July 18, 2010
Jerricho Park
Vancouver, B.C
I decided to arrive a little later for my third day, with a plan of staying a little later than my second. Without any one act in particular in mind as I arrived, I stumbled upon Alvin Youngblood Hart. His Delta-styled, Afro touch on the blues just wasn’t doing it for me.
I quickly decided to change course to see if Colin Hay (of Men at Work fame) had what it took to be an entertaining singer/songwriter type. To no surprise, I drew an immediate association with “A Land Down Under.” His signatory Scottish-Australian voice lead the ballad “I Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You” splendidly. He was tucked away in an almost completely shaded area and stage that I’d yet to check out. While he did far more storytelling than he did playing, he was thankfully the funniest and possibly most charismatic gent I’d seen all weekend.
We laughed as he reminisced about being at Ringo Starr’s birthday (with whom he collaborates routinely, in Ringo’s All-Star act) where Yoko was invited to sing one of Ringo’s tunes. Colin tried not to laugh as he explained that typically if you’re asked to sing someone’s song, you’d go up there and sing his song but it was unknown to anyone what is was that she sang. Colin closed with an enjoyable folk-rock number that I believe he explained was used for a television commercial. A funny guy and his somber songs. Sometimes that’s right up my alley, à la Matthew Good, for example.
Victoria’s Jon and Roy assembled on what ended up being my favorite stage, where a handful of the aforementioned acts played. Our indie/modern rock radio station The Peak.fm sponsored Stage 5. The group started with a Jack Johnson-esque tune that the massive, side-stage crowd loved, though I couldn’t get into. However, the upstroked guitar riffs and a far more soulful vocal offering surely did, shortly thereafter. Despite my initial impression, the style seemed more-so on the ska/reggae side, like true islanders. They even upped the ante further with a train chuggin’ rockabilly cut. Closing with a heartfelt, violin driven number “Mountain Tops” also fared the crowd and I rather well.
Southern-fried rock at its best followed immediately, thanks to Saskatchewan’s The Deep Dark Woods. Sad, soulful piano backed the twangy, slide-guitar leads throughout a number of country-rock n’ roll rounds. Ryan Boldt’s character sung of leaving for war when he bled “The government has ordered me / Time is ticking, my love.” More hopeful (though still chilling) lyrics were heard during “The Winter Hours” when he sang “There’s a small cove on the outside of town that I’d like to show you around / Oh, we will never be found / So fill up your cup with whiskey and gin / And let the time swallow you in.”
Although some parts were a little too jammy and elongated, they—and the dread-locked gritty gal I’d befriended—kept my attention enough to forfeit my plans to see Oka, an intriguing, rootsy, down-tempo, electronic act.
While I didn’t find anything overly super about the super-group “The Malahat Revue,” female vocalist Hannah Georgas appeared to be their highlight. It should be noted that perhaps the superiority lies in the fact that members from four bands biked to each of their schedules shows together. Kudos for that. I let them fill the void until Mr. Ricky Skaggs, the bluegrass legend himself, took to the main stage. At an appropriate time where I have a hankering for honky-tonk, this was a mostly unknown side of country, personally. The special guest introducer was none other than Steven Segall. I shit you not. The man, the legend, the vomit inducing Segall was here to introduce Ricky and his gang, Kentucky Thunder.
The crowd sang Happy Birthday to Ricky upon his mentioning how honoured he was to be celebrating it at our beloved Folk Fest. He followed with “How Mountain Girls Can Love,” a fast-pickin’ set opener. The picking was certainly impressive, yet the sad, sour country carol “Your Selfish Heart” was furthermore appealing. Speaking of his longing for his late mother’s homemade Kentucky fried chicken preceded the fiddle-friendly, square danceable gem “Mother’s Day Sleeping.” Even though I can’t see myself putting his albums on my turntable at home, he was a legend worth seeing, if only for a brief while, before I said “So long” to Vancouver’s folk-rock frenzy.
…Weasel Was Here
Visit these artists online:
Colin Hay – colinhay.com / myspace.com/colinhay
Jon and Roy – jonandroy.ca / myspace.com/jonandroy
The Deep Dark Woods – thedeepdarkwoods.com / myspace.com/deepdarkwoods
Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder – rickyskaggs.com / myspace.com/rickyskaggs