Saturday, July 26, 2008

Saturday was looking to be the strongest and most interesting day, so I was looking forward to it indeed. Looking at the schedule, there weren't too many tough choices to be made, and only a few things that I absolutely had to see. This made things a little more relaxing, but to be honest, I guess I was a bit disappointed by that. I was last at Hillside in 2005 (read review & see photos, if you dare), and as I recall, the lineup was absolutely stellar, with lots and lots to see, and many tough choices to be made. I didn't think there were nearly as many must-see acts this year, and to be honest, if it wasn't for the headliner I came all the way from Winnipeg to see (much more on that later), I don't think I would have even bothered. Nonetheless, there was lots to enjoy, and I did my best to fill up the day with as much magic as possible.

Getting to the site, many memories came back. Some things have changed, but lots has remained. The last time, I was fortunate enough to mooch rides directly backstage with either Michael Johnston or Tannis Slimmon & Lewis Melville, but this time, I was an ordinary ticket-holder, so following the usual rules. This meant navigating the parking lot. I get so frustrated with the weird way that people fill up a parking lot if there aren't lines or people to directly guide them, so I foolishly assumed that I should park near the back of the lines of cars that I saw. This meant a very long walk, which was made much more frustrating by the vast open space up closer that people didn't fill in in the first place. The walk from the parking lot to the site is really, really long. I don't mind at all, but Jaine's about to produce our first child in a month, so long walks over uneven terrain aren't always welcome, especially when it's hot and humid outside. I'm kind of impatient and always want to be on time, so I guess we both started off a little bit grumpy. I couldn't believe that they were making us walk all that way (especially later on when it was dark and we were really tired) so on my program survey I demanded that they start up a shuttle to the site, only to find out that there was one that I could have taken advantage of, but somehow, I missed that bit of info. Either I didn't do enough research or the organizers didn't do a very good job of informing me. Likely a combination of the two. Despite that minor bit of whining, it felt good to get back to the hill (although I still haven't figured out which hill I'm supposed to be on the side of), and I started to feel at ease once I walked through the gates.

I love the fact that other festivals don't treat me like a criminal when I enter, unlike the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Nobody searched me or my bag or gave me a hard time about my pass or anything! How refreshing. In some places, they actually believe that I won't bring bad things in, and that if I do, the world won't end. I like that.

I arrived inside late, with just a bit of time to orient myself and catch the last little bit of a workshop I was hoping to see, "Lay It to Rest," featuring Kelly Joe Phelps, Harry Manx, and others, including old friend Allison Russell of Po' Girl.

(Allison Russel and Awna Teixeira)

Allie and Awna are great people, and they make fabulous music together. I'm still trying to sort out their various projects. Basically, Allison came into the fore when she started a group called Po' Girl with Trish Klein of the Be Good Tanyas. They made a great record and started doing festivals. Along the way, they picked up the multi-talented Diona Davies on violin. They made a couple more great albums and toured whenever the Be Good Tanyas weren't active (and that seems to be a lot.) Eventually (right around the time I saw them at Hillside in 2005, if I'm not mistaken, they added Awna on bass. I think somewhere after that, the Be Good Tanyas started up again, and it seemed like Allie and Awna were left in the lurch waiting for Trish (Diona is always in demand and always busy, so she needs to wait for nobody), so they started making music on their own. Originally they were a duo called Salt. I got to see Salt a couple of times at festivals, and I thought they were great. They put out an EP and last time I saw them they were working on a full-length CD. Then I heard that they'd changed their name to Sofia. OK, no problem. One of my goals was to find Allie to ask her how the Sofia project was coming along (yes, and to tell her that Terry says hi...), but I never ended up running into her. That was fine, because later on I'd find out that Salt/Sofia has changed its name again, and is going out as Po' Girl now. I'm a bit confused, so I'll come back to that later.

If you haven't heard or seen Allison Russell sing yet, you are missing out on something. She is a powerhouse with the most amazing, soulful voice. Her songs these days seem to be really emotional and strong as well. I really hope that she and Awna do great, whatever they call themselves. I could already hear people buzzing about them, and that would continue all weekend.

Over at the mainstage I got to bear witness to one of the unique aspects of this year's Hillside, a visit from a group of Tibetan monks. Now, when I think of Monks at a music festival, I think of those Gregorian Chant albums that were all the rage for about 15 minutes a decade or so ago, so I figured that would be their schtick here as well. I'm happy to say that I didn't see any boring chanting. Instead, we got this interesting stage show.

One of the high points of the stage show was this Yak Dance, with this monk playing a yak herder trying to control his yak. I was surprised by how silly and lighthearted it was. They really didn't seem to be doing anything spiritual or sacred, just goofing off with dudes in a yak costume. It was entertaining to say the least, but not exactly what I expected. Sometimes it's best to have our expectations dispelled.

Next up was a guy I was really wanting to see, Chris "Old Man" Leudecke. I heard an album of his a year or two ago and thought it was pretty silly and fun and lighthearted, but quite interesting. This year he put out an album called Proof of Love that wasn't nearly as silly, and it really intrigued me. He actually played in Winnipeg, but as is so often the case at our monstrous festival, I missed him entirely. Sometimes that is the beauty of a smaller festival, no worries about missing people because they're all over the place. I'd get a couple of chances to see Leudecke, and I'd love him more and more every time. His songs, delivery, and show are very simple, but really great. I couldn't wait to get back and listen to Proof of Love again, and as is so often the case, the live show really opened my eyes, ears, and mind, and I have a whole new appreciation for the album. It's truly a favourite of mine these days, and it comes highly recommended. Check him out: http://www.oldmanluedecke.ca/

It seemed a little bit odd to go from a folky banjo player to the best rock band in Canada, and 1:00 seemed a bit early for these fun-loving guys, but if anyone could rise to just about any challenge, it's Elliott BROOD.

I've been following this band for a few years now, and by this point, they can do no wrong in my eyes, so it comes as no surprise that I loved their set. They're too interesting and fun and infectious to ignore. With their brilliant new album Mountain Meadows, there really should be nothing stopping this band from becoming a really big deal.

Without much effort or encouragement, they are able to get a crowd from looking like the one above, to the one below, in a matter of moments.

A bit of a lull to relax and walk around followed, as there was nothing I was really looking to see.

I did manage to wander over to the Island Stage where I caught a little bit of Jenny Omnichord & The Burning Hell tearing it up. The Burning Hell is one of those weird, interesting indie roots rock bands that the kids at Hillside seem to love, so they went over well. I didn't rush out and buy a CD, but I did enjoy what I saw.

As usual, during the popular shows, the stage tents were jam packed and it was hard to get in. I like the fact that they have tents to make it cooler and drier and stuff, but they pack them with picnic tables which take up way too much room. A tip to Hillside organizers: at other festivals, people bring chairs to sit on, and it helps to fit more people in. They actually sell those uncomfortable wooden festival chairs that everyone uses (although I can never figure out how. I know I've got a big butt and everything, but people can't seriously find those comfortable, can they?), but very few people bring chairs. At the two side stages there are picnic tables all over the place, and at main stage, people mostly sit on the ground or stand. Me, I'm sticking with my chair, thanks.

I was pleased to see that people were able to actually lie down outside the tent and listen this time. When I was at Hillside last time, my friend Kristi and I got in trouble for closing our eyes outside the tent. We were told that there was absolutely NO sleeping allowed. We actually weren't sleeping (yet), but apparently even if you look like you're sleeping, you're violating some sacred rule. That one was a puzzle that I never did figure out, but luckily, they seem to have relaxed that weird policy.

But to make up for it, they've instituted some new weird policies. I found this out when I went to the merch tent (one of my favourite stops, of course.) Dear Hillside, I love your festival, but I HATE your merch tent setup. Fix it. Thanks, Jeff. First off, they have all of the CDs displayed hanging vertically on these racks, so you have to walk around and find the case hanging from the ceiling. It's not too bad when the tent isn't busy, but it was usually busy, so you had to fight for your chance to scan these racks in hopes that you could find the CD you wanted. I didn't really figure out the order that they were hanging in, so every time I had to go and walk all the way around (they're displayed on both sides) of all of the racks. Then, you have to find the number and letter of the CD you want, because it would be way too simple for me to just pick up the CD I want and buy it. So I have to find this secret code thing, remember it, and take it and go stand in a long lineup. All of the CDs are kept behind the counter in brown cardboard boxes, and there are usually 1 or 2 volunteers behind the counter trying to find the CD you want. The boxes seemed randomly placed, because they weren't quite in order, so the hapless dude behind the counter could never find what was needed. Usually I could spot the box first and point him in the right direction, but after waiting in a long line, trying to remember this secret code thing, and trying to find the right box, I usually wanted to give up. Then came the part that really baffled me. The guy gets my CDs and then asks where my shopping basket is. I say, "I think I can manage without a basket." Apparently that's not the way they roll in Guelph. You MUST have a shopping basket to make a purchase. Even if it's one CD. Yup. So pally goes and gets me a basket and puts my CD in the basket for me to take to the next long lineup at the checkout. I don't know whether they were sold this system by a shopping basket manufacturer or what, but it's dumb. Obviously they feel that it's harder to shoplift or something, but really, if I wanted to steal a CD I'd ditch the basket and be gone in a flash. No other festival I've been to (and I've been to quite a few) uses a system like that, and all of them seem to be doing just fine.

While I'm ranting about the merch tent... This one time I go in there looking for something to buy, and I see a new disc by a band called The Shiftless Rounders. This caught my eye because this band was one of the ones I saw for the first time when I came to Hillside 3 years ago, and I really liked them, but for reasons I'll never understand, I didn't buy their CD at the time. So I was pleasantly surprised to see a CD by them there this year, even though they were not on the program. Even better, the CD wasn't hanging on the inconvenient racks, it was just sitting on the counter with the spoken word CDs (apparently nobody wants to steal those or something, because they don't need to be under lock and key on this weird rack.) I didn't see a price on the CD, so I asked the guy behind the counter. He had no idea and demanded that I tell him which box the CD came from. I explained that it was just sitting on the counter with a bunch of other discs, but neither of us knew where it came from originally. So dude had to check through a thousand boxes behind the counter hoping that he'd find the source and I guess the price (although I suspect he was mad because I didn't know the album's secret code. They're big on that there.) He couldn't find it and couldn't figure it out, so he goes to ask the store manager. She's busy of course (that woman worked night and day. Note to her: get some help so you don't have to be there all the time.) I had to come back and talk to her later when she wasn't busy (which was difficult), but when I did catch her, she was really nice and very helpful. Unfortunately, she had to go through the same story trying to figure out where it came from, checking the counter, checking the boxes, etc. At the time I had no idea what the connection was or why this disc was even there, other than that they played the festival 3 years prior. Eventually we agreed on a price and she said to just go buy it and she'd deal with it later on.

Well, it turns out that one of the guys from The Shiftless Rounders is now in Po' Girl with Allie and Awna, so I guess he brought a copy of the CD or something. I'm not sure whether he intended to sell it or what, but I've got it now and if he wants it back, he's gonna have to find me.

The reason why I was so ready and willing to come all the way from Winnipeg for the festival was the reunion of one of my favourite bands of the 90s, The Bourbon Tabernacle Choir. Two of the main players in that great band are Chris Brown and Kate Fenner, who went on to record and perform as a duo for years after the band split up. They made some wonderful records and put on some really amazing shows, but for the past few years, they seem to stick close to New York and they've been doing mostly solo projects, so I haven't seen them together in a long time. They were doing a concert set at The Island Stage at 3:00, and there wasn't any way I was going to miss that.

I got right up front to get lost in Chris and Kate's great songs, Chris and the band's amazing musicianship, and Kate's powerful, unique voice. Although they focused almost entirely on new material and didn't do any of my old favourites (I guess they left the nostalgia for the BTC show later on), they were wonderful, as expected.

watch a clip of Chris & Kate singing "Burden of Belief."

After Chris & Kate's great set, I was kind of glad that there was a break with nothing I really wanted to see so that I could digest the great stuff I'd heard so far a bit, as well as head over and get some food to digest. Speaking of the food area, what's the deal with trying to cram so many vendors under one roof? Seems like a great idea, and I'm sure they love being dry and all, but once the lineups start (and they never really end), it gets so unbelievably packed in there that you can't really move, browse around, or figure out which lineup to even get in! I did manage to develop quite a taste for Lick's Homeburgers. I consider myself a bit of a burger connoisseur, and those are pretty much the tastiest burgers I've discovered on this planet thus far (although I did have some great ones on Jupiter this one time that may have been better.) I managed to have 3 in two days, and as I sit here, I'm absolutely dying for another one. Anybody want to start a franchise in Winnipeg for me? I guarantee you'll make a ton of cash off me alone. Please?

The next show I wanted to catch was The Creeggan Brothers, Jim and Andy, who were joined by Kurt Swinghammer on guitar for the occasion. Regardless of their calcium pill obsessed former/present colleague (I'm sure I'm not the only one really tempted to ask how ol' Steve is doing...), these guys are super nice, down to earth, and really talented. They were kind enough to come and play on Free Range Radio for me years ago, but they haven't really done much together since; I was starting to think it was my fault. I guess Jim's been busy living the life of a rock star, but now that the band has come to a scandalous halt, he's got some time to hang with brother Andy again. Good on him. The duo is so much fun. I can understand why they never made it to household name status, because the music is just a little too quirky and jazzy for the mainstream, but I really love what they do and wish they'd do it more.

They played through a set of songs from their albums together, and they didn't miss a single one of the songs that I most enjoy. At one point, they invited their wives up to form The Family Creeggan, which was a fun little element of the show.

After that, I headed over for the only workshop I watched at The Sun Stage. The stage has changed location since I was last at the festival, facing the opposite direction, which seemed to allow for more shade. This meant that people were closer to the front this time, instead of lurking at the back in the trees, so I couldn't get close enough to snap any good pictures.

The workshop was titled "Guitar Dreams," and it featured Sue Foley, David Woodhead, some gal named Liz Powell, and Danny Michel. Danny was clearly the draw here (although Sue Foley is always great and having seen David Woodhead with so many great people, I knew he'd be great as well). Danny started off by saying that he had been thinking about the workshop title and trying to think of songs that he really enjoyed playing on the guitar. He said that he couldn't think of a single one of his own songs because he plays them all the time so they're not that exciting, so instead, he thought of a song that he loved when he was starting to play:

watch a clip of Danny doing Peter Gabriel's "Games without Frontiers."

So Danny starts off with a goofy 80s cover, and young Liz Powell has to go next and she's a bit confused. She asks what they're supposed to do in the workshop, and Danny jokes that they're doing 80s songs, which causes some panic for Liz who appeared too young to really know any. Danny tried to smooth things over, but I think Liz was a little flustered. She had a nice voice and I suspect that with a band I'd like her (she was there with a band, but I never did figure out which one), but she didn't really fit in on the workshop at all. I was a bit confused about why David Woodhead, a bass player was in with a stellar guitarists Michel and Foley, but boy am I glad that he was. He played a stirring tribute to the late great Oliver Schroer that was about as moving as anything I've seen all summer. David is a class act (and so was Oliver.)

Unfortunately we had to leave the workshop early to get a good spot at mainstage. It wasn't so much about getting up close to Jason Collett, but more about strategic placement for later in the evening. Jason is a nice guy who came in the studio about 5 years ago or so, and we've watched his star rise ever since (think I can take any credit? Didn't think so.) He's a talented, friendly, good looking guy who deserves whatever praise he gets. That having been said, I got a bit bored by his show after a while, and wandered over to the Lake Stage momentarily to see a bit of the show I was missing out on, the Po' Girl concert.

What I saw there while waiting for the lineup for the porta-potty (I feel a rant coming on in a moment) made me wish that I didn't care so much about real estate and worried more about music. As I said, I've been a Po' Girl fan since the beginning, but sometimes, I found their stuff a little too slow and a wee bit boring. For me, I found that the songs that Trish wrote & sang were the ones that I skipped over on the CD the most (no offense to her or anyone who likes her; I admire her talent for sure, it just ain't entirely for me), so the "new" Po' Girl kind of eliminated that. They also had more of a band sound with Benny from The Shiftless Rounders and a drummer, and the couple of songs that I heard were much more lively and fun than most of the Po' Girl stuff I've heard in the past. Of course this leads to the inevitable question; "Is it really Po' Girl if only one original member remains and the songs sound very little like the Po' Girl stuff of the past?" One to consider, but if the Po' Girl name helps Allie & Awna get the word out, then I say go for it. They sound great, better than ever, and one can only hope that they'll do really well.

So about the porta-potties. Hillside has this quaint little custom now where they tell you which ones are for males & which ones are for females. This might work out ok if it weren't clearly a woman planning this, because the "female" porta-potties outnumber the male ones more than 2:1. From what I could tell, it was mostly men drinking all of the beer, and mostly men waiting in line. Much of the time, Jaine could walk right up and get right in, while I had to wait in a long lineup for the 2 "male-friendly" johns. Why? Nobody seemed to know. Perhaps it's some sort of payback for all of the times that women have to wait in huge lineups at the arena while we breeze in and out. But the thing is, we weren't at an arena, and a porta-potty is a porta-potty. I suppose it's some sexist belief that women will keep their outhouse cleaner or something, but from the reports I heard, this simply wasn't the case. Hillside, if you clean them regularly (and they seemed to do a good job of that at least), there's no problem. Drop the labeling and let me do my thing in whichever one is open first. Again, this is something that seems to work just fine at all of the other festivals I go to...

Up next on the main stage was one of the best live bands going today, the never disappointing Sadies.

Of course the Sadies are led by brothers Dallas and Travis good who are sons/nephews of the other famous Good Brothers, who were also at Hillside. This allowed for mom & dad to join the boys on some old classics to liven up the show. It's amazing how The Sadies can take traditional folk/country like their parents do and mix it in with their unique blend of rock/country/blues/surf/whatever seamlessly. There really isn't a style of music that these boys can't do, and no matter where or when I see them, I'm always impressed.

Not much can top a show by The Sadies, but the next band up was guaranteed to do just that. Almost 13 years after their last public performance, The Bourbon Tabernacle Choir reunited for one night at Hillside.

For the uninitiated, The Bourbon Tabernacle Choir was a stellar funk/soul/jazz/blues/rock/whatever band featuring the songs, musicianship, and spirit of Chris Brown, the powerhouse vocals of Kate Fenner and Dave Wall, the happy honkin' horns of Gene Hardy, and various other characters who made things work so well. They were active for about a decade from '85-'95 or so, and they were truly one of the great live bands of the time, in my opinion. I think their jam-band type style led to bands like Broken Social Scene and many others that are so popular today. I can only assume that they were ahead of their time and that they would do really well today. Sadly, this doesn't seem to be the case because all indications are that this was a one-time only deal. One can only imagine the logistics of getting all of these players who are busy with other things now together to play. My hat is off to Hillside AD Sam Baijal for making this happen one more time.

Considering that they hadn't played together in 13 years, the band sounded as tight as ever, and they didn't miss a beat. I hope some of the young bands playing the festival were watching and taking notes, because there was lots they could have learned.

Gene Hardy, proving that he's twice the sax player anyone else is. How do you play two at once? I had enough trouble with one in high school.

Check out the guy in the hat on the far left in the above picture, dancing behind Chris Brown. He proved one other weird thing about Hillside: there is absolutely no security. This guy was as drunk as anyone I've ever seen. Originally, he was dancing/falling over directly in front of me in the audience. He annoyed the crap out of me, and I was really, really pleased when he went away, I assumed to get another drink (like he needed it.) A few minutes later, he appears ON STAGE, where he stayed for the ENTIRE SHOW. He clearly wasn't with the band, clearly didn't belong there, and he was nothing but a distraction, but still NOBODY stopped him from getting up there or got him off stage. I guess it's a cool, quaint thing about the festival that with an utter lack of qualified security, nothing goes wrong, but one has to wonder what all of those volunteers are there for...

You can see the dancing dude, and the amazing performance, in a couple of clips:

Simple

Ain't It Better to Ignite than to Explode?

head on over to http://www.bourbontabernaclechoir.com/ for more info on this great band (and more photos & videos & such)

Sunday, July 27, 2008

It's always fun walking down the path to the site and seeing that big Hillside sign and the tents. It's a really nice welcome. Unfortunately, this year one of the Ls disappeared, apparently, so the sign welcomed us to HI LSIDE 25.

Sunday morning at any self respecting festival has to start with the standard gospel workshop. This one at the Island Stage was of course jam packed, and since I was of course late, I didn't get anywhere near. But with a lineup including Dave Wall, Chris Brown & Kate Fenner from the Bourbon Tabernacle Choir, Old Man Leudecke, Roxanne Potvin, Jason Collett, Sue Foley, The Good Brothers, and more, you couldn't really go wrong even sitting outside.

I stuck around for a bit of young Hayley Sales after that to see what she was all about. Young, cute, great voice. T-Bar would go gaga, but I thought it was kind of ho-hum so didn't stick around too long.

Instead I made my way over to the Main Stage to get a good spot for Harry Manx. I've been a fan of Harry for a long time, and I always wondered why he never really plays in Winnipeg. He was at the festival this year, but he was one of the many that I didn't get a chance to see, so I was glad that he was at Hillside and in a convenient slot so I could sit and watch his full concert. He had some friends come up and join him, but honestly, I would have been happier just hearing Harry solo for the full show. He doesn't really seem to be playing his trademark Mohan Veena much any more (it was behind him, but he didn't use it during the show at all, as I recall), which is fine. He sticks with the great songs and the corniest jokes on earth, and still puts on a great show.

After Harry came a lull that would last most of the day. I kind of wandered from show to show checking things out, but not really sticking with too much. I saw a bit of David Celia at Lake Stage but didn't really get drawn in, so I wandered over to the Sun Stage.

There, I was just in time to catch a bit of a set by one of my favourite authors in the world, and the leader of a fine band called Porkbelly Futures, Paul Quarrington. In another life, I used to call myself Desmond Howl a lot, based on a character in Paul's great book Whale Music. I'm kind of a dork that way. Paul is super talented, and his story-songs really caught my attention, but sadly, I didn't get to catch much before he was done.

After Quarrington wrapped up I managed to get into the Island Stage tent and take in a full concert by the Kramdens. I remembered hearing them back in the day and thought that somewhere I had a CD or two of theirs (true), so I figured I must have liked them at one point. They put on a pretty solid rock show, but the last song was my favourite (sure wish I knew what it was. I'll have to figure that out.)

Some more aimless wandering after that, before setting up the chairs for The Vinyl Cafe, which was to begin at 6. We had some spare time, so we headed over to the jam-packed food court for another Lick's burger (those are damn good. Seriously.) I haven't mentioned the weather yet, but I'd been warned that it rained all of the time in the area this summer. The weather forecast for Saturday was pretty terrible as rain was predicted all day, but it only rained a few little drops here and there. I thought we were safe, and after the deluge at Winnipeg, I figured God owed us a sunny festival. And Sunday had been a bit cloudy, but no real strong prediction of rain, so we didn't give it too much thought. We left our bags and belongings unprotected on the chairs and then headed over for dinner. I think we were just headed out of the food tent with our food when the skies opened up all of a sudden, for one of the biggest downpours I've seen in a long time. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY headed directly for the food court, which was packed already. People were streaming in, to the point where we couldn't even move. I was really worried about all of the stuff in my bag that was getting soaked, and we wanted some rain gear before heading back out, so I wanted to make a dash for the chairs to grab the bags, but the steady stream of people packing into the food area made it almost impossible. I wolfed down what was to be my last Lick's burger, elbowed my way out, and ran full speed to the chairs. It was clear that the Vinyl Cafe wasn't going to start on time, because there was no action on the stage other than to cover stuff up and try to stay dry. Almost as soon as I got back, wedged my way back in to give Jaine her bag, and started to get my rain gear out, the rain started to slow. By the time I was dressed and protected from the elements (which didn't make much sense because I was already drenched from my run to get the bags, which were also soaked, the rain had almost stopped completely. For the rest of the night it was kind of gray, but the rain stayed away.

Stuart McLean started off the show a little late, but it didn't matter. I've come to really love the show, his stories, and the great music on the show, so no rain was going to dampen my spirits. A great Hillside diary, The Vinyl Cafe Story Exchange, and a classic Dave & Morley story is just about all you need for a great show, however, there was the small matter of the advertised "special surprise musical guest." I was racking my brain all weekend trying to figure out who it might be. It was sure to be someone from the area, someone fairly acoustic & folky, someone interesting enough to be a surprise. I'm not sure why I couldn't figure it out, because it seemed so obvious later on.

Of course, the special guest turned out to be Ron Sexsmith, which made perfect sense given his new album, and he suited the profile of a Vinyl Cafe guest perfectly. He performed 3 songs from the new album in total, and was great as always.

In the background there, you can see the Free Water tent. They made such a HUGE deal about offering free water all weekend. I kind of assumed that there would be free water. Most parks have some sort of free water, so I almost take it as a given that it will be there. It doesn't much matter to me because I usually bring my own, but you'd think from the way Wrycraft and the other MCs were going on that the Hillside organizers were the greatest philanthropists of the century for bringing a water truck on site and letting people have a drink. I appreciated it, but honestly, I don't really see how it saved a billion plastic bottles from going into the landfill or whatever they were trying to claim, because there's no way they'd sell as much water as they can give away for free. I did find it interesting to find out how much water Nestle takes from Guelph each year, and how little they actually pay for it, for their bottled water.

Two radio legends: one real and one imaginary. Stuart was gracious enough to lower himself to doing an ID for my little show: have a listen?

We stayed for a little while to hear a bit of Roxanne Potvin's set. I'd heard so much about her over the past couple of years that I kind of assumed that I should know more about her than I do. She was pretty good, but not entirely what I was expecting or wanting at that time of night. There wasn't much holding me there, and it was a long drive back to Owen Sound, and then the even longer drive back to Winnipeg the next day (never again!), so leaving early sounded pretty good to me.

All in all, another great Hillside experience. I hope to be back, and next time, I hope to get a chance to talk to Tannis!

A lovely full rainbow was waiting for us in the parking lot. A great way to signal the end of the festival. Thanks for reading!