Review: Ben Caplan @ Mavericks

After a busy week-end volunteering at Winterlude, I hit up Mavericks on Sunday night to see Ben Caplan in action. I had heard of Ben Caplan before, but hadn't had the pleasure of seeing him live.

A great crowd was gathered at Mavericks. The show started with JP Hoe . He did a great job keeping the crowd's attention throughout his set, which can be challenging. His voice was nice, clean and quite powerful. I really enjoyed his music; it was just my cup of tea.

Next up was Ottawa's own Her Harbour. Singer/songwriter Gabrielle Giguere took the stage and right off the bat, I was intrigued. Her sound was very interesting and I was hoping to completely immerse myself in her music. Unfortunately. the crowd at Mavericks was loud and their talking completely overshadowed her set. It's unfortunate because Giguere has a very interesting sound and stage presence. I feel like I would really like her music. I hope I can catch her at another show, where (hopefully) the crowd will be more respectful and pay attention.

Finally, Ben Caplan takes the stage. This guy is the real deal. His beard is big and his personality is even bigger! The music was fantastic and so was the banter between songs. He's a great storyteller... I honestly wished that we could have stayed at the venue all night, just listening to this guy speak. His voice is deep, raspy and powerful. Also, his stage presence is fantastic. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with everything about Ben Caplan and the show exceeded my expectations.

Although I loved his sound and stage presence, my favourite part of Ben Caplan's performance was his ability to involve people in his set. He was easily able to get the crowd to sing along and clap to his songs. His songs are quite contagious! Finally, he's a Maritimer, so what's not to love?

I will definitely be checking out Ben Caplan again when he comes back to Ottawa. His sound, stage presence and his beard all won me over. Well done, sir!