RB Photography | Blog

This past weekend was the Hillside Festival, held at Guelph Lake, just north of the City of Guelph.  Having lived in Guelph since September, I have heard people talk about Hillside as if it is the holy grail of music festivals.  On paper, the idea of the festival seemed like it should be a pretty good time; A weekend-long music festival,  surrounded by all the interesting people to be found in Guelph, with a less than ideal weather forecast, all on an island…

On a hazy Friday night, the Hillside logo is silhouetted by the moon

For those that are unfamiliar with Hillside, this years event was the 26th of its kind, held up at the Guelph Lake Conservation Area.  With 5 stages striking up at 11am and pumping out music until 11pm, there is definitely no shortage of sound on the island.  More impressive still is the 1200 volunteers who put on the festival taking care of everything from helping you park to scrubbing your dishes (more on that later).  From what I heard from one man, there is one volunteer for every four festival-goers!

Looking through the schedule for the weekend on Thursday, there were a few bands I had heard of and lots of bands that I hadn’t.  Listening to the musicians was what I thought the festival was going to be all about (after all, it is a music festival) and so I tried to decide who I would go see .  Having grown up around the music festivals in Toronto and surrounding areas, I was expecting something more akin to the Beaches Jazz Festival, where there were lots of bands spread over a few stages and you just make your way between them.  What Hillside turned out to be was just that, plus a whole lot of surprises.  After attending the Dawson City Music Festival last summer, I should have been more prepared for what was in store, but alas, I was not.

In trying to write about a whole weekend, I wasn’t sure about the best approach to it, but in the end I decided to break down the festival into the various slices I observed.  After all, this festival is not only about what is happening on stage, but also what is happening all around.

The Sacred Fire

Before all the bands started up and the festival was officially started, an aboriginal group performed some songs and lit up the ’sacred fire’.  The fire, which was looked over all weekend to ensure it never went out, was located away from the stages and was an area which anyone was welcome to sit by to get away from the noise.  Amazingly, despite all the rain this weekend, the fire burned on and people were always present in the circle to have a quiet moment away from the main festival.

Tobacco was added to the log pile as a prayer was made prior to the lighting of the sacred fire. Around the fire circle, tobacco was spread in order to symbolize the closedness of the area. Each entrant had to lay down tobacco at the door way to ensure this throughout the weekend.

Prior to lighting the fire, an aboriginal man from New Zealand sung a traditional song

Regardless of weather, the fire burned on and people continued to use the fire circle as place to sit

The Bands

A music festival without music is, well, nothing.  While I wish I had time to tell you about all the bands, that would be quite the task as I saw 12+ each day.  Instead, I’ll give you a rundown of bands I really enjoyed each day.

Friday

Friday night was a short schedule as the event didn’t start up until the evening.  Of the bands I had not heard of, Coeur de Pirate, out of Montreal, was probably my favourite.  Their lead singer, Béatrice Martin, had the crowd in hanging onto her every word and key stroke.  With more tattoos on her arms than your average piano player, her style added to her music charm.  Anybody who can perform a cover of Umbrella (that Rihanna song) and not leave me as annoyed as the actual song does is a star in my books.  Coeur de Pirate’s amazing performance made me forget about the time and the fact that the one act that really had people excited was on the main stage at the same time.  When reality snapped in, I headed off to see Xavier Rudd.

Béatrice Martin, lead singer for Coeur de Pirate, is not your typical looking piano player

Xavier Rudd’s didgeridoo playing on top of a solid beat left a large crowd dancing and smiling.  The amount of gear he had made seeing him a whole other ballgame.  Tucked away behind drums and didgeridoos, and my lack of punctuality, meant I was not near the front.  Slowly working my way through the crowd, I ended up on the side of the stage next to the speaker where all the didgeridoo bass was emitting…my insides have never been shaken so violently internally and still enjoyed the music.

Even while tucked behind a sea of instruments, Xavier Rudd had the large crowd in front of the main stage dancing to his tunes

To round off the night, I planned on attending the USS gig on the Island Stage.  Having only ever heard USS on the radio or my iPod, I wasn’t exactly prepared for the spectacle to come.  The band consisted of a labcoat wearing guitarist, a hyperactive DJ and a few cardboard cutouts.  Any band who asks the crowd to let them know “how weird” you want them to get, and results in the stage being reenforced for the next day, is sure to put on a great show.

The DJ of USS dances with a cardboard cutout of Bob Marley

Sometimes a little jumping is all it takes to get the crowd going.

Getting up on a plastic folding table may not be wise for equipment longevity, but if the crowd thinks it's fun, then USS will deliver

Sometimes it is not enough to be the only "weird" one in the band, so why not stack it up while you play?

When all else fails, just sing upside down.

Saturday

Saturday was the first full day of bands, starting at 11am.  I decided to check out the Aboriginal Circle at the Main Stage after enjoying the drumming and singing from the sacred fire event.  The Waa’Chi’Wassa drum group was singing and drumming while another member coordinated the audience in dance.

Drummers set the beat for the dancing in the background

In one dance, similar to musical chairs, the audience dancers had to keep the potato between their heads while dancing. When the music stopped, they were asked to jump or spin, with the last pair being the winners.

Saturday could not have been more stacked with great music…I don’t even know which to choose, so instead, here are a few pictures from the day:

Mixing synthetic beats with more traditional instruments, Green Go was able to get the Lake Stage dancing for their full set

Though I only caught the end of their set, judging by the reaction of the crowd and little bit I heard, Ohbijou was well recieved

On the Main Stage, Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko mixed a Malian kora with a bango to create a one of a kind sound

Ian Romano, drummer for Attack in Black, plays hide-and-go-seek with the photographers

Hey Rosetta mixed in cello and violin to the traditional rock band set up for a really enjoyable show

Library Voices was yet another band to throw in something other than guitars, bass and drums into a rock band to spice it up a bit

Dave Monks of Tokyo Police Club sings to a huge crowd on the Main Stage. This was taken right before I got the boot from a power-tripping security guard.

After getting booted from the front of the stage at Tokyo Police Club, I headed back toward the Island Stage to see the Arkells, and as a result caught the second half of Woodhouse...I wanted to thank the jerk security guard, because these guys were awesome. The two man show (one on drums the other on a Roland and some synths) drops some serious beats

The Arkells were the final act of the night and packed the tent at the Island Stage (there was a lineup just to get into the stage area!). Instigated by one excited fan, as many as 7 crowd surfers were counted in the air at once. If that doesn't explain the vibe in the tent, nothing will.

All in all it was an amazing day, but there was one band that played in the afternoon that I did not mention…My favourite band of Saturday that I hadn’t heard of until Saturday, had to be FRED.  Hailing out of Dublin, they brought their sounds to the stage not once, but three times over the course of the weekend (of which I attended two due to the rain…I’ll explain later).  Their catchy tunes, great sense of style and humour resulted in large crowds for the band.  After hearing them, I was excited to see they would be playing a smaller stage the next morning, but I didn’t know at the time, that my favourite band of Sunday that I hadn’t heard of until Sunday, would be playing with them.

Members of FRED play the main stage on Saturday afternoon

Sunday

Sunday morning started off with breakfast with Raquel from IndieCan.  I had met her on Saturday in the same spot and she introduced me to Joe Chisholm and their photographer, Wendy.  They were a great bunch and good to get me pointed in the right direction with bands.  Just before 11, there was a reasonable downpour and it looked as if the day may go to shambles (pictures later on), but as soon as the rain let up a little, I scurried over to the Lake Tent to watch FRED, Eccodek and Delhi 2 Dublin.

I expected to have a relaxing morning in the tent listening to some great music.  What I got though, was highly unexpected: awesomeness.  That’s right, awesomeness.  That is the only way to explain what happens when you mix the distinctly different vibes of three groups at 11am.  Even the most dreary-eyed audience member had no issues wiping the sleep from their eyes to dance.  This would be the first time I heard the crazy Celtic-Bangra mix of Delhi 2 Dublin and right away I circled their set on my schedule for the day.

The rain from the night before hadn't even had a chance to dry up when FRED took the stage at 11am

The crowd dances as FRED, Eccodek and Delhi2Dublin team up for a once in a lifetime performance

There couldn’t have been a better way to start off the day, and it left me anticipating a full set by Delhi 2 Dublin that night.  The rest of the day was once again musically amazing and trying to explain it would be rather lengthy (sort of like this blog post).  Here are a few shots from the day:

After leaving FRED and friends, I headed over to the main stage and caught the end of Gurpreet Chana, the Tabla Guy's act. As you guessed it, he plays the tabla. His impeccable speed wowed the crowd and nobody will be questioning his self proclamation of being "the Tabla Guy"

Los Misioneros del Norte came up from Mexico to play the Hillside Festival. Despite the fact they only spoke Spanish, they had no issue communicating their rhythm to the crowd below. They also had matching uniforms (including their manager backstage) which makes them one of the classiest acts of the day.

Los Misioneros del Norte wore matching uniforms, including these yellow boots

Darcy Yates of the Great Lake Swimmers looks onto to the crowd as they play their set on Sunday afternoon

The shadow of the 12-Lane Highway drummer can be seen on the back of the tent as the sun sets. 12-lane highway was yet another mix of multiple bands, this time made up of Dave Clarke, Kevin Hearn and the Woodchoppers

Finally, the moment I was waiting for from the morning came, it was time for Delhi 2 Dublin’s set.  Their evening set was essentially an amped up version of their compilation with FRED in the morning.  I’ll just let the pictures speak to how crazy things can get when you mix an animated fiddler, a Korean guy playing the sitar in a Slayer shirt,  electronic and tabla beats, a dhol player beating the drum and insane speeds and a lead singer who can get a crowd off their feet and dancing.  These guys were probably the most fun to shoot out of all the bands (with USS being a very very close second).

Lead singer of Delhi 2 Dublin, Sanj, gets the crowd going during their evening set.

The fast hands of dhol player Ravi adds a solid beat to Delhi 2 Dublin

Andrew, the Delhi 2 Dubln sitar player adds a tradition Indian sound to the band

Delhi 2 Dublin fiddler Kytami throws her bow in the air during their set at Hillside

This was the last performance of the Hillside Festival for me and I don’t think I could have ended it in a more memorable way.  While the bands entertained, there was plenty going on throughout the weekend, including workshops and most notiably, the rain.

The Storm!

We heard it all weekend, “the rain is coming!”, but on Sunday, the rain finally came…with avengence.

While watching some drummers, I noticed the sky get grey in the distance and decided it was time for me and my camera to wear our rain coats to document what was to come next and how people dealt with the rain

Some were prepared

Some were so prepared they matched

Some were prepared, but regreted leaving their umbrella outside

Some weren't prepared at all

Some people didn't get the memo about the rain

Others decided to use some of their energy and embrace the rain

Even while sipping on a Redbull, this guy had no energy for the rain

Some fled to higher ground to keep their feet dry

While one vendor had to cover up and wait it out

Some waited it out under umbrellas (the arrow above their heads is correct)

This man was responsible for the sacred fire during the rainstorm. Despite the rain, he watched over and tended to it.

After a close lightening strike on the island, this medical response person headed in the direction to make sure everything was okay

Eventually, all things must come to an end and the rain ceased, but that didn’t mean the fun was over yet…

When the rain stopped one little kid decided to get her feet wet

One big kid got her feet wet too

Other kids preferred to get in knee deep

Of course, with rain comes mud, and there were two ways to approach it: cover up, or get dirty…

Plastic covers were the best way to keep your feet from getting muddy if you didn't have boots

These two decided that mud isn't so bad

Getting your feet muddy was one option for avoiding wet shoes

This girl had an idea of what to do with her muddy foot

Suddenly, she had an even better idea!

Why not give the Hillside Logo on the front of the main stage some flair?

This pretty much sums up what Hillside is really about

Just as the impromptu art piece was complete, Issa took the newly decorate main stage

Finally, the sun came out and people started to dry off

The Green Stuff…

Here are a collection of images from around the island all weekend that were specific to a band, nor related to the rain (okay, well maybe some are related to the rain).  One of the coolest things about the Hillside Festival (and Guelph in general) is their attempt to keep it as green as possible.

Despite all the electronics below, the main stage has a living roof on it

In order to discourage the use of bottled water, free water was provided to anyone with something to carry it in (I saw cups, bottles, Camelbaks, huge pots and more)

For those who forgot their cup or wanted a beer, the official Hillside mugs were available for purchase

However, there are always those who still can't resist....

By far the neatest thing I saw at Hillside, which I have never seen anywhere else, was the fact that all the food vendors use reusable plates, cups and utensils which were washed all day long by the fleet of dedicated volunteers

While I could probably keep this post going on and on with the workshops and other random events, like the festival, this has got to come to an end.  Hillside is by far the best festival I have ever been to and I don’t think any of the GTA festivals can compete, sorry Beaches Jazz Fest you’ll have to accept the number 2 spot.  I can’t wait to do it again next year!

R