The Virgin Music Festival, Deer Lake Park, Burnaby BC – July 25th & 26th
Typically a festival consists of several key elements. Firstly, a decent line up of talented performers with a few standouts. You also require a good amount of people to attend, and also, most important of all, you need certain aspects of the weather involved; excruciatingly hot temperatures and thunderous rain.
The Virgin Fest in BC had both on it’s first day. So much so that as the night drew on and the thousands waited for The Roots to finish off an excellent day of music, socializing (generally having a great time), the rain decided to ignore it’s subtle build up and occasional shower from earlier and just outright drenched all in attendance. The risk became so great that the show was shut down for the day.
Hours later everyone was informed that The Roots performance would be delivered to the fans who had expected them as part of the festival, though not on the following days bill, ticketholders would have the performance made up to them. Ben Harper most notably drew the biggest awe of the festival, remixing/DJ’ing with his guitar. Amazingly done.
The show also featured a spectacular assortment of people in attendance. From families with their children, to elderly couples and of course the gamut in between… There wasn’t a specific category for the crowd.
From free pole dancing lessons (it’s a great workout or so I’m told) to sex-tips and advice, through gaming booths, and comedic photo areas, the festival managed to maintain everyone’s attention throughout their time there. And of course, the music wasn’t bad either.
A subtle police presence was of course part of the show, as drunkards got out of hand whilst those experimenting with class A’s hid within the crowd.
Performers included Spinnerette, Our Lady Peace, Broken Social Scene, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, K-OS, Elizabeth, MUTEMATH, The Manvils, The British Columbians, Ben Harper & Relentless7, Gomez, Metric, The Thermals, Sonic Youth, Future of the Left, Jarvis Cocker, Awesome Color, De La Soul, Carly Rae Jepsen, Matt Nathanson and Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros.
This was the first Virgin Festival MVRemix has attended, and it won’t be the last. The performers were extremely energetic, enthusiastic and consistent with their music. Their live shows lived up to their recorded material and video images, and the venue itself was organized, fun and a pleasure to be at.
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