LMFAO, Norah Jones, Iron Maiden Featured at 2012 Ottawa BluesFest
An extremely eclectic lineup has been announced for this year’s Ottawa Blues Festival, and includes LMFAO, Norah Jones and Iron Maiden, among many others.
Now technically known as the RBC Royal Bank Bluesfest, the festival will be held in Ottawa from July 4-15. According to the official website of the festival, this year’s festival will be “Electrofied.”
Other notable acts playing the festival include Lauryn Hill, Skrillex, Mastodon, Alice Cooper, the Hold Steady, John Mellencamp, Seal, Billy Bragg and David Gray. Of course, the festival would not be complete without a slew of Canadian artists. This year’s local artists include Nickelback, Metric, K’naan, City and Colour and Weeknd.
This year’s festival will go “cashless,” which means festival goers will receive a “Bluesband” that can be charged with money and can be used like a debit card while at the festival. Funds on the bands that remain unused at the end of the festival will be refunded.
Last year’s Ottawa Bluesfest was marred by a stage collapse caused by a wind storm while Cheap Trick played the festival. Fortunately no one was killed in the incident, though five injuries were reported, and one was serious. Speaking to CTV news, Bluesfest executive Mark Monahan addressed the issue and said that the festival has hired an “independent engineer” from Toronto that specializes in outdoor structures.
“[The engineer] is going to be giving us sort of a stamp of approval on all the setup for the infrastructures in the park,” Monahan said. He added that an independent weather service will provide “very accurate” weather updates throughout the festival.
A Canadian Ministry of Labour investigation into the incident is currently under review by lawyers. After the review, it will be determined if any legal action will be taken concerning the incident. There is as of yet no word on how long the review will take.