The Review - Rock The Shores
Instead of a new music review this week I’m going to look back on the Rock The Shores music festival.
Rock The Shores took place in Colwood, BC this past weekend . . . just 15 kilometres outside of downtown Victoria. And it’s with those 15 kilometres I decided to start my festival weekend. A unique offer from Rock the Shore to run to the festival, aptly called, Run The Shores. A 15km run from downtown Victoria along the pedestrian Galloping Goose trail.
The run was great, but the summer heat took its toll on me with minimal shade. Temperatures hit at least 30 degrees celsius each day and running from 10 until 11:30 in that heat zapped more than any run of recent memory. Even with the heat and fatigue it was a great experience. The organizers even brought the group of 10 that took part in the run on stage to get a few cheers from the crowds in between sets. Part of the run included a ride to pick up your change of clothes, free bag check and access to showers. It was well organized and really the only drawback was the heat!
To the main attractions: the bands! This was my first multi-day festival since the first Pemberton Music Festival in 2008. The main difference is at Rock The Shores there is no camping; you come enjoy the day and then you leave (which I prefer). The Rock the Shores lineup was a mini-Pemberton lineup, which was running simultaneously. This allowed Rock the Shores to snag some big name acts like The Black Keys, TV On The Radio and Jane’s Addiction.
Saturday’s lineup was a Canadian rock who’s who. The Glorious Sons stole the afternoon for me with a loud rock set that equaled my excitement to see them for the first time. They eclipsed Canadian staples 54-40 and The Sheepdogs with their high energy and loud rock & roll. Local boys Current Swell drew a strong crowd and sounded great on a mid summer afternoon.
The headliners, Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros and The Black Keys were both bang on but very different in their delivery and crowd interaction. With Sharpe you got a front-man who made his way into the crowd, walking and sharing the microphone and with The Keys you got two frontmen, plus VERY solid band content to let their extensive catalogue of catchy songs do the talking. Neither approach is right nor wrong, it just was distinctly different. This was the 5th time for seeing The Black Keys but the 1st to see Edward Sharpe. The Black Keys have never disappointed me and I’m always excited to see them but it was Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros who won the day for me. Their energy through the large group of talented Magnetic Zero’s provided the perfect soundtrack for the Colwood sunset.
Sunday didn’t see anywhere near the crowds that Saturday brought and everyone who did make it out seemed to be moving a little slower. The heat was definitely a factor, with water refill stations, misting and hose showers for crowds hanging near the stage, Rock the Shores did a solid job keeping everyone as cool as they could. Sunday had the main draw for me of the entire weekend: Father John Misty. Before we get to Misty, I enjoyed a jaw dropping set from Kim Churchill as he played drums, guitar, harmonica and sang . . . all ALONE! It was impressive and it sounded great. He has a Ben Howard feel and I recommend giving him a listen.
The costume clad PPL MVR get the award for most buzz around the grounds. The sasquatch, auto tune band had an air of mystery around them and with little to no info online, I’m still not entirely sure what I witnessed! I do know it was strange but I have to hand it PPL MVR, they had people talking.
Father John Misty swaggered out and I made sure I was at the front of the stage for this one. He delivered an electric performance with witty deadpan banter in between his sarcastic sometimes-dark romantic songs. Misty’s fantastic new album ‘I Love You, Honeyhear’ provided the opening song of the same title to his hour long set and he didn’t let up. Misty wandered the stage delivering his songs with a unique energy you don’t often see from front-men. He came into the crowd a few times and even through the sarcasm seemed to be having a fairly good time.
TV On The Radio turned in one my favourite live shows ever a few years ago at the Commodore Ballroom and Sunday on the hot stage they delivered again. I wasn’t sure how they would do at a larger setting but the years of touring and album cycles have honed them into a viable awesome live act. The set closer, ‘Staring At The Set’ couldn’t have been more appropriate and this live version has grown into something even dancier and better than the album version.
Jane’s Addiction closed the weekend with a performance of ‘Nothing's Shocking’ in it’s entirety. Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro are rock stars no doubt about it and had no trouble getting the fans into the palm of their hands with the 90’s classics. ‘Coming Down the Mountain’ was the stand out for me.
The Rock the Shores festival was very well run . . . from getting in through the gates to the grounds themselves and the misting stations to cool down. There were loads of food options in the form of food trucks. We enjoyed fish tacos from Tacofino, ribs/potato salad from Red Barn Market, chorizo sausage buns from Smokin’ Joes and much more. Phillips Brewery provided the beer and being one of my favourite beer makers equaled perfection thirst quenching. This was an excellent festival and my hope is to see them keep pushing to get these stand-out acts for years to come.
Further Rock the Shores reading here from the Times Colonist written by Mike Devlin.
More photos at happydesigns.com taken by Webmeister Bud from the Zone 91.3
Atomique Productions photos here