There’s a golden rule of seeing music live that says that all music sounds better in the gloaming of a warm summer evening. Nothing quite matches the experience of laying back on the grass as the stars reveal their centuries old light to the naked eye and listening to your favourite songs. I have such fond recollections of The Tragically Hip’s Roadside Attraction festivals from my early 20s that I more or less refuse to see the band indoors: I don’t want to spoil the memories of hearing Wheat Kings wafting through a magical summer night.
It’s June, and that means that its the start of summer festival season–or at least the start of planning it. Early bird tickets have probably been on sale for a while for most festivals and you’ll need to get vacation booked from work, so you better plan ahead.
I figured this makes it the ideal time to look at a few of the highlights of the upcoming festival season in Canada and hopefully convince a few of you to attend some of the ones I’m visiting.
A successful festival is a complicated thing. There’s a complicated web of factors that make them work, not all of which are controlled by the promoters. A great lineup, good venue, good sound and decent price are all important of course but bad weather can put a damper on the mood even if all of those things are in place. With that in mind, here’s some thoughts on what’s coming up with some guidance provided by the past.
Vancouver International Folk Music Festival: July 19 – 21, Vancouver, BC
Without a doubt, the Folk Fest is the Grand Dame of festivals in British Columbia. To this day, it remains the only regularly scheduled large outdoor music festival in Vancouver itself (though the Burnaby Roots & Blues Festival isn’t far away.) There are people who plan an entire summer around this weekend.Line Up: The Folk Festival’s history pretty much guarantees its ability to draw talent: headliners in recent years have included Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, Sarah Harmer, Calexico and a host of others. The Festival has also stayed true to its roots (see what I did there?) and continues to draw from the world music stage to round out the lineup and also guarantee the opportunity for everyone who attends to stretch their musical boundaries.
This year is no exception, with Kathleen Edwards, Steve Earle, Whitehorse, Danny Michel, The Waterboys and Natalie Maines among the main stage features. Smaller stages–there are 8 of them–will feature artists like local girl Hannah Georgas, Aidan Knight, Elephant Revival and Justin Rutledge. You can see the full line up here.
This year’s line up is a strong one, and really shouldn’t be missed.
Unique Selling Proposition: The Folk Fest is legendary for its workshops, where artists with different sounds who may never have played together before are grouped together on smaller stages. These combinations can be nothing less than exhilarating when they’re well run. A couple of years ago Danny Michel took a rag-tag bunch of young musicians and whipped them into shape pretty quickly. The possibility of a workshop lead by Steve Earle, Kathleen Edwards or Michel is one that shouldn’t be missed.
Location: It’s hard to imagine a better location for any festival than Vancouver’s Jericho Beach on a warm sunny weekend in July. With the ocean in the background and the rolling grounds providing a natural amphitheatre for the smaller stages (number five in particular) you won’t find a better place to see live music.
Weather: This being Vancouver, it’s important to make note of the fact that those warm sunny weekend’s in July can be elusive. Two years ago it rained all weekend and, to put it bluntly, the festival experience suffered as a result. The grounds become muddy and those late evenings started to get cold pretty quickly. That’s not to suggest that people didn’t have a good time, but even I cut a couple of nights short that weekend to get out of the rain. It’s a risk. Keep your fingers crossed: last year’s weather was picture perfect as was the year before that. Two out of three ain’t bad when it comes to odds, right?
Sound: With so many artists the sound quality can be a mixed bag, and the Folk Fest has been plagued by problems on the main stage in past years (Lucinda Williams famously interrupted her set to deal with issues.) Apparently a new sound crew has been brought in, so these issues are hopefully in the past.
Tickets: On their own, there’s enough top tier talent here to justify the ticket price of about $150 for all three days. Throw the workshops in, and the value proposition is pretty solid. It’s half the price of Sasquatch with a lineup that’s just as good. Tickets can be ordered online.
Interstellar Rodeo, July 26 – 28, Edmonton, AB
Last year was the inaugural edition of Edmonton’s Interstellar Rodeo. The first year of any festival can be a challenge: the organizational logistics are huge, and you can pretty much guarantee that something will go wrong. The measure of a good first year isn’t “What went wrong?” but rather “How did we handle the things that did go wrong?”I attended the Rodeo last year and you can read my reviews on No Depression and see a full selection of photos on my Flickr stream. Suffice to say that from an audience member’s perspective, nothing went wrong: this thing went off without a hitch. That was as impressive as the line up that the festival’s organizers pulled in their fist year: Gillian Welch, Randy Newman, Alejandro Escovedo, Hawksley Workman and Blue Rodeo were among the featured acts.
The second year is equally impressive: Alabama Shakes, Deep Dark Woods, Danny Michel, Sarah Harmer, Serena Ryder and Steve Earle are among the headliners this year. Beyond that, the festival features a depth of talent in the smaller acts as well: Elliott Brood, the Skydiggers and Kurt Vile are among the artists who will play sets throughout the day. There’s not a weak act among the bunch really.
Unique Selling Proposition: Artist and wine pairings! I kid you not. The festival offers a full wine and beer service and sells tickets for a wine paired to the personality of each artist by Tidings Magazine contributing editor Gurvinder Bhatia. This unique idea was a hit last year along with another innovation: beer margaritas. Alcohol could also be taken anywhere on the festival grounds instead of just a beer tent: while this is normal for the United States its quite unusual (and quite welcome) in Canada.Location: Hawrelak Park is situated in the beautiful North Saskatchewan river valley and the festival itself takes place in an amphitheatre that offers both covered shaded seating and a large grassy area to relax on depending on your preference.
Weather: The weather last year was stellar–as it normally is at this time of year in Edmonton. The covered seating provides a nice respite if rain threatens, something that happened in the morning of Day 2 at the 2012 edition (the sun persisted and the day turned out to be as beautiful as the others.
Sound: Sound in the first year was impeccable for both the main acts and the ‘tweeners.
Tickets: Ticket Prices are slightly higher than the Vancouver Folk Fest, but the lineup is just as strong. With less of a folk focus, the festival draws on some more popular mainstream acts with broader appeal as well, and that could make it a better value for attendees.
Maybe the best judge of the ticket price is sales: with two months to go to the festival weekend passes are sold out though a limited number of day passes can still be found. If you’re going to be in Edmonton on this weekend act fast or forever hold your piece. The first year didn’t sell out, but this year’s almost certain to be at capacity. If there’s any left, you can get them on the Interstellar Rodeo web site.
Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival, August 16 – 18, Salmon Arm, BC
Salmon Arm is a small town of about 18,000 people a five hour drive north east of Vancouver, British Columbia. It’s also home to one of the longest running festivals in British Columbia. The Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival has a 21 year history of drawing a sizeable crowd to the area ever year.The festival’s lineup keep blues at its core but takes an expansive look at the musical style: while Shakrua S’aida, Rita Chiarelli and Mississippi Heat hew closely to the traditions of the genre artists such as A Tribe Called Red are blending it with a more modern electronic sound. Americana fans will be pleased to see musicians like Jason Collett on the bill along with Canadian legends Bruce Cockburn and Daniel Lanois at this year’s festival. Lanois doesn’t tour that much in North America, so it’s nice to see him heading out this way.
With a lineup this diverse there’s pretty much guaranteed to be something here for everyone.
Unique Selling Proposition: Daniel Lanois and Bruce Cockburn on one bill? That’s a once in a lifetime experience. Either one of them is a significant enough artist to draw a crowd but seeing both in one weekend makes for a special occasion. These are living legends.
Location: Salmon Arm is the heart of British Columbia’s mountainous lake country: where the glaciers melt into freshwater lakes that are a popular vacation spot for locals. There are people who plan their entire summer around coming to this part of the world: throw three days of killer music into the mix and it’s hard to go wrong.
Weather: Salmon Arm is pretty reliably dry at this time of the year, so camping on the festival grounds is a good option for accommodations.
Sound: I’ve never been to Salmon Arm before, so I can’t really comment based on any past experience. The has a solid reputation and I’ve never heard a complaint.
Tickets: Tickets are basically in line with standard three day festival prices, and the level of talent is what you’d expect. A Bruce Cockburn solo show would command about 1/3rd of the ticket price alone, so the value is hard to argue. The Roots & Blues festival brings some unique artists in the Blues tradition out, and if you’re a fan of any of them it’s a great chance to catch them. Tickets can be ordered from the festival’s web site.
Greenbelt Harvest Picnic, August 31, Dundas, ON
When I went to the first year of the Greenbelt Harvest Picnic festival, I called it the “Best Concert Ever” in a review on this site. (In addition to that review, a full set of photos is on my Flickr site.) I stand by that statement to this day: the 2011 edition is the single greatest day of live music I’ve ever heard. The entire lineup was outstanding from the early afternoon to the last notes of Ray LaMontagne’s closing set, and the festival marked the first time that Daniel Lanois and Emmylou Harris had performed their classic Wrecking Ball material in quite awhile.At the end of the day my travelling companion and I were both left stunned and commented that the lineup seemed tailor made for us with the only possible improvement being Neil Young (whose Le Noise album Lanois had just produced; Emmylou Harris and Young are close friends and frequent collaborators as well.)
Apparently, this year’s edition of the festival was intended to address that one minor problem: Neil Young and Crazy Horse are headlining the festival. New visitors this year include Trixie Whiteley and Whitehorse and Rocco DeLucca returns. More artists will be announced for time slots earlier in the day.
That’s a pretty impressive gathering of talent that needs very little comment from me.
The festival takes its name from Ontario’s Greenbelt agricultural area and many of those farmers are on hand selling fresh food and produce throughout the day. Add the fact that you can fish in the conservation area’s lake while still taking in the festival, and it makes for one of the most relaxing afternoons you can have.
Unique Selling Proposition: The pairing of Daniel Lanois & Emmylou Harris remains one of the best combinations you’ll find anywhere. If the prospect of hearing Neil Young and the Horse playing under a clear starry evening with sound by Lanois doesn’t get you excited, I’m not sure we can be friends.Location: Christie Lake is a conservation area and the lake is situated at the back of the large open field that serves as the audience area. You can both swim and fish in the lake throughout the day: where else have you been able to do that?
Sound: It’s a bit of an understatement to say that Daniel Lanois knows a bit about mixing sound (his Black Dub tour traveled with its own mixing booth.) The Harvest Picnic is his festival and sound lives up to his standards. I’ve never heard better at an outdoor venue.
Tickets: The festival is a single day and tickets are expensive but the line up of talent is extremely impressive. The cheapest ticket for Neil Young’s stadium shows tends to go for upwards of $100, so Harvest Picnic ticket prices are a bargain by comparison. You can get tickets on the festival’s web site.
