Ottawa Bluesfest hires new stage company

Alice Cooper, Lauryn Hill, David Gray and DJ Tiesto are among the headlining acts scheduled to play at Ottawa's annual Bluesfest music festival.

For years the music festival, scheduled to run from July 4 to 15, has moved away from a traditional blues lineup and towards an eclectic mix of artists from multiple genres. This year's lineup is no exception.

The festival's theme this year is "electrofied" and includes several electronic acts and DJs, including Tiesto, LMFAO, Paul Oakenfold, A-Trak, Skrillex, MSTRKRFT, Chromeo and AWOLNATION, a solo project of multi-instrumentalist Aaron Bruno.

This year is also a chance for the festival to take strides to avoid a similar disaster to last year's stage collapse, which happened on the event's final day. A violent storm toppled the stage above classic rock band Cheap Trick, injuring the band's truck driver.

Artistic director Mark Monahan said the festival hired a new stage company, as well as a structural engineer to independently assess the stages and a weather service out of Halifax to supply specific weather reports daily.

Large R&B contingent

The festival also includes R&B artists Norah Jones, Seal, Downchild Blues Band, the Derek Trucks/Susan Tedeschi Band and The Weeknd and hip-hop icons Snoop Dogg and Lauryn Hill.

Alternative singer-songwriters Billy Bragg and David Gray are also headliners, as are classic rockers Alice Cooper, John Mellencamp, 1970s band 10cc and Iron Maiden, who played the festival in 2010.

Canadian performers include City and Colour, the Sheepdogs, Metric, Nickelback, Blue Rodeo, Our Lady Peace and Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea.

For a complete list of performers, go to the RBC Royal Bank Bluesfest website.