The third annual Live at Squamish music festival has wrapped up for another year. Multiple stages, a silent disco, a bazaar, vendors and promotional exhibits, and several beer gardens kept thousands entertained Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday.
The highlights on the first full day were the Charles Bradley (the Screaming Eagle of Soul) who played the Garibaldi Stage and The Tragically Hip who rounded out the evening on the main Stawamus Stage.
On Sunday the temperature dropped, the sun was masked by clouds, and winds funneled through the valley. Bikinis from previous days were covered up, high-waisted short shorts were traded in for jeans, and sweaters were a must come evening. The cool air did not discourage any festival goers who were warm enough from dancing in place during acts like Kathleen Edwards, The Airborne Toxic Event, and Mother Mother.
The Airborne Toxic Event
Mother Mother
Our highlight on the Sunday was definitely the Motown Tribute to Nickelback. A group of guys who became internet-famous when they released a motown-style cover song of How You Remind Me last year.
They were flown in by Live Nation specifically to play in Squamish and had actually never played a live concert gig before. The audience in front of the Garibaldi Stage was modest, until they started playing. Everyone singing along, dancing, and realizing just how much fun this act was.
Ever humble, they thanked the audience for supporting them both online and off, as well as their Kickstarter campaign to license the songs for an album. Keyboardist Scott Bradlee said on stage that he couldn’t believe this project started out in his basement, and look at them now.
Later on while Mark Farina did a two hour set on the Garibaldi Stage, City and Colour was the finale on the Stawamus Stage. Teasing rain drops fell every few minutes as the plaid and jean clad group played for a beach ball-bouncing crowd.
City and Colour
All of the acts seemed at ease on stage, bantering with the crowd as though they were enjoying the fresh air, mountain vistas, and dreamy valley scenery as much as the rest of us.
Photos in this post are by John Bollwitt for Miss604.com exclusively. View the rest of John’s photos on Flickr. Miss604 is the official blog partner of Virgin Mobile Canada for Live at Squamish.
Campers, glampers, and concert goers poured through the gates last night at Live at Squamish as the music festival kicked off with evening concerts on the Garibaldi Stage. The Tragically Hip performed their sound check in front of a small group of media and special guests over on the Stawamus Stage with the iconic Chief once again providing an impressive backdrop.
Friday Night
The marketplace has returned with hats, scarves, shirts, and trinkets available for sale and the food truck line-up includes a selection of Jamaican smoothies, lemonades, poutines, and Triple O’s. Beer gardens are stocked and the impressive VIP areas have been constructed.
Things get underway today at 3:00pm when Young Pacific opens on the Meadow Stage. The Tragically Hip will close out the evening on the Stawamus Stage while Chromeo will play into the night starting at 10:30pm on the Garibaldi Stage.
I will be covering the festival today and tomorrow with updated blog posts and by using the tag #VMSquamish on Twitter. Follow Virgin Mobile Canada on Twitter and Facebook for updates from the festival as well including highlights from their two-tiered VIP area for Virgin Mobile members.
John and I will post photos once today wraps up and then head out again tomorrow to do it all over again.
Saturday Update
After an accident on the Sea to Sky Highway caused a multi-hour traffic jam, the show went on in Squamish. The line-up was set back by about 20-40 minutes but the Stawamus Stage quickly got on track while the Garibaldi Stage remained about 30 minutes behind until the end of the night.
John and I setup camp in the Virgin Mobile Members Lounge before heading out to catch the day’s talent. No music was missed due to the highway delays since the first acts weren’t on until after 3:00pm anyway. However by the time The Sheepdogs were half way through their set, the sun disappeared.
Current Swell
Wintersleep
Lights
The Sheepdogs
The Tragically Hip
The Hip took the stage once the sun ducked behind the mountains and cool summer breezes rushed through the valley. Throngs gathered in front of the Stawamus Stage for the quintessentially Canadian act and were treated to a solid set that sampled from the band’s vast catalog. Gord Downie danced with his microphone stand, ranted poetically at random, and made neighbourly comments to the crowd as though he just bumped into us all while stepping out onto his front porch on Sunday morning to pick up his paper.
The band was solid and creative, what you would expect after decades of playing together, and the audience ate it up. Lighters were sparked and waved in the air with approval as girlfriends bounced atop their boyfriends’ shoulders.
We’ve come to Live at Squamish every year and it’s been a slightly different experience each summer. The acts have always been enjoyable but I think they finally found the right complimentary mix of talent that had audiences marching from the Garibaldi Stage to the Stawamus Stage en masse to catch whoever was up next.
One stand-out performance was Charles Bradley, known as the Screaming Eagle of Soul. The 64 year old from Brooklyn, who used to moonlight as a James Brown impersonator, released his first album last year and had this crowd begging for more of his achingly good soul.
There was a good, positive vibe around today — between the eager teens, millennials with frisbees, and young families rocking out on picnic blankets. Here’s to another day of Live at Squamish tomorrow where more good times are to be had… in a big field.
Photos in this post are by John Bollwitt for Miss604.com exclusively. View the rest of John’s photos on Flickr. Miss604 is the official blog partner of Virgin Mobile Canada for Live at Squamish.
People love putting images to music through videos and timelapse captures, recording their vacation footage, and creating their own unique films about our region. I searched through Vimeo and YouTube to put together another small sampling of videos about traveling to and from Vancouver.
You see a lot of flags and banners at Whitecaps games in BC Place stadium but there’s one symbol that is repeated in the home venues of the Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers as well. It’s a blue, green, and white flag with a big silhouette of a tree down the middle. Known as the “Doug Flag”, the tree being a Douglas Fir, it represents the idea of Cascadia — a whole new country in the Pacific Northwest.
The name Cascadia is taken from Cascades like the Cascade Mountain Range (that spans from Northern California to BC) or the Cascade Rapids. However it wasn’t until I started following Major League Soccer that I heard the word “Cascadia” used so often. Road trips to Cascadia, the Cascadia Cup, and Cascadian folk anthems popping up on YouTube.
In these instances, Cascadia is a symbol of solidarity with those who share our Pacific Northwest coast. In others, the notion of a nation of Cascadia is taken very seriously.
There is a Cascadian Independence Project that includes a social movement to celebrate “the things that define our unique regional character” such as bio-diversity, geography, geology, history, culture, and more.
“We are not a political movement because in many respects, we as Cascadians already form a nation,” the social movement states. “Not in the sense that we have a military, or rigidly defined borders that would be defended to the death. No, Cascadia is a nation in the sense it is a gathering of individuals and communities who reflect similar desires and needs, a unique cultural identity and most importantly, a common future.”
The idea of a nation on the Pacific Coast of North America is not a new one. In the 19th century border lines were fluid until the Oregon Treaty was signed in 1846 and in 1860 there were three different statements from separate influential individuals on the creation of a “Pacific Republic”. [source: A Self-Governing Dominion, California, 1849-1860]
Whatever the future of Cascadia as a district, region, nation, and fan base, we’ve always had close ties to the Pacific Northwest of the United States here in Vancouver. Many feel we can relate more to salmon-slinging at Pike Place than we can to tapping Maple Syrup and making snow pops. We know at least a dozen different ways to describe the rain, bull-kelp bulbs litter our beaches, bike lanes are busy, and brunch line-ups are always out the door.
When it comes to soccer, Seattle and Portland will remain our bitter rivals but in reality, our coastal neighbours are also our closest siblings.
Catch Vancouver WhitecapsFC vs the Portland Timbers this Saturday live from JELD-WEN Field in Portland at 7:30pm on Sportsnet Pacifc and TEAM Radio.
The Sequoia Company of Restaurants presents the 1st annual Dinner in the Park for KidSport on Wednesday, September 12, 2012 at Seasons in the Park.
The multi-course meal will feature dishes prepared by each of the Sequoia Company restaurants including Seasons in the Park, The Teahouse, Cardero’s, and The Sandbar.
Proceeds will benefit KidSport in Vancouver and special guests at the event will include two-time Olympic medalist, swimmer Ryan Cochrane of Victoria, and Paralympic athlete Michelle Stilwell of Calgary. Live music from Acoustic Groove and an auction will round out the evening.
KidSport BC: “We believe that no kid should be left on the sidelines and all should be given the opportunity to experience the positive benefits of organized sports. KidSport™ provides support to children in order to remove financial barriers that prevent them from playing organized sport.”
Tickets are currently on sale for $165 per person, with group purchase options available. A menu for the event is available online as well. Follow @SeasonsInQEPark on Twitter for more information.
