Live at Squamish, BC festival – Day One review – August 20th, 2011

2008′s Pemberton Festival set the tone for BC festivals. Although many smaller fests have happened over the years (the Virgin Music festival made an impact but seemingly ended here in 2009, the occasional UBC Thunderbird Stadium event) there is nothing like what the rest of the world, and the rest of Canada is used to.

Last year’s Live At Squamish was it’s premiere, and so with the relatively young event in it’s second year, MVRemix had to see how the experience fared.

With the first year having Dirty Vegas, Z Trip, The Decemberists and Devo on the bill, the second year boasted some comparatively bigger names and also a heftier ticket prices. While the two-day passes in 2010 went for $145.50 as the date got closer, this year it was bumped up to $190 if you waited until the last minute to grab yours. Day passes were also $10 more and even more expensive if you waited to grab tickets at the door.

One of the festival’s smartest moves this year was bringing the dates forward so as not to compete with Bumbershoot in Seattle (which they went head to head with in 2010). Bumbershoot charges considerably less for arguably bigger names (this year will cost $90 for three day tickets).

As we approached the festival grounds (after mistakenly thinking that staying in Whistler would be a shorter trek than staying in Vancouver) my sunscreen had worn off completely and the day’s burn would be setting in soon. Of course once you reach a festival, re-applying sunscreen ends up being futile as bands are constantly performing at one end of the field or another, so you can only apply the cream in the sun (which is not quite as effective as letting it soak in beforehand). For a moment I found the maps confusing but I figured that was more me and the heat, but within a few minutes the festival ground’s layout became extremely familiar.

The smaller of the two stages (another difference from 2010, they removed a stage) was at the one end and the larger (Stawamus) at the other. Food vendors in between and a row of portable toilets, plus small entertainment/activities surrounding the mainstage.

The Proper Villains kicked off the Garibaldi stage. Rapper XO the Show began by staring at the crowd, and slamming his arms in the air to start the band’s music before jumping back and slipping. Now as these guys were the festival’s first performers, and winners of the METRO Presents competition, I’m guessing the slip was accidental. Regardless, XO continued on without paying any attention to his fall and got right into their set. As a group, The Proper Villains weren’t the typical sound I’m used to enjoying, but live their set was strong, energetic, smiling and definitely entertaining. So much so that you didn’t have to love the lyrics to enjoy what you were seeing.

The Proper Villains

It seemed as if the Stawamus stage (which has Squamish’s Stawamus Chief provincial park behind it) was the setting for the weekend’s picnic audience. Many hundreds came to the festival equipped with blankets and a passionate desire to sit and watch the stage as opposed to stand, dance, and really get into the sets. 25 year old band She Stole My Beer bore the brunt of this as the day began because their catalogue to a good number of the younger crowd wasn’t familiar and thus most just sat, listened and stared.

Kim Churchill, soundcheck

The Garibaldi stage was delayed an average of 20 minutes in it’s sets following Kim Churchill. The Australian one man band stood checking his sound for 15-20, ensuring that when he did begin, his material would come off as true to his intentions as possible. Though we all felt frustrated watching his tuning, it proved worth it. After a while, Kim simply swapped guitars and despite the delays he started well, captivating the audience, greeted by a passionate roar after their wait. Minutes in the beach balls began flying, as did the audience’s unison clapping sessions. The festival had properly begun.

As with several other festivals, aside from the main acts, smaller groups seem forced to perform their own soundchecks just prior to coming on stage themselves (without their roadies measuring sound on the monitors). This was the case here with Sweet Thing, with the audience feeling awkward watching their artist check their sound, then leave momentarily, only to be introduced and return to the stage 45 seconds later. When their set started a fraction the crowd gave a huge reception, running to the stage and jumping. It was a pity that more didn’t join until later in the evening. The group kicked off with “Over Me” and despite great performance, and the occasional lone dancer amidst the picnic crowd, most remained planted on blankets. Sweet Thing did a great job, it’s sad the audience didn’t validate that.

Though many quipped about the PS3 kiosk a distance from the Stawamus stage being ridiculous, I would have to disagree. I too thought the same thing, until I indulged and had the experience of playing on a PS3 outdoors with live music playing to the side of me. What struck me as ridiculous were the $50 hoodies and overpriced festival clothing. I would advise that Canadian festivals take a leaf out of the US’ festival pricing, but then I thought about our two economies.

Predictably Garibaldi’s stage was busiest during Emily Haines & James Shaw‘s acoustic set. The two Metric artists have been recording for a while and not performing, so Live at Squamish having two very different performances was a treat for the group’s fans. Performing hits like “Combat Baby” and “Help, I’m Alive” won over the masses in seconds. Haines’ voice live is just as lovely as on their recordings.

Clearly more of a Rock than Rap festival, Kyprios and Shad‘s sets were based on the smaller stage and didn’t have the audience they deserved. Live rap has changed quite a bit over the past five years, with many artists favouring more of a Roots type of performance including a full band behind them. This was true with both Kyprios and Shad. After Emily Haines and James Shaw’s acoustic set, the Garibaldi stage shrank. It had nothing to do with Kyprios, or later on Shad, but the rock audience were off to Stawamus to take in Hey Ocean and Stars.

With an avantgarde look which included shorts, a short sleeved t-shirt, tie, smart Kangol style hat and backpack, the North Vancouver MC leapt around the stage performing in front of his full band which included a sax player, and trumpet player amongst other instruments. With the signature Hip Hop call and response performance, Kyprios kept his ever growing audience entertained. He ended his set with “This Is My Hit.”

As Canada’s next big rapper, the Juno award winning Shad also took the Garibaldi stage backed up by a live band. His stellar performance and renditions of TSOL songs were met warmly, and the fact that he was able to perform with the initial mic feedback was a testament to his desire not to simply fixate on minor technical issues. His set was fun, the DJ shining as well and as the cliche goes, there was a certain aroma in the crowd…

Stars served as one of the evening’s highlights. With strong live versions of their songs, roses being thrown into the crowd and the start of people crowding the stage, the group engaged in bold and witty quips as well as MPC dabbling and powerful basslines. Torquil Campbell has an amazing stage presence, forehead and neck veins proving his desire to sound a specific way.

The Stawamus stage reached a fever pitch as the John Butler Trio took their position as one of the final acts of the night. With such a sizable audience for the trio, the burlesque set put on by Sweet Soul Burlesque and the subsequent set by Andy Clockwork had extremely insignificant numbers watching, which was a pity. Especially considering Clockwork’s talented dancers, complete with their hula hoops.

The trio’s massive audience (a lot of which that were now on their feet) managed to soak in Butler’s instrumental pieces, drum offs and hits like “Used To Get High,” “Better Than,” “Caroline,” “I’d Do Anything” and “Treat Yo Mama.” Thankfully, from JBT onwards, picnic festival goers became outnumbered tenfold.

John Butler Trio’s vibe provided a great feeling to all those in attendance. Clapping, interacting with the crowd, encouraging the crowd to turn away from the stage and on a count of 4, face the stage and dance crazily. People remained in awe with John Butler in control. The set ended on huge high note, Butler quipping about Jazz flutes and such. Surreal and worth the more expensive ticket price.

Girl Talk addressing his crowd.

As the John Butler Trio set ended, a guy began handing out UNO cards to members of the audience in the front row. These UNO cards would enable the audience members to head backstage and at the right point, a few minutes into Girl Talk‘s set, the UNO card holding audience were encouraged on stage to dance to the set.

Girl Talk soon emerged from the darkness to a Black Sabbath/Ludacris mash up, and within seconds the sea of standing crowd members were flailing their limbs, having the time of their lives. One of Girl Talk’s entourage came out equipped with a gun like machine to shoot toilet paper around, one even being caught on the crane used to film the event for the large projection screens.

The Girl Talk set was a great way to wrap up the day. Mixing all genres of music in his signature mash up style was definitely the right choice. Plus those who were ready for more got to head over to the other stage for a cool set by Donald Glaude.