The Phillips Backyard Weekender returns for its seventh year. The festival has always been an eclectic mix of music that spans music genres, decades, and expectations. This year’s festival features heavily in reggae, hip-hop, and indie rock, with each of those categories having their own respective day of the festival.
At first there was a little hesitation coming into the Phillips Backyard for the second time this month… last time was a bit of a doozy. Yes, we are confirming that we did not wait in ANY LINES! We got beer tickets, beer, and used the washroom all without waiting. Things seemed to flow smoother and all problems people had are in our rear view mirror. Things were good. Dare we say it: things were great on the first night of the Phillips Backyard Weekender.
When you think of a DJ set, do you think of hoop and flag dancers, live guitars, and shirts covered in smiley faces? No? Clearly you’ve never seen Victoria-based DJ Jennay Badger before. With a passionate and energetic set mixing all genres, the few people who showed up early pressed them against the photo pit barrier to soak in the fun. The crowd wasn’t the only one looking to have fun; the titular DJ herself spent as much time behind the decks as she did dancing at the front of the stage.
Composed of both seasoned musicians and hobbyists, Victoria’s The Brass reimagines popular songs as a 20+ piece brass band. They are really a hidden gem in this city and are always a treat to see. We aren’t just saying that because their trumpet player Michelle Edwards also takes photos for us sometimes.
The Brass kicked things into high gear with a cover of the classic Everybody Needs Somebody To Love with help from their friends Avi Smith and Arthur Buckland playing the iconic Blues Brothers. They weren’t the only guests to take the stage during The Brass’s short but sweet set. Kady Savard joined them for a cover of Countdown by Beyoncé, Dani Jackson and Alexa Verstraeten performed Doo Wop (That Thing) by Lauren Hill. Brooke Gallup of Immaculate Machine fame covered his own song C’mon Sea Legs as well a righteous version of People’s Champ by Arkells.
Montreal’s Random Recipe left us smitten. Usually it’s after a little reflection on a music festival before you’ve declared your favourite find of the weekend, but it was clear by the end of Random Recipe’s set that we were going to be listening to their latest record, Distractions, on repeat.
Random Recipe’s sound is a refreshing blend of indie rock and hip-hop with a dash of reggae and folk for good measure. The industrious Fabrizia Di Fruscia, A.K.A FAB, took on double duty as she played steel drum and rapped on several songs while the rest of the band played indie jams.
It’s a shame that Random never made it to the west coast before now. They’ve instead been focusing on the rest of Canada, the eastern seaboard, South America, and Europe. We get it. The Rockies are hard to pass, but it’s worth it as vocalist Frannie Holder exclaimed how beautiful it was out here. Hopefully, the beauty brings them back soon, because we need another batch of Random Recipe.
We are no stranger to Zach Sciacca here in Victoria. The American DJ — better known as DJ Z-Trip (that’s pronounced “Zee Trip” not “Zed Trip,” although his time north of the 49th has rubbed off on him, evidenced by the fact that he has a “Zed Trip”-produced voiceover in his show) — has graced our festival stages many times. With several Rifflandia and Weekender appearances over the past decade, when Z-Trip comes to town you know there is a party afoot.
Upon finding out that he’d be opening for the legends Steel Pulse, and that there was a general reggae theme for his day of the festival, he geared his DJ set in that direction. With the soft light of the setting sun and deep reggae cuts mixed with the likes of The Police, Jay-Z, and Snoop Dogg, he had the entire loading bay of the Phillips Brewing grooving and dancing. Z-Trip is a masterclass in getting the vibe just right for his shows and music festivals.
For the better part of four decades, Birmingham’s Steel Pulse has cemented themselves in legendary status of the reggae scene, most notably for being the first non-Jamaican band to with the win the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 1987 for their record Babylon the Bandit.
Leading up to the festival, there was a lot of well-warranted hype about Steel Pulse’s auspicious return to the Garden City for the first time since the early 1980s. Despite a few early technical issues, the band delivered a near 90 minute set full of momentum, dancing, and all around good times. There was no signs of slowing down from founding member and lead vocalist, David Hinds, as he brought his roots reggae vibes to the Phillips Backyard.
Steel Pulse was the perfect headliner for the first evening of the Backyard Weekender. It was truly hard to not leave their set without a smile on your face.
We return for the nearly sold out (at time of writing this) second night for a rap and hip-hop centric day featuring Danny Brown, Merkules, K-OS. We predict at least one bathroom line up.
