There were enticing collaborations happening throughout the grounds to kick off a sunny Sunday morning. Being a big Acorn fan (with new concert tee to prove it), and after an impressive Wooden Sky performance the day before this team effort drew me in. Many of the so-called ‘workshops’ had fallen flat with bands simply interchanging on the same stage, but this set went beyond that to integrate both bands in ‘the hole in the universe’. For example they all played a light-hearted rendition of the Barenaked Ladies’ Lovers in a Dangerous Time which was good fun and included some slide guitar. Keeping with the easy-going set they led a Happy Birthday singalong, and joked about the seemingly accidental ‘uniform’ for nearly all on-stage members – plaid shirts of all colours.
Gospel Hour
In Hillside 26 years the Sunday morning gospel hour has gained a strong following. No matter how hard people go on Saturday night they make a point of being there for this now three-hour ‘hour’. Sarah Harmer was charged with duties of overseeing this melee and that was no easy task with the amount of performers listed and hanging around (ie: emcee Vish Khanna holding down drum duties). As mentioned above the workshops really take off when collaborations add a hint of spontaneity to produce magic. Unfortunately those ingredients were missing in the section that I watched, so there was little sorcery making its way to the back edge of the tent where I was peeping in. The Good Lovelies led a tune but didn’t have enough of an opportunity to exhibit their reputed humour. Despite the extra backing Basia Bulat’s If It Rains didn’t blow away her strong version from the previous afternoon’s set. Luckily it wasn’t raining, so the opportunity was taken for an early dip in the lake.
The Skeletones Four
Being locals, and with a Gordon as a member, The Skeletones Four were on the radar without having yet made a huge impression. This set may not have changed that for everyone but it was should have. With hard-hitting, instrument-based music (as opposed to lyric driven) they included a couple electric guitars and added some synths to a rocking sound. Evan Gordon held down bass duties as the fourtet (surprise, surprise) played a jam-my set of tight music, if you know what I mean.
The Shapes and the Sizes
In the early afternoon set the 4-piece Shapes and Sizes sounded pretty good over a lunch and beer. They came off rather loose in a positive way, and closed well with Head Movin’.
Braids
With a bit of hype coming into this set the bar was set pretty high. (High enough to draw me in over the Zeus set that everyone seemed to be talking about for the rest of the day, which I don’t want to talk about at all, to avoid that sinking feeling of regret.) This Pop Montreal band built from ambient noise composed from synths and effect pedals and reverberated vocals, into swirling songs with texture. Animal Collective references seem to follow them like, well braids on a little girl, but there’s definitely some substance to that. The set was intriguing with much to take in, with all four members contributing unique sounds from their individual instruments, in addition to all of their voices.
The Gord Downie Hour
The introductions for this tried to sound like a list of living legends from Canadian indie rock. Judging by the rammed tent people were obviously excited by this, but without a sightline I couldn’t be bothered to stay beyond Julie Doiron’s song (the second of the set) when I realized they’d be round-tabling it with a song from the back catalogue’s of each member’s career.
Corb Lund and the Hurtin’ Albertans
There isn’t a heckuva lot of country I like. Usually I hide it under a ‘folk’ heading even if I do. But Corb Lund is unabashedly country and I will unabashedly say that I enjoyed him thoroughly. Staring into the afternoon sun of the mainstage (no cowboy hat to protect his eyes) Corb played a handful of Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier! favourites, including the title track, and I Wanna Be in the Cavalry complete with banjo. Nearing the end of the set Corb gathered us all in with a very serious and somber introduction. He had us hook, line and sinker and I couldn’t help but laugh as the song he was prefacing turned out to be Time to Switch to Whiskey. And a rousing version it was as they went around the band each offering a solo, mixing in some Folsom Prison Blues, and returning to the song that left everyone content - and fixin’ for a drink!
With gear of all sorts stacked center stage each member of Holy Fuck faced the other three to create their electro rock and eventually a dance party. Arriving late due to a Shad set that just couldn’t be torn away from it would have been more interesting to have a better vantage point to figure out how they produce this music live. From what I could gather they had two guys manning keys, a third on bass and another beating the drums. Mostly instrumental at times they would scream with the microphones firmly implanted in their mouths, busting out vocoded vocals atop the music. Expectations may have been built up since their last Hillside appearance a few years ago so when the dancing didn’t erupt immediately it was slightly disappointing. Song after song the momentum built, playing a bunch of well-known tracks and for the second-to-last track things finally let loose with the entire crowd bouncing up and down in unison.
Hayley Sales
Hayley has come recommended before, but it wasn’t until she’d sung live that the full extent of her talent was realized. This was a few years ago at Hillside and in the meantime I’m sure much has changed for her but she remains gorgeous, with a voice to boot. Slotted against Canadian music royalty (see the Hippest singer in the land) Hayley was fully cheerful and engaging with the audience that came to marvel at her range. In a blue polka-heart dress, Ms.Sales’ powerful voice rang out over her acoustic guitar with bass accompaniment, except when she dismissed him to play a Simple Song on a broken ukulele. As a sign of how great she is, I left her set to catch some of Gord’s (out of necessity) but ran back before Stars to catch her last few songs.
The Country of Miracles filled out to a six-piece on stage, with Julie Doiron being quite outgoing while Gord Downie seemed slightly more subdued than he usually is in his normal gig. (No broken mic stands!) It was more of a rock impression live than the recorded material gives, but either way it’s that signature voice that defines it. The East Wind under a rising full moon was something to behold.
