If you’re wondering where all of the city’s hip and beautiful people were on Friday night, we were hanging out in the parking lot of Phillips brewery (well, they were there. I was also there, but you’d be hard pressed to call me either hip or beautiful).
Taking place under the shadows of the brewery towers and an early evening moon, the first night of this year’s Phillips Backyard Weekender brought some of Victoria’s coolest kids out for a night of funky beats, fresh grooves and free-flowing brews.
Local mad beat scientist Grossbuster worked his mini controller magic and kicked off the night with a set leaving the audience knowing exactly who they were gonna call the next time they wanted a good time, while mild-mannered mountain men Moontricks brought a hip-hop meets country sonic mashup to the evening.
The moment DJ Shub got his set to cruising altitude, there was a comment that it sounded like A Tribe Called Red (another PBW alum). This might be because Shub is a former member of ATCR, and he brought all of the power and sound from the Six Nations of the Grand River to great applause and appreciation.
On the Picnic-er stage, nestled among the graffiti and food trucks, Canoe club staples and winner of the best band name of the night, Electric Sex Panther, fit their very large sound, very large band, and very large talent into a very small space, giving shout outs to Grapefruit is Impossible, who warmed up the stage beforehand with their jazzy hip hop rap.
With their horn section and ska, rock, and R&B-inspired sound, Electric Sex Panther were the perfect lead in to the second to last main stage performance from Too Many Zooz (exactly how many Zooz is too many, by the way? Are we talking per capita, or…)? Hailing from New York City, Too Many Zooz’s fast, frenetic, funky, and fun sound is pure dance music – like a DJ set made flesh.
Plus, if you’ve ever played a woodwind or brass instrument, simply watching Leo and Matt wail on the bari sax and trumpet with seemingly unending energy can be exhausting.
Finally, the main event took the main stage. Fellow Canadians from the 6ix, Keys N Krates are masters of deep, bass-centric and organic beats that are exactly what people are looking for when they’re told to put their hands in the air (and wave them like they just don’t care). Consummate performers, Keys N Krates were a perfect end to what was an incredibly dancey, en-vogue evening in the parking lot of a brewery.
Got something you want to say about day one of the 2018 Phillips Backyard Weekender (or you just want to compliment me on my shirt again)? Leave ‘em in the comments below.
