07.25.2009 Virgin Festival Day 1

Normally I'm not really a fan of festivals. Packed crowds, all ages (not that that's a bad thing), generally high ticket prices and short sets are all things I could do without. However, if you wait long enough, usually secondary market ticket prices usually drop by the time the date rolls by. The weeks leading up to said show, I even recall a 2 for 1 promotion somewhere. This usually means the show was undersold, but it also means I was able to snag a ticket for $30.





I get there around 3pm just in time to see Mute Math. Two or three years ago, they had a bit of an indie level hype about them. Somehow I never really got into them. Live, they're not too bad. Decent stage presence; they sort of had a Filter vibe to them. Actually I recognized one of their songs from somewhere, I think it's called 'Typical'. To close their set, they did a pretty cool 3 person percussion thing during the outro to "Break the Same".









After their set, I walked over to the second stage, (or bands they put on so they can set up the mainstage) to find out that it's none other than Vancouver's own Elizabeth. I think I've seen them 4-5 times now. Can't say they've up'd their game too much.





K-os followed up on the mainstage. Much like the day one headliners, the Roots, K-os had a full band back him up live. Having never seen K-os perform live before, I was kind of impressed by his captivating live show. Some of his songs actually used excerpts of classic rock tunes (Rush - Tom Sawyer, Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven) to which he would put lyrics over. 'B-boy Stance' wasn't played, but mega-hits "Man I used to be" and "Sunday Morning" were represented. Much like any dynamic artist, his live renditions were quite a bit different than his album versions, adding more dimension to his work. Was a little disappointed I didn't see Emily Haines make an appearance during this set. Would have liked to have seen 'Uptown Girl' live with her. Of course her absence here can only mean more disappointment later on...

I don't recall who was next on the secondary stage because I was a)finding water b)contemplating whether or not I should shell out for an overpriced Jamacian patty (I didn't).





Broken Social Scene was the last band that I saw. Having to compare this set to the one they did in Toronto would really be unfair. Although this show really couldn't compare (I doubt any show could), the V-fest set was pretty good on its own right. Today lineup was very male dominate.





Hometown resident and Stars frontman Torquil Campbell was included, as well bandmate Evan Cranley. James Shaw of Metric was present, however Emily Haines was not. How peculiar.





Lisa Lobsinger handled all of the female vocals that day. The crowd seemed somewhat into it. It was hard to say. Definitely different than most festivals that I've been to. A pretty good mix of new and old songs were played.





k-os even did a verse or two on one of the songs. The set was about 45 minutes and seemed to end just while things were starting to take off. I actually took off after this. I really don't know if I could sit through another Our Lady Peace set.

Normally this is where the review would end, but as luck would have it, it rained in Vancouver. Actually thunder and downpoured. Ends up the organizers pulled the plug before the Roots got on stage (I later found out that they're planning on doing a free make-up gig in the near future). The also let day 1 festival goers use their tickets towards day 2 (not me, I had other plans). So... I guess those tickets that scalpers were desperate to get rid of, are going to be worth something after all. I guess everyone wins. Well except the organizers I suppose. I've got pretty good odds on there not being a V-fest Vancouver next year.

$30/$30