Dawn Tyler Watson & Roots Band At Longueuil Ribfest

Headlining the first night of the annual Longueuil Ribfest in the borough of Greenfield Park was one of Canada's greatest voices in Dawn Tyler Watson.  There have been many great voices to take the stage at the Ribfest, but Dawn Tyler Watson is in a class apart.  By my count, this was her third Ribfest appearance and I have had the good fortune to be there for all of them.  Joining our Juno award winner on stage was a musical collective known as The Roots Band.  All of the members are either former or current residents of Greenfield Park and have been playing music together in various bands for many years.  Their collective chemistry is evident from the first notes as you can easily mistake this concert for a rowdy basement jam session between old friends.  After a few songs to warm up the crowd, Dawn Tyler Watson hit the stage to a massive roar from those in attendance.  I took a quick look over to the eating area and the picnic tables had been pretty much left empty as everyone had moved over to the stage.  The ribs may have been the main course, but Dawn Tyler Watson's voice is a treat that no other dessert can match.  She  and the band ran through some classic rock and blues songs that the residents of Greenfield Park dancing the night away.  The Roots Band returned to the stage on Sunday and I managed to make it back to the stage in time for some of the set.  They brought a couple of guest vocalists with them.  Francis the city tech who sing like a 70s rocker and the irreplaceable Ozzie Levesque, who got played on and off the stage by, naturally, the Ozzy Osbourne hit, "Crazy Train". Ozzie also doubles as the stage manager and does a heck of a job dealing with all the bands all weekend.  All of this, of course, is made possible by the terrific folks at the All For The Children Foundation.  They make sure that any local kid who needs anything can get it.  Clothing, school supplies and even an annual visit from Santa Claus, these great people take care of everything, and they even offer up these amazing concerts for those of us who are still children at heart.  All of the photographs, and there are a lot of them here. Seriously, get yourself a snack and make yourself comfortable.  As I was saying, all of the photographs were taken at f/3.2 while using various different shutter speeds, ISO settings and focal lengths.  Here are the rest of the photographs that I took of Dawn Tyler Watson and The Roots Band while they played at the annual Longueuil Ribfest.

If you would like to find out more about Dawn Tyler Watson and her music, you can do so by following the link to her website.  The Roots band don't have a website, you can can find out more about them by stopping them to say hello if you find yourself walking around the streets of Greenfield Park.  If you would like to see the photographs that I took of The Don Gunn Band, Leadville Union, Dwane Dixon, a second Leadville Union show and Help! - The Beatles Tribute, who also performed during the Longueuil Ribfest, you can do so by following the respective links.   Much thanks goes out once again to Pennie Berrworth and Mark Christiano of the All For The Children Foundation for letting me photograph the shows.  Dawn Tyler Watson has shows lined up through August of this year, and there will likely be more after that.  Don't you dare miss it if she is playing somewhere near you.