Were you there? If not, I’m sorry – you missed a whole lotta awesome. In addition to Plaskett returning to his rocking roots with the Emergency Band, my mind was blown (as it always is at Hillside) by some new bands.
First up, my fave of the whole weekend was Elephant Revival from Colorado. Holy. Hell. They are amazing. This first song puts Bonnie Paine’s incredible voice on display and the second gives you some action from the entire ensemble.
The Bright Light Social Hour was also a rocking good time. Straight up from Austin and into your head on repeat.
Can you believe these voices? This is the kind of thing that spoils you for most other music forever after. It was a bit of a theme this year, as you’ll learn from Montreal’s Canailles.
I think Jane summed it up best when she said you have to eat knives and smoke cigarettes for breakfast to get this kind of voice. Seriously. This lady sounds like an old record you might find in a Paris open air market and I looooooooooooooove it. I was pretty bummed that these guys played in Hamilton last night when we were still in Guelph, but hopefully they’ll come back. If not, road trip to Quebec!
And for fun – they cover Backstreet Boys…
Finally, Halifax’s Tanya Davis on the Sun Stage. Bonus here – if you missed her in Guelph, she’s going to be appearing at Supercrawl this September along with C.R. Avery (a Hillside discovery from another year). PSYCHED? YES.
Till 2013, Hillside!