My, how the Squamish Valley Music Festival has grown over the last five years! We still remember the first edition, back when it was called Live at Squamish and Devo was one of the headliners of that year’s festival.
Since then, the Squamish Valley Music Fest has emerged into a much larger venue, with four stages, its two mainstays (Stawamus and Tantalus Stages) anchoring either end of the festival.
In between, you’ll find the smaller Meadow Stage and Blueprint Arena, where DJs such as Ryan Hemsworth (of the chill wave and trap rap genre) took to the decks in the early evening.
[Top: James Vincent McMorrow and band in the Festival village]
Wandering around the grounds leads to several food and beer areas, marketplaces, games, and happenings, depending on your mood — and the time of day. We felt as though there’s enough here to satisfy all tastes.
[A visit from the Fun Police!]
The festival went completely cashless again this year, with issued wristbands that attendees were able to load (and top up) via onsite portals as well as on the SVMF website.
We heard grumblings around the site regarding fees to both initialize the wristbands and to cash out your remaining balance. I suspect that many major festivals have gone this route, with positive and negative results.
One thing that couldn’t be argued was the gorgeous blue skies and natural beauty surrounding the festival. Up here in the mountains, we noticed more smiles and easy-going folk out for a good time.
[Second from bottom, Tokyo Police Club; bottom, Sam Roberts Band]
Some of Saturday’s highlights included Tokyo Police Club, Chvrches, The Roots, Sam Roberts Band, and headliner Arcade Fire, who as usual put on a fantastic show.
It’s easy to see why these guys have risen above our country’s musical landscape with Grammy Awards and last year’s album Reflektor debuting at the top, reaching number one internationally.
Between the numerous members of the Montreal-based band, there’s always something entertaining to watch on stage. Their 90-minute Reflektor tour set (including a couple of encores) started with a few band members coming on stage wearing oversized puppet heads, launching into Rebellion (Lies).
The rest of their set revolved heavily around both Reflektor and The Suburbs.
Reflektor, Joan of Arc, Month of May, The Suburbs, Ready to Start, No Cars Go, Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains), right through to the band’s anthem, Wake Up—all the hits were accounted for, leaving the fans ready to call it a night just past 11 with smiles all around as they exited en masse to campgrounds and parking.
For more of my Squamish Valley Music Festival photo coverage, click here. If you spot yourselves in any of these photos, please leave a comment below and I’ll tag it appropriately.
The festival wraps up tonight after four days of non-stop music and action.