Second day of the Phillips Backyard Music Festival arrived with a full lineup of incredible programming. From folk and country to rock and experimental dance music, there was a little something for everyone. Alongside the festival, Music BC also hosted a mixer at the Phillips Tasting Room, where some of this year’s lineup played some acoustic tracks to go alongside the networking taking place. So much music, so many friends, and so many beverages to consume, whether that be alcoholic or non-alcoholic. Let’s get into day two!
Main Stage began with one of our favourites, Carmine. A week after their single release, Want Me To, the band showed out as festival goers began to arrive on site. Carmine also had a familiar face as Dead Summer’s Nate Prevedoros played guitar during their set. So happy to see our friend grace the stage and absolutely nail it. Flower Face was next to take to the stage, which was a bit of a vibe switch. Duo performance with haunting yet beautiful vocals. For the first official date of her 2026 tour, the goth-folk singer really made an impact; excited to see where her career goes next. Closing out the opening performances on the main stage was Jon and Roy. A Victoria classic at this point, we got our daily dose of west coast with this performance. It was nice to see the horn section come out with Dave St. Jean on Trombone and Matt Carter on Baritone Saxophone. Sierra Lundy also joined the band on stage to sing some songs alongside her Ocie Elliot partner. Another great batch of opening artists made the day feel great from the start.
Day two of the Dylan Willows Stage, programmed by Music BC saw 4 more incredible artists play between Main Stage acts. The stage kicked off with Madisyn Gifford and her folk-country sound. Big fan of her tambourine, but even bigger fan of the light listening she was providing to get the day started right. From there, Tiger Really took over the stage with a strong crowd presence to support them. They are Vancouver based, but with the size of this crowd, you would’ve thought they were from Victoria playing a homecoming show. Once you heard them, you understood why there were so many people; an act to keep on the radar. Jon Bryant was up next and prior to his stage performance, he performed a song at the Phillips Tasting Room for the Music BC x Phillips Backyard mixer. For his set at the Dylan Willows Stage, we saw some familiar faces as our friends Michael Wilford and Evan Miller played in his band. Overall, a sweet, full-body sound came from Jon and a true delight to watch. Finally, Luca Fogale closed out the Dylan Willows stage for day two. Still riding the high of his album, Challenger, Luca played a beautiful set as the sun began to set. Just like Jon Bryant, Luca also performed a song at the Music BC x Phillips Backyard mixer. There’s no slowing down with Luca, so be sure to continue following him along because he’s only continuing to get bigger. Another stellar day of talented BC artists on the Dylan Willows stage, and there’s still one more day of programming left.
Is she human? Is she a cyborg? Might be all the above, but what’s certain is that Sudan Archives is a very talented performer. Ohio-born multi-instrumentalist didn’t just play great music but put on an incredible visual experience while playing said music. It might be a good time to mention that this was a solo act. That’s right, every sound that was performed during this set was done by her. With a violin in hand, drum machine and piano to the left of stage, and vocal effects to the right, she moved around on stage more than some bands I’ve seen in the past. Plus, who said she needed to stay on stage? Right at the end, she hopped into the crowd which was a memorable moment of the set. Sudan Archives has become a festival favourite, with now two stellar performances at the brewery loading dock. Could we see a third performance from her in the future? We’ll keep our fingers crossed.
To end the night, we went to church with Father John Misty. It’s been a while since FJM was in Victoria; his last performance being 11 years ago. He opened with I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All, and from there it was a party until the end. His set featured a wide range of songs from throughout his repertoire including a personal favourite of mine, I Love You, Honeybear. His music is one thing, but I also need to mention his presence on the stage. He’s got this cool aura about him that lights up a stage. It felt like any time he did a dance move; the crowd roared with excitement. If Father John Misty was the main character of this world, I wouldn’t be surprised. I think the question in everyone’s minds leading up to the performance was if the eleven-year wait for his return was well worth this set, and I would say yes. It felt so good to be serenaded by one of the greatest voices to grace this generation and while we hope we don’t have to wait another eleven years for his return, we would wait that long just to get this experience all over again.
Just like that, another day at Phillips Backyard Music Festival was in the books. This whole experience feels like it went by so quickly, but we’ve been taking every opportunity to enjoy it as much as we can. Of course, there’s one final day and I’m not sure if we are prepared enough for what we are about to experience. Day three of the festival has been sold-out for months with resale of tickets going for hundreds. It’s going to be a packed day, so we better rest now during the calm before the storm.
