Squamish Valley Music Festival Day 1

This past Thursday a crew of seven of us made our way via two car convoy up to the small city of Squamish, BC to catch some amazing local and international live music, incredible weather, and lots of partying. Squamish is located at roughly the midway point of the Sea-to-Sky highway that connects Vancouver to Whistler. After a few trips down south to the Sasquatch Music Festival it was rad to finally get to check out the best of what beautiful British Columbia has to offer.

After purchasing a shit load of food and booze and stuffing the cars to their brim it was 6pm and time to roll out. It was smooth sailing for about 90 minutes and then BOOM! Several kilometres before our desired exit we were already stuck in what seemed like the never-ending lineup. Luckily for my vehicle up front we were chugging a couple beers and blasting tunes which started a number of roadside dance parties. By the time we reached the exit it was officially dark and Matt Mays had taken the stage for the "Opening Night Hootenanny". And soon it became apparent that we were not going to have a hope in hell of making this show. Oh well, too many beers and some night one steaks were waiting for us at the camp site. All we had to do now were get through the next 2 checkpoints and lineups, drop off all the gear outside the campground, go park the car in butt-fuck nowhere, come back and make too-many-to-count trips between the drop-off area and out campsite and then set everything up. Suddenly it was 1am and we were shotgunning our first beer. By 2:30am I was finally eating my dinner. By 4:30am I was wasted enough to go pass out in the cold tent.

But by the next day at Beer o'Clock (somewhere around 10am...) everyone had forgotten the shit show that went down whilst getting there and our attention had now turned to crushing beers, smoking j's, playing yard games, mingling with other campers, and plotting the day's music acts we'd try to see. After all of the above occurred in epic fashion for several hours it was finally time to check out the festival grounds and some music. First up were Victoria's The Chantrelles, a band that my buddy had only told us all about hours before we were dancing front and centre to their early afternoon set. The seven-piece band has an excellent motown sound and their soulful, female lead singer just slayed every song. Think Alabama Shakes but less guitar and more horns. I expect big things from this group and am looking forward to following them in the future.

After we had somewhat gathered our bearings of the grounds and loaded $40 on our wristbands (this is the only way one can purchase alcohol) it was time to head back to the site for more beers, bud and BBQ. After two full grills of the best campground chicken I've ever had it was time to return to the music and for shit to really begin.

Up first, and number three on my list of top 3 live acts of the day, were hip-hop legends Jurassic 5. J5 have been around since the mid-90's and have just reformed this summer with the original lineup intact, including the great baritone Chali 2na and DJ Cut Chemist (who left the group a while back). They played a high-energy set covering the entirety of their career, providing moments for each of the four rappers to shine as well as the two DJs to have a scratch off. They opened with the below track, one of my personal favourites and a great song to come out to and played classics such as "I Am Somebody" and "Concrete Schoolyard". But during the middle of the encore I got a call that Macklemore was coming to the main stage and we were off like a flash.

#3)  Jurassic 5 - Back 4 You

I have always admired Macklemore & Ryan Lewis but I would never consider them one of my top hip-hop acts and likely would not go see them live unless at a festival such as this. Well number 2 on my top 3 of the day list certainly put those beliefs to rest. From the moment Macklemore stepped on stage he had the entire crowd listening to his every word and watching his every move. The dude is incredibly charismatic and is a superb storyteller. Stories during shows are often remembered even more than your favourite song as it provides a unique experience for those in the crowd. Well Mackelmore told his fair share of stories, such as that when he arrived he was sweaty and hot and immediately went swimming butt naked at a nearby, deserted lake only to have his clothes stolen by rotten teenagers (not so empty after all). But then he was picked up by a dude in a golf cart with an epic beard that only a Canadian could have and was taken straight to the Thrift Shop. He proceeded directly into his #1 international smash and killed it along with Wanz who sings that awesome hook. But he wasn't done there as he launched into an impassioned speech about how Canada has always been a step ahead of the rest of the world in terms of human rights and then played his gay friendly anthem "Same Love". After a few more great tracks and a crowd walk he told the us about how he loves Canada so much that he's marrying a Canadian, gonna have Canadian kids and is becoming a dual citizen. At this point he whipped off the poncho he'd been wearing only to show a baby blue Vancouver Grizzlies Mike Bibby basketball jersey. As one can imagine, the crowd went berserk. And after a few more songs, including the below track, the current hit "Can't Hold Us" and two encores the party was over and an electric crowd began heading back towards the food area and/or beer garden.

#2)  Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - White Walls (feat. ScHoolboy Q & Hollis)

So Macklemore & Ryan Lewis were ridiculously good and only one band was left for the main stage, Vampire Weekend. I was lucky enough to see these guys at a festival three years ago when they played a mid-afternoon set on a side stage and they were fucking awesome. Well now they had the glorious headlining slot and had to step their game up big time. And oh hell yes they sure did. Unlike Macklemore who, as a rapper, has the freedom to move anywhere around the stage these guys are all confined to their respective instruments. Therefore they have the difficult job of making the audience do all the moving. They succeeded wonderfully at this, putting the entire crowd into a dancing frenzy on tracks such as the opener "Cousins", their first big hit "A-Punk" and new ones "Unbelievers" (below) and "Ya Hey". I really didn't think anyone could top Macklemore & Ryan Lewis but the energy brought by these guys as well as their incredible musicianship and tightness as a band provided an amazing end to an amazing day. Stay tuned for Day 2.

#1)  Vampire Weekend - Unbelievers