With the first layer of sunburn on our faces we headed back down to the hip hop fueled second day of the Phillips Backyard Weekender.
Victoria, before we get into this review we need to have a talk. It’s 2019 and we shouldn’t be having this talk, but clearly we need to be having it.
KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF!
We won’t go into too much detail here, but several of our friends and photographers were touched inappropriately and had their very expensive camera gear manhandled by very drunk and entitled bros. You DO NOT have permission to touch anyone uninvited. This is not appropriate behaviour no matter the circumstances and there is no excuse for it.
Concerts should be a safe space for everyone. Do better. Be better.
Shortly after the gates swung open at 3PM on a warm Saturday afternoon, local DJ Yeezy Yee took the stage for hip hop infused set. For those of us with a hangover from the night before, it was a great way to segue back into another full day of music festival. Those who were there early grabbed some hair of the dog, hunted out some shade near the stage, and enjoyed some beats.
Victoria takes its air for granted apparently. Well… at least according to Just John x Dom Dias who brought up the fact that they loved our air no fewer than seven times during their time on stage. That’s pretty much a scientific study on how great it is out here, right?
The Toronto duo’s punk infused hip hop quickly drew the crowd in, with Just John’s ferocity on the mic and his militaristic look, while producer Dom Dias hung behind the decks. The pair created a raw, aggressive, and hard-hitting sound while remaining sonically pleasing. Just John x Dom Dias quickly had crowd in the palm of their hand with catchy hooks and sing-a-long moments.
Atomique Productions has a knack for booking some of the most interesting rap and hip-hop acts before they blow up. Their festival Rifflandia has somehow managed to get Macklemore, Post Malone, Action Bronson and Danny Brown right before they became the biggest names in the game. They scored big yet again when Haviah Mighty was shortlisted for Polaris Music Prize earlier this year for her album, 13th Floor.
Haviah Mighty is a founding member of the Toronto based hip-hop group, The Sorority, but hasn’t been able to make it to either of their performances here in Victoria. The group was a smash hit at both last year’s Rifflandia Music Festival and Phillips Backyard Weekender.
Many times during her set Haviah took time to talk to the audience about her struggles both in and out of the music industry. Commenting that she hopes of her songs like In Woman Colour could help inspire those who have similar struggles.
Haviah Mighty’s set was incredibly profoundly powerful and philosophical. It may go down as the best part of the music festival for many of us. We just wish her words were heard by more of the concert-goers that arrived later that day.
Somewhere between Haviah Mighty and K-OS, the Phillips Backyard exploded in a wave of people. An endless stream of bodies filed in though the Discovery Street entrance with festival founder, Nick Blasko, even helping out to scan tickets at the front gates.
It was at this point the energy in the festival grounds shifted from a fun afternoon in the sun to an aggressive beer and drug fuelled douche fest.
When the Backyard Weekender announced that K-OS placement on the festival lineup it was more than a little confusing. At one point he was one of the biggest Canadian rappers out there. He was breaking genres with his songs and working with the likes of Broken Social Scene, Sam Roberts, and the Small Sins. In recent years his career has been fairly quiet, but we assumed he still had a similar following.
Kevin Brereton, aka K-OS, took the stage shrouded in a heavy trench coat, hoodie, and sunglasses. He looked more like he was hiding from the paparazzi than about to perform at a music festival. Later, he’d comment that he was old and sweating too much. I’m sure wearing all those winter clothes in the middle of the summer were more of a factor than age.
When K-OS was ON he was ON but when he was OFF he was OFF.
He shone brightly when performing his own songs with the proper backing tracks. The crowd would light up with him in a frenzy of cheers and anticipation. His freestyles and remixes left something to the imagination; they felt hollow and like there was something missing. He leaned heavily on covers and would often stop halfway through. With an impressive back catalogue of music, it was a shame to not hear more of the hits that festival-goers came for. Maybe that’s why his last words on stage were “fuck the haters!”
Surrey, British Columbia’s Merkules has quickly become one of Canada’s rising hip hop artists. His shows are more than a concert they are a masterful performance that brings together aggressive beats, lyrics, and a semblance of family values with his crew of Stomptown Killaz filling the wings of the backstage area.
Between songs, Merkules described that he’d felt like a “deep fried bag of dicks” after not sleeping more than three hours the night before in anticipation of playing the Phillips Backyard Weekender. His exhaustion didn’t stop him from giving it his all though, with him losing his voice near the end of his set from going so hard.
While Merkules’ set was quite vulgar at points he remained quite humble with the support he’s had from fans here in Victoria as well as his crew. No one supported him as much as his parents, who he brought on stage to share the spotlight with and to acknowledge all the things they did for him over the years. As Merk left the stage, he exclaimed, “I don’t care if it takes all night, but I’m shaking every one of your motherfuckin’ hands! Thank you!”
Detroit rapper and songwriter Danny Brown is arguably the reason most people got tickets to this year’s Phillips Backyard Weekender. Whenever we’d talk to folks about the festival he was always the first act they’d mention, with hopes of seeing him up close. There is always a little hesitation when it comes to seeing him play here in Victoria, based on past issues at the border that prevented him from playing Rifflandia Music Festival.
Danny Brown is one of the most unique rappers in the game right now. He has developed an almost cult-like following around the world with his huge singles Dip and 25 Bucks.
Danny’s infectious smile seemed to make up for many sound issues that plagued causing three misstarts the first song of his set. Soon he had the crowd levitating as they bounced along to his song, Smokin & Drinkin. Brown could be found leaning directly over the security barrier shaking hands and interacting with fans throughout the whole set.
For those who came late just to see Brown, there was some disappointment as he cut his time short and unceremoniously left without an encore. We know encores aren’t standard, but the least he could have done was play his for his allotted time.
By the end of the night the Phillips Backyard was just as sticky from spilled beer as when one of their tanks of beer exploded a few years ago. Let’s hope they hose it down before day three kicks off on Sunday afternoon.
