zero Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 I imagine you all got real wet and not in the good way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybone Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 I was there for Friday and Saturday- great times!Lots of bands I hadn't heard before and really enjoyed.Highlights for me included Woodhands, The Arkells, Bahamas and Tall Boys. Woodhands totally floored me! I somehow managed to stay dry most of the weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted July 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 I'm thinking about trying to scam along with Woodhands producer to Wolfe Island. Largely cause I want to see Busdriver though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.O.B.E Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 I heard they found a body... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Gruvsten Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 Lotsa surprise goodness this year – this isn’t complete of course and I simply cannot convey how freaking crazy the rain and lightning was on Sunday with text(it hit so close once the entire food tent collectively dropped their utensils and yelled ‘FUCK’ like it had been rehearsed!!) but this is what I’ve managed to throw together at work! Friday: Got there just in time for Birthday boys and a few beers with friends – they were good(uh the beers, friends and BBoys…) but early enough in the weekend I really don’t remember a lot…Hung out for awhile and sauntered over to the other stage to get under the tent for Rock Plaza Central – these guys didn’t grab me too much(sloppy first few songs) but once they got going…wheweee good stuff!! Took the crowd to some cool places. After that it was back to the other beer tent (I think I *glanced* at the main stage all weekend!) for USS and some packed tent shenanigans…a few sound problems but they got the place rocking…lots of stage antics and dnb beats. Sidenote: We drove back and forth to my place in town over the weekend – originally the price of camping had been doubled this year and we opted out, only to find out they received so many complaints that they changed it back…too late for us as we were well on our way with Plan B….and after the sheer amount of rain this turned out to be a blessing since camping would have been –challenging- to say the least. I had some friends coming from out of town and one had a bum knee so it was probably for the best – and I must say I smelled friggin great on Sunday – a lady on the shuttle bus even commented on it! So Saturday morning was long and lazy, with Anne T. setting up the household with crepes, fresh fruit, yogourt and cheese for breakfast – fantastic! Add to that some fresh coffee and a shower and we were ready for the day – getting there the site was already a bit muddy and we jumped on a shuttle bus to get down to the island – missed Green Go unfortunately (love em’) but caught a great run of Bruce Peninsula, Treassa Levasseur and Tallboys(Kevin Breit/Matt Brubeck/Jesse Stewart) – by this time Large Marge had shown up and the party had started rockin’!! Several shady below-the-table-beers and a 26’er of Jaggermeister later and we were all hootin’ and hollerin’ for Snappy on the bass during Treassa. Bruce P’s harmonies were incredible and the lead girl has all the grit and spice I can imagine that Janis Joplin had live…Tallboys was simply incredible, probably the best hour of MUSIC I heard all weekend – just in awe. Took a break to get some eats and soak up the beer(pulled pork sandwiches with homemade potato chips!) and got ready for the evening – thank god because it was a helluva run! Timber Timbre – unfortunately I was apparently a little drunk for this one and don’t remember much besides the name. I didn’t leave so it must have been ok! Attack in Black rocked the house! CR Avery had a crazy carnival barker attitude with cool beatboxing and harmonica playing overtop of a great band – fun! Library Voices amazed me with their perfect pop – every song brilliantly executed, and seemingly each better than the last. This was right around where I started losing my voice I think… Woodhands was hands-down THE tent rocker this year – USS made a valiant attempt on Friday night, and they did have the energy, but it was a bit more gimmicky than Woodhands, and definitely not as sonic – that was my 4th or 5th show and finally a big crowd and big P.A. made those old analog synth basses punishing. LOVED IT….but it made me wonder what the poor Arkells were going to do to keep up. The good news is they kept it going after Woodhands, which was no easy feat! What an amazing band. Sunday I stayed in one beer tent with friends for most of the afternoon – started with ‘Dancehall Free for All’ which wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea but were an excellent band – I did miss Dave Bidini(but had a chance to drunkenly apologize to him…jeebus) but I saw lots of ‘Pop Montreal’ bands – Witchies and Clues were great, more pop rock goodness for a rainy afternoon – Popped over to the other beer tent(sorry, by this point I was ’sloshing’ both through the mud at my feet, the beer in my belly and the haze in my head) for Rural Alberta Advantage – these guys really were everything everyone told me they would be – more great rock and ran into a bunch more friends I hadn’t seen in awhile…ate some chow and got ready for the evening – strolled past Great Lake Swimmers on the main stage(loved them at Hillside Inside but a bit slow for me this time) and spaced on Patrick Watson even though everyone told me to go see him. Curse of the main stage. Caught Dave Clark’s hour(12-lane highway) which sees a bunch of people on stage trying to do stuff while he conducts….audience participation, more rain, more beers, then it was Delhi to Dublin – another Tent Rocker that made us all wonder why they weren’t a final act! Killer beats, drumming, violin(damn cute too player too) – not nearly as bad as a celtic/Punjabi hybrid sounded in my mind! After this it was time to skip out…us adults with our Monday AM jobs….our brains had shifted gears to focus on how hard it was going to be to get the car out of the mud pit that used to be a parking lot (about ½ hr and minor amounts of pushing…I only ate a little mud) So – it was one hell of a wet weekend but since our crew was mostly ‘well-seasoned’(and broiled and baked for that matter most of the time) it was no worries! Thanks to Thomson, Marge and others for the good times, special shout out to my man Papa Nasty Snax (who travelled from Korea) for attempting to show his British girlfriend a good time in Canada. She said she could finally stop complaining about British weather! Here’s a video to show how messy it got on Sunday… …pay particular attention around the 37 second mark…..jeebus! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAlphaNerd Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 That 37 mark is INSANE!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Wish Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 Fuck, PNS made an appearance and I wasn't there?!?!I was hoping for a rerun of the "throw whatever you want at me- this suit is waterproof!" incident.....S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phishtaper Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 Normally, our Hillside involves a lot of running around from stage to stage, rushing past understanding friends with an all too quick “Happy Hillside†or grabbing a five-minute sausage break when we can. It’s essential to check and set recording levels, flip DATs or start new sound files, all in a frantic effort to ensure that every single moment of sound at all stages is captured for posterity. After a decade of frenzy, we have earned official laminates in our names and the title “Archivistâ€. This year was different, though. We decided to relax and defer to the new generation team of official tapers who archived all sounds (and video!) this year. We still had recording gear in the car, but decided not to enter the tangle of sbd cables, laptops, mics and coveted AC, since the process was in capable hands. So, what to do with all this new found time on our hands? Well we simply did Hillside like everyone else, of course. Armed with a schedule, stainless steel water bottles and vintage beer cups, we arrived Friday night to the sounds of Xavier Rudd on the Main Stage. His distinctive didgeridoo groove signaled a fun start to our adventures. I don’t have to see him to enjoy him and his tunage provided a nice background for what turned out to be an evening of casually chatting with friends. Perhaps this is what we never even knew we had been missing before. Friday night – and a lot of the entire weekend - involved bumping into, and spending time with friends. Lest the music take a back seat, though, we made our way over to check out The Grates at the Lake Stage, an Australian, indie rock, three-piece that kicked our soggy butts out of neutral. I really liked them. One of my highlights. Divine Brown took the Island Stage next. She’s got an accessible soulful, R&B groove that really entertained the crowd gathered in the tent. But, so few people got to actually see her because of a new policy this year – enforcing capacity inside the two side stage tents. There was actually a line up to get into the tent. Yes, a line up!! Surveying the number of people inside I guessed it was around 400 or so, but the lovely fellow at the entrance insisted his capacity of 1600 had been reached and he simply wasn’t letting anyone else in much to the frustration and near shock of those being made to wait. Clearly he was in charge and it didn’t help when I asked him if they were subtracting the number of exits. Friday night was a bit of a bust getting into the Island Tent but they eventually figured out how to count up to 1600 the next day and lines were truly due to full capacity inside. Unfortunately, fans – especially the huge throng of energetic, teenage volunteers – had to settle for gathering outside Friday night and just listening to USS (UBIQUITOUS SYNERGY SEEKER) who played the now established Friday Night Stand on The Tables Close Out Dance Party Set at that stage. Over at the Main Stage, the crowd was treated to a very rare headlining appearance by Stratford songstress, Loreena Mckennitt. “Mesmorizingâ€, “Beautifulâ€, “Celtic-Pop†and “Transcendent†are some of the words used by local web and newspaper reviewers of her performance. Like so many Hillside moments, this was a special treat and a wonderful way to close out the Main Stage on Friday night. Saturday arrived with an ominous weather forecast. Rain, thundershowers, more rain and more thundershowers. But surely the gods would not actually rain on this party. Surely they did – off and on, throughout the day. So, what do Hillsiders do when it rains? We put on raincoats and we continue to party – although to be honest, some people simply arrived a little bit late – like us. Julie Doiron was a hit on the Lake Stage but we arrived just as she was ending. Too bad, I like her, but did manage to catch some of her workshop collaborations throughout the festival. I liked Bahamas (Afie Jurvanen) when we saw him open for the Constantines and Weakerthans a few months ago and I liked his Island Stage set this year as well. A rousing, set-ending version of Purple Rain with guests including the Great Lake Swimmers, pleased this wet, more reasonable capacity, crowd. Up next, we waited out the rain for Ohbijou to take the stage. Pleasant, but not rocking, we enjoyed a few tunes before we ventured over to catch local guitar wizard Kevin Breit with Tallboys. Man, can he play. On the way over, though, we happened upon David Martell on the Main Stage. “We know that song, what is that song he is playing?â€, we wondered as we stopped. Ah, John Wayne Gacy, Jr. by Sufjan Stevens … beautiful and way creepy. I doubt the crowd had any idea what they were swaying along to. Other acts we enjoyed on Saturday included spoken word artist Ritalin at the optimistically-named, Sun Stage, Ladies of the Canyon (who we affectionately referred to as “four hot chicks and a couple of dudesâ€), Hey Rosetta, CR Avery, legendary Buffy Saint Marie and especially dance, groove, electronic Eccodek. Although Eccodek’s Andrew McPherson mocked my white running shoes covered in mud the next day, I still complimented him on his set – one of this year’s highlights for me. A new feline addition to our family unfortunately necessitated we leave early on Saturday and we missed Library Voices, Grupo Fantasma and The Arkells – highlights according to others the next day. Sunday started out with an even more threatening weather forecast. Thundershowers replaced rain throughout the hourly predictions. Damn those meteorologists and their accurate science! Sunday ranks as one of the single wettest days in the 26-year history of the festival. Oh well, thems the breaks, eh? The show must go on. Well, sorta. After waiting 30 minutes to even see the first parking lot, we witnessed a van being pushed into the lot through one big ass mud bog. Uh oh. That’s really not good. Shockingly, seeing Dave Bidini at 3:00 might not actually happen. Risking Karma, we pulled rank and ducked in behind a VIP car and scooted past the waiting line of cars and drove into our preferred island parking lot via backroads. Our emeritus laminates and parking pass came in handy. Fortunately, we made it in to see The Witchies – a Montreal threesome full of enough energy to help dry out the ever soggy crowd – and then over to settle in to see Bidini. “zzzzzzzzzzzzappppp!!!†“BAAAAANG†Holy shit, did they just get hit by lightening? Um, maybe, but’s he’s ok. “Folks, please do not stand next to the metal poles insides the tents†OMG… this is serious. Whooooooosh. Cue the rain. A lot of rain. A fucking lot of rain. A whole fucking lot of fucking rain!! Out goes the power. A quiet hush overtakes the crowd as the ground outside the tent begins to flood. After about 15 minutes of torential downpour, God grants us grace, the rain lets up and the lights, PA, and instruments are returned to power. Bedini takes the stage, “Well that was funâ€. I like Dave. Perhaps it is because I grew up with the same music as him and my influences are his. With Don Kerr on Drums, we were treated to a great set, including a tease of XTC’s Making Plans for Nigel. How can you go wrong with that? An hour later I ran into a professor from Mac as he rode his volunteer bike and trailer around the site shuttling musician’s gear. “Hey, isn’t Jane Sibbery supposed to be here?â€, he asked. Yes, her name is now Issa. Jane has a reputation for being a quirky but charming uber-individual but she looked oh so Hillside when we bumped into her on Saturday, complete with backpack and child in tow. Issa’s set was subtle and great. Spiritual and filled with Jane-like, typically scattered anecdotes, she has a beautifully distinctive voice. Unlike Sibbery’s 1993 Hillside performance, there was no Mimi on the Beach today. Instead, we got the new sweet Jane who seems somewhat more at peace with herself. It was fun seeing Jane after all these years. Rounding out the evening for us were the Great Lake Swimmers. Unapologetically folk-poppy, they brought smiles to the faces in the utterly soaked crowd and helped to scare away some of the clouds at the Main Stage. Well, for the moment, at least. But that was enough for us. Our new kitty awaited our return and we were tired. Word is that the skies opened up one last time during the Final Fantasy set and the crowd who actually braved the storm was treated to an epic performance in the rain. Hats off once again to festival organizers and the hundreds of volunteers. And special thanks to Sam. Definitely soggy, but another fun year on Guelph Island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Gruvsten Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 funny thing Phishtaper - that 93 Hillside was my first, with Rheostatics playing, then backing Jane Siberry as the headliner...I talked to a couple people about that after I clued in that Jane was Issa and vice versa...neat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phishtaper Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 TG, yeah the guy I mentioned from Mac had no idea that they were the same person either. the program made no mention of it, presumably at issa's request.here is another youtube of the storm from inside the Bidini tent during the power outage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22Pmpj6UHMI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvet Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 I too would be pretty embarrassed to admit I used to be Jane Siberry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted July 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 I haven't heard anyone at all mention Holy Fuck yet, they were on the bill I'm pretty sure. Their Harbourfront show was pretty epic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phishtaper Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 they were not there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Gruvsten Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 they play this weekend in Meaford at Eclectic Electric fest... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted July 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 only reason I would've gone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Gruvsten Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 sure woudln't be for Damo! He's the Yoko Ono of Can... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted August 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2009 No fucking kidding Damo is such a joke. He was just some sort of wailing street musician picked up by Can and all the BSS style weenies who claim a deep debt to Can can't seem to accept the fact the guy is a talentless screaming hack. I had to deal with him for a couple of days at Guelph Jazz with his giant German stripperish girlfriend- really didn't enjoy the experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artmastertilt Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 On Friday night, after participating in the Organic Groove drum circle at the drum and dance tent and seeing Xavier Rudd on the main stage, I ate a chicken on a pita from that vendor who had those two big piles of red crap that was mostly onions on his grill...I had to stop three times on the bikeride home to kitchener to throw up in the ditch...Lesson learned: Never buy food from a vendor with no lineup...As a result, i missed much of Saturday due to further digestive complications that will be better left untyped...I did manage to drag my sorry ass back to Guelph for Grupo Fantasma on Saturday night...As I arrived, the people at the bike check were bugging me for arriving so late in the day but, upon hearing that tight horn section, I knew I had arrived just in time...Their conga guy was pretty much as good as it gets and the percussion section as a whole was solid...Great band...Totally worth riding 30km each way to see...After participating in the drum circle around the campfire in the volunteer area for awhile, I headed home to nurse my bruised colon...Sunday, I ended up turning back on my ride over to Guelph due to lightning (in the countryside, riding a bike is like riding a lightning rod)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Wish Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 You should email the organizers..... You probably weren't the only one sick- and maybe he won't be allowed back next year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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