In the blink of an eye, we have arrived to the third and final day of Phillips Backyard’s Reverb. Last two days were filled with so many great sounds and people, and the final day was no different. Day three’s lineup featured Posh Coat, Nicky Mackenzie, DJ Murge with Saundra Williams, Drama, and a headlining set by Jungle. Our day three started with breaking news from the festival. Tickets were officially sold out for the final day of Reverb. We knew that the backyard was going to be packed, but I’m not sure anything prepared us for how many people were actually present in the space. With a busy crowd, a snowbird airshow featuring the Martian Mars Water Bomber, the Perseid meteor shower, and Grimace, Day three felt like a dream. Let’s revisit the final day of Reverb!
Starting the day off was The Zone’s Band of the Month for July, Posh Coat. I love watching this group perform. While watching them beside Nevil Meyer of Trophy Dad, he turned to me and shared how proud he was of this band and I can’t blame him. Every time I see them perform; they look locked in while still having a ton of fun and this set featured exactly that. Even the crowd participation on their track, POWERCAKE was well received. Victoria’s local music scene is very fortunate to have up and coming act like Posh Coat and I guarantee their live performance will be the most fun you’ve had in a while. From one Band of the Month to another, Nicky Mackenzie was up next. Being The Zone’s Band of the Month for February, Nicky performed a well-rehearsed set with a full band and even backup dancers. While there was not a ton of space on the stage, the dancers still made use of the front speakers. Nicky’s set proved why she was selected as a Band of the Month and with both these past performers being a part of that program, it really shows the importance of supporting local up and coming artists.
From there we moved onto DJ Murge, who was joined by New Jersey singer, Saundra Williams. The whole time I was watching Saundra, I kept thinking that she looked familiar. With a quick Instagram search, it dawned on me that this was my fourth time seeing her sing. While the other times were with Mavis Staples, Sharon Jones, and her own project, Saun and Starr, this was the first time seeing her perform away from the Soul/Motown genre. Saundra’s voice over DJ Murge’s psychedelic beats was out of this world. When Saundra’s time on stage came to an end, DJ Murge had one final guest with him. Sierra Lundy walked on stage to perform her track with Murge entitled Alone Together, and it was a perfect way to end the set. Every time I’ve seen DJ Murge now, he’s had a noteworthy set. I don’t think it’s possible for him to have a bad one. Finally, to close out the opening sets of Reverb was Chicago’s Drama. The set featured strong leading vocals over atmospheric beats. For the first time during the Phillips Backyard Music Series, we got to hear an encore from an opener because their set was so good. Drama has easily found a spot on my playlists and I hope to see them perform again soon.
Prior to seeing them live, I was unsure how Jungle became as big as they are. A few music counterparts told me that it was a blend of TikTok and their Coachella set. Whatever their claim to fame was, doesn’t really matter at this point because this group’s performance was rightfully a headlining act. Visually speaking, it was one of the most captivating experiences I had seen. It really felt like we moved into another tier of performer with this set. As for their music, they played all their hits including Back on 74 which currently is past 30 million views on YouTube. One song I was happy to see them play was their song with Channel Tres entitled, I’ve been in Love. Channel Tres will be performing this September and I thought Jungle playing this song was a nice transition into the hype for that performance. Overall, I feel very privileged to have seen Jungle at the level they are right now, because I can only see them getting bigger from here.
Don’t be sad because it ended, smile because it happened. Reverb was an overall fantastic experience with carefully curated lineup, just like Tilt was. I cannot thank the organizers enough on a successful 2024 for both festivals and cannot wait to see what they program for next year. One final note: Having been Grimace for a majority of the weekend, I got see countless smiles and take so many selfies. In a world where there is always bad news to be found, an escape like the Phillips Backyard is always appreciated and I hope my silly purple mascot costume helped enhance that escape for you.
