest album Turning Into Beautiful, turned out to be just about everything you'd want in a folkie.
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Accompanied by guitarist Shelley Jennings, Ferron filled an informal and ultimately all-too-brief hour with slice-of-life storytelling songs that were alternately sad and hopeful.
By comparison, Latin lover Robert Michaels proved to be a stark musical contrast to Ferron's easy-going show.
Flamenco's version of Led Zeppelin axe-god Jimmy Page, the two-time Juno Award-winning Latin jazz guitarist steered clear of politics and organics for a sensually dramatic set of soft-jazz instrumentals.
The Toronto-based Michaels proved to be a surprisingly soft-spoken entertainer who seemed comfortable in a concentrated way, just playing his six-string with dazzling flourishes of macho colour and, on occasion, with alarming speed on Terracotta and a funky cover of the 1960s benchmark Classical Gas.
"The more you give us, the more we give you," Michaels said with heartfelt sincerity before joining his Cuban band of Yoser Rodriguez, Claudio Vena and Mario Delmonte to survey of his most recent self-titled recording including The Matador and a sendup of the hillbilly theme song from Deliverance.
Every inch a dazzling guitarist, Michaels was not nearly as engaging or natural a folk performer as most folkies, who tend to treat their audience as family.
Speaking of family, with their squeezebox and fiddles flying, the traditional Cajun band from Louisiana Balfa Toujours kept dozens of festival goers dancing with a set of swinging bilingual tunes such as Oh Madeleine.