Just like that, we have reached the third and final day of the Phillips Backyard Music Festival. Day three saw a wide range of genres including indie, grunge, math rock, country and more. Beers were had and music was heard as take one last look at this festival before closing it until next year. How will we survive knowing there won’t be anymore Phillips Backyard 2026 after this? Not sure, but that’s a different problem for a different day. For now, let’s review the final day of this beautiful festival.
Day three on the Main Stage kicked off with Darrian Gerard. Having performed at the Music BC x Phillips Backyard mixer the day before, the hype was real to see this incredible BC artist take the stage. Her group featured some of our friends as well, including Nate from Dead Summer and Breanna & Rowan from Carmine. Every time As always, it was a stellar performance from her and we can’t wait to see what’s next for this rockstar. Then, we finally got to see Fake Shark for their long awaited return to the island. If you have not seen Kevvy and his band perform live, then you are missing out. To sweeten the deal with this performance, Kevvy brought out the forever fabulous, Fionn to perform Wake Up, a song from Fake Shark’s 2018 album, Walking Through a Fantasy. If you know Fake Shark, then you know they love to get the crowd involved during their sets. Because of this, it wasn’t too surprising to see Kevvy hop into the photo pit from time to time to get some crowd participation going. Great performance from them overall, and hopefully it won’t take too long until we see Fake Shark again because we wouldn’t mind seeing more of our “new favourite band”.
The last day of the Dylan Willows Stage, programmed by Music BC, saw four more incredible BC acts play in between Main Stage acts. The stage started with local grunge rockers, My Amulet. Real vintage sound with a smashing pumpkins feel coming from this band. They know how to draw attention as everywhere I looked, people stopped to watch their set. They did a great job representing our city on the stage. Next was Infidelity, which were definitely my big surprise of the side stage performances. It had this punk meets jazz improvisational feel to it and their sound brought out some of the wildest dance moves from fans. It’s like folks were dancing to communicate back to the music that was entering their minds. It was unreal and because of this, they are definitely going on a couple playlists of mine. Then, Chopping Spree took over the stage with their brand of Jazz meets metal. At times, their music reminded me of some crazy Mario Kart music mixed with Metallica and I love that for them. Everywhere I’ve gone, people have told me that I needed to check this band out and having now seen them, I cannot recommend them enough. Finally, the country sounds of Runner concluded the Dylan Willows stage. Such sweet sounds coming from them and true to their name, during the third song, we got a running performance in the crowd. After three days of the Dylan Willows stage, it’s sad to see it go. However, it’s such a great reminder that we have some great artists in British Columbia that need more recognition. Thankfully, organizations like Music BC exist that will continue to give BC artists a platform, but for those at home; your new favourite artist might be from this great province, you never know.
Alright, let’s talk about Angine de Poitrine. Quebec’s newest international success played to an extremely packed crowd of supporters. Not just your typical fans, but members of their polka-dot army. Communicating through triangles and grunts, the Phillips Backyard went wild with excitement as the alien duo played some glorious math rock and polyrhythms. Seeing this live was next level, sure it’s incredible to watch their KEXP performance, but just the timing that goes into everything they do is mind blowing. The speed of playing the drums, hitting different petals, and then changing the speed of the song to go even faster, there’s no other way to describe them besides using the phrase, pure talent. With the success Angine has seen this year, including a Polaris Music Prize shortlist nomination in multiple categories and being the recipients of a Billboard Power Players award, it raises the question if their success will continue with them in the long-term. That said, what guarantees anyone’s long-term success? Angine looks to be riding the high of this success for as long as they can and if they continue to have shows like the one we experienced in the Backyard, I’m certain this won’t be the last time we hear from them. Though I should probably brush up on my alien language before I see them again.
Wolf Parade was the second to last band to perform on the Main Stage. An interesting year for the Cobble Hill legends, as their music has gained even more attention being featured on the hit show, Heated Rivalry. Though, Wolf Parade has always had the attention of Victoria, so seeing a packed crowd filled of long-time and new fans was so lovely to see. Their set was enjoyed by the masses from start to finish, especially when they concluded their hit song, I’ll Believe In Anything. A few months ago, I saw Spencer Krug of Wolf Parade perform a solo show and going from that performance to this one, was fascinating. His vocals might go into the Canadian record book of best voices. Now did I make up that Canada has a record book? Yes, but if it did exist, he would be a strong contender for top of that category. I’m certain this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Wolf Parade, but if you missed this set, you should probably fix that wrong by watching episode five of Heated Rivalry. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.
It has been eleven years since Modest Mouse graced the island with an appearance. Oddly enough, that performance was sold-out too. For those wondering why this band is so popular, you need to see it to believe it because these Washington raised, Oregon based indie rockers know how to put on a masterclass in finishing off a festival, the right way. While they played a bunch of music from throughout their 30+ year career, they also played an incredible cover of A Forest by The Cure. It seems like indie music is always the perfect way to finish a successful festival and now for the next few weeks, I’m going to have modest mouse songs stuck in my head. No complaints here though, seeing their performance will stick with the Rocktographers team long enough until we are ready for next year’s festival. Now things usually come in threes, so looks like we still have one more sold-out Modest Mouse set in Victoria’s future, hopefully.
That does it for Phillips Backyard 2026. This year’s festival might be over, but these memories will last a lifetime. As we finish another three days in the backyard, our reflections over the last few days reminds us why this is one of our favourite festivals in Victoria. It’s not just a music festival, but a safe place where we reconnect with friends and share good times, all while enjoying some of the best music. We’d like to thank the Phillips Backyard staff for making this possible every year and now that we can rest after a great three days of music, it’s time for us to start writing our Wishlist for next year’s festival.
