Dust and Drama: A Weekend at Pemberton Music Festival
Two weeks ago, our own Blaine Sayers traveled to Pemberton, British Columbia to take in the sights and sounds of the first annual Pemberton Music Festival. However, little did he know that between the traffic and layout, Canada’s newest music extravaganza would be one of the more difficult ones to cover…
Well folks, the dust has finally settled over the Pemberton Music Festival grounds, no pun intended. Congratulations to the 45,000+ fans who attended the dust filled grounds and braved the 4+ hour line-up to arrive in Pemberton. While this was the inaugural year for the fest, it was definitely the most disorganized festival I’ve ever been to. Line-ups for water, beer, parking, shuttles, entrance into the Bacardi Tent, and food were very frustrating. Hopefully in the coming years they won’t place a capacity on the Bacardi Tent so all of those who paid $250 can enjoy all the electronic music acts.
Fortunately, I was able to catch a rising set from Chromeo, but aside from this synth-funk act I was unable to enter the Tent even with my all access media pass. Many concertgoers waited 3-4 hours just to enter the Bacardi Tent. Sorry, but if I paid $250 for a ticket, I would not wait in that line. Needless to say, we spent all of our time at the main stage, catching rising sets from Nine Inch Nails, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Tragically Hip, Flaming Lips, and Jay-Z.
When we finally arrived into the festival grounds on Friday, waiting 4+ hours in our car, we managed to catch Wolfmother, who was already charming the crowd with a high energy set, which included classic tracks “Dimension,” “Woman,” and “The Joker and the Thief”, to name a few. The Pemberton crowd, who had all just spent hours waiting in line-ups, were ready to rock out. If there was any major heartache over arriving in Pemberton, it was immediately removed after Andrew Stockdale hit his first chords. Fast forward to late Friday night, the anticipation of Trent Reznor hitting the stage gripped the crowd.
Finally, we Canadians had a music festival to be excited about and Nine Inch Nails were going to be a part of it. For the longest time, Canadians have always been subjected to all Canadian festivals where the headliners were only known by our parents. Now we would have something to call our own and to tell our kids about.
Nine Inch Nails took the stage opening with “999,999″ and following into “1,000,000″ immediately the crowd responded with chaos. Lights blasting through the dust and grime with Trent’s pitch-perfect vocals bouncing off the crowd. While the new material was great tracks such as “March of the Pigs,” “Piggy,” “Closer,” and “Only” dominated the set list. As per usual the light show was amazing; however, not nearly as effective as the theatrics during the With Teeth tours. Now that I have digested this version of NIN I still feel that the show I saw in 2006 was slightly better performance wise. What’s up with no “Hurt” either?
NIN Set List:
999.999
1.000.000
Letting You
Discipline
March Of The Pigs
Head Down
The Frail
Piggy
Closer
Gave Up
Corona Radiata
The Warning
The Great Destroyer
Echoplex
Wish
Terrible Lie
Survivalism
Ghosts 31
The Big Comedown
Only
God Given
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like a Hole
The second day moved on just as the first: waiting in lines. We arrived at the dust field just in time to catch the second half of Tragically Hip’s set. It was a typical Hip set with Gordie in fine form, speaking to his microphone and sweating a lot! No matter how many times the Hip play Canadian festivals, they are always received with massive crowds and great enthusiasm. Closing out with “New Orleans is Sinking” was amazing and it left the main stage crowd ready to experience the Flaming Lips theatrics.
Wayne Coyne welcomed the crowd as he usually does by walking on top of them in his hamster ball. My first time seeing the Lips, yet I did see Coyne’s entrance on TV during the VH1 Rock Honours The Who, which was truly hilarious and entertaining. Throughout their entire set, the Lips were constantly making me laugh with their obscure theatrics. At one point, they had their usual Teletubies on stage, dancing with a massive sun and a land worm. Along with the confetti cannons and the dozens of massive balloons they unleashed into the crowd, you definitely get your entertainment value when watching Coyne and Co. perform. I’ve never been a big Lips fan, thus I never recognised any of their songs, but after their performance at Pemberton, I am definitely going to buy a few of their albums. The Lips are a very tight band and Coyne’s voice sounded perfect radiating across the massive crowd eagerly awaiting Tom Petty.
Tom Petty: The God. He made us wait a long time after the Lips had finished entertaining us; however it was worth every minute. Every time the lights moved or someone did a sound check, the crowd erupted. 45,000+ hearts pounding in anticipation of the legend. I knew what to expect having seen Petty 4 years earlier, anything short of the greatest show ever witnessed, would be a disappointment. Those were my expectations, yet many around me were murmuring: “I don’t know about Petty, should we stay? Is he going to be worth waiting in this massive crowd? Isn’t he like 70?” I wasn’t moving a muscle until the last good night was said.
Finally, he emerged, yellow Fender in hand, stepping up to the mike as he began: “Tonight we ride.” Those familiar guitar chords from “You Wreck Me” radiated from Mike Campbell and Petty’s guitars. Immediately, the massive field of people was shrunken into a living room sing-a-long. My personal favourite Petty song followed next, “Listen to Her Heart”, featuring spot on vocals during one of the greatest lyrics ever written, “You think you’re gonna take her away with your money and your cocaine. You keep thinking that her mind is gonna change but I know everything is okay.”
Once my heart rate settled down, I was able to absorb Petty in all his glory. With a show like Petty’s you get caught up singing and clapping so much that you forget to relax and examine the small parts of the show, which is a very intricate lesson in pure musicianship. Benmont Tench on the keys was one of the most amazing performances I’ve ever seen by any musician. Most notably, during “Saving Grace”, with a painful grimace on his face after minutes of repetitive key striking, he still managed to pull off his slides across the piano. Then there’s Campbell, who might possibly be the most underrated lead guitarist in the history of rock music. His pin-point solos and catchy guitar riffs will never cease to amaze. Throw in Scott Thurston, who plays nearly every instrument, and Steve Ferrone, who Petty called “the big jet engine on drums”, and the Heartbreakers become one of the tightest groups touring right now. Not to mention, the most well equipped, with Petty and Campbell showing off nearly 20 classic guitars. There must have been at least 8 different Rickenbackers and 4 Vox Mark III axes-all shined up and pretty.
The climax of Petty’s set came at the end with a campfire story during the middle of “Gloria.” With the entire crowd quietly listening, he urged the people to chant her name, “G-L-O-R-I-A”, louder and louder, until it radiated across the mountains of British Columbia. Working together, Petty and the Heartbreakers joined the crowd together to move the mountains behind them. Truly one of the greatest performances I’ve ever witnessed, and there was still one more day of music left.
Of course, following Saturday night’s captivating performances, my friends and I did what true Petty fans would do and returned to our rented condo to consume every drop of alcohol we could find. The flipside? We all woke up feeling grungy, but we knew that Jay-Z was awaiting our arrival late at night. Deciding to sleep and eat instead of take in Vampire Weekend and N.E.R.D., we rested until Jay-Z took the stage. Thankfully, we made it to the ground, just in time for “Say Hello” being pumped through Jay-Z’s mic. The Brooklyn, New York native enthralled the crowd with an amazing set of booty shaking, hand waving hip hop.
Remixing his own material with a live band behind him, Jay-Z threw in music from various artists such as: AC/DC, Amy Winehouse, and Linkin Park. Always smiling and enjoying the crowd, Jay-Z was very receptive. The crowd returned the favour by chanting along to nearly every song he unleashed. In the end, he definitely surprised the crowd who had expectations of him alone on stage with an MC and turntables. Instead, he brought out a full band who held their own against the other rock bands in previous days. Furthering his impressive performance, Jay-Z gave shout-outs to random crowd members, who near the front gave their all during his set. The headliner certainly made it tough to pick out certain songs that stood above others, considering all were very entertaining. If I had to suggest one standout song, I would say “99 Problems” atop AC/DC’s “Back in Black” guitar riff was the song that blew my brains away. It’s hard being the odd man out at music festivals but Jay-Z, coming off his historical performance at Glastonbury 08, was primed and ready to embrace 45,000+ drunk Canadians craving rock music.
After Jay-Z finished, we all contemplated the hour wait for Coldplay and enduring the long road home later. Ultimately, we decided to hit the road and catch Coldplay next time they were in Vancouver. Jay-Z ended our long and tiresome weekend of dust, beer, and guitars. From a musical perspective, Pemberton was an amazing festival; however, organisational conflicts took away from the fun at some points. Having to miss all the great DJs and dance acts left a bad taste in my mouth. Along with the long waits for shuttle buses and the 4 hour wait the first day to get into the festival, Pemberton began like hell. Thanks to Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Jay-Z, and NIN, the weekend turned out to be all worthwhile.
Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with drinking or taking drugs or whatever you want to do while at a festival. I myself went a little overboard during Interpol on the first night to the point that I hardly even remember the NIN show (luckly I’ve seen them before). I think most would agree there is nothing better than sitting back with a cold one and listening to some amazing live music. The biggest problem was that there was zero enforcement of the “no outside alcohol” rule. All of our neighbours at the campsite went into town to the liquor store on saturday morning because there wasn’t even any security at the gates! As much as it sucks, being limited to $7 beers can also be a good thing.
I also totally agree with Brad that beer gardens was a stupid idea. Why not just lisence the entire festival grounds like Sasquatch? They confine people who are actually buying booze from the festival to a fenced area, but people who openly carry around outside booze can drink wherever they please? I feel like a total hypocrite saying this because I did bring my own booze, but it really didn’t make sense.
Agree about the Dance tent. The one time I went in there when it was supposedly “at capacity” with a huge line outside, the tent couldn’t have been more than half full. Its not like there is limited space at the festival site, double the size of the tent for next year.
For 2009 its hard to say which fest(s) I will attend. It really depends on the line-ups. I have my eye set on Bonnaroo if I can afford to travel that far.
Next up for me is Bumbershoot in a few weeks! Never been, but its been around for 26 years so I expect a little more organization that Pemberton.
Ccoult,
Great insight! I totally agree with you about the booze factor, I guess that’s what happens when a music festival is in Canada. Everyone was soooo consumed about beer and booze that most of the music got forgotten.
While the Bacardi tent was amazing inside it was stupid they put a 2,500 person capacity on the tent. I know for a fact that the Dance Tent at Coachella is much much smaller than the Bacardi Tent and when I was at Coachella two years ago I heard they crammed 8,500 people inside. They could’ve easily put atleast 7,000 inside the Bacardi Tent. Needless to say next year I am passing on Pemberton and attending either Coachella or Sasquatch instead.
Good review. I think the general consensus was that the music was awesome, but the organization was brutal. I attended both Sasquatch and Pemberton this year and I definitely prefer the vibe at Sasquatch. It’s a fair statement to say that in general Pemberton was intended for the mainstream music fan while Sasquatch tends to attract more of an indie crowd.
Most of the people I met at Pemberton were cool, but I also got the impression that the majority of people there mostly just wanted to party and get wasted. I’ve never been asked to buy/sell pills so many times in my life. Personally I could deal with the lack of organization, but the fact that (besides the headliners) the music seemed to come secondary to most really put a bit of a damper on the festival for me. Most of the crowds I saw at the Lilloitt Stage (second stage) were about half the size of a typical Yeti Stage(?) (Sasq. second stage) crowd even though there were about twice as many people at Pemberton. It was really a shame because some of the best sets I saw came from the smaller acts. Even this review only focuses on the headliners, so I will take it upon myself to mention some of the other highlights:
Shearwater
Played one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long while. Jonathan Meiburg’s vocals often induce chills and percussionist Thor (who looks like Dog the Bounty Hunter) was flawless. I convinced some friends who had never heard of the band before to come with me and they were all blown away. The 30 minute set (ridiculous!!) was mainly cuts from their most recent album Rook. I can only hope that its just a matter of time until Shearwater gets the same kind of recognition as Jonathan’s former band Okkervil River.
The Fiery Furnaces
Unfortunately I was only able to catch a couple songs from The Fiery Furnaces because they started late and I had to get a good spot for Vampire Weekend. I have read over and over that FFs are a completely different band live and I have to say I can’t agree more. Before heading to the show I advised my friends to try and keep an open mind because of the unconventional nature of the Furnaces’ tunes. However after a couple songs I realized they don’t sound that weird at all live, they just flat out kill it. The highlight (of the 4 or 5 songs I heard) was “Duplexes of the Dead”.
Minus the Bear
The first band I saw at Pemberton. They actually had a surprisingly large crowd, but I suppose they are a NW band and have gathered quite a following over the years. They were solid but certainly not memorable.
My Morning Jacket
Probably the band I was most excited to see. Live Nation gave them a mere 45 minute set to win over a crowd that was largely unfamiliar with the band. Unfortunately I don’t think it was enough. Besides a handful of hardcore MMJ fans, the crowd seemed somewhat bored. Personally I thought they were amazing. The set list was packed with favourites given the relatively miniscule set length. It began so-so with “Evil Urges” and “Off the Record” both a little rough. Their rendition of “Gideon” was a highlight of the weekend with Jim James belting his heart out trying to get something out of the crowd. After that it was smooth sailing as “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2″ and closer “One Big Holiday” were near mind-blowing quality. At least in my opinion.
The Flaming Lips
Well this was my third FLips experience and probably the least memorable. It was good to hear “The W.A.N.D.” and “She Don’t Use Jelly”, two classics that had escaped the first 2 times I saw them. But they were in a tough spot playing in between the Hip (who are Canadian icons) and Tom Petty (who is a world icon). Playing in daylight really takes away from the magic of a FLips slow. The main response I heard after the show was “it was really cool, but I didn’t really like their music”. Fair enough.
MSTRKRFT
After FLips (and a few drinks) my friend and I decided to check out the Bacardi Dance Tent. As mentioned the line was massive all weekend so we used our ninja skillz to sneak in just in time for MSTRKRFT. All I can say is DAMN! The inside of the tent was incredible with huge screens, crazy lights and lasers and even water fountains flowing from the ceiling! Jessie Keeler is one cool dude. One minute smoking his cigarette like he doesn’t give a fuck and then just going nuts and pumping up the crowd. “Easy Love” and “Street Justice” were definite highlights. After MSTRKRFT, the legend Dave Seaman came on. I must admit I was totally unfamiliar with his music but WOW. I now know why he is a legend. Unfortunatly through all this we were missing Mr. Petty who’s set seems to be the consensus choice for best of the weekend.
Vampire Weekend
As opposed to MMJ, these guys definitely did win over the audience. The crowd was surprisingly large for the first mainstage set of the day. VW had a lot more crowd interaction than I expected. I figured by now they’d be so sick of playing festivals and the same songs over and over that it would be nothing special. “One (Blake’s Got A New Face)” ended up being one of the few successful sing-a-longs of the festival. Although Ezra’s suggested sing-a-long to “M79″ was a big fail. Obviously “A-Punk” got the whole crowd dancing and shouting “hey hey hey hey”. But the highlight for me was a new song they played (he didn’t say the name of it). The song featured a bouncy keyboard riff and a chorus of yelped “ooohs” and “aaahhs”. If its any indication of what their next album will sound like I guarantee there will be no sophomore slump for these guys.
Coldplay
I won’t write about Jay-z but I will say that I was absolutely blown away and that his was probably the best show of the weekend for me. His band deserves a ton of props.
Well I’ve always been a bit of a closet Coldplay fan. I even saw them on the X&Y tour. Needless to say there was a ton of anticipation for their festival headlining set. Their management group (along with live nation) were the organizers of the festival so I think most were expecting something extraordinary for the show. It didn’t happen. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good show for the most part. “Life In Technicolour” is the perfect intro, and fan favs “Clocks” and “In My Place” were great. The highlight was “Yellow” with the crowd singing along beautifully to every word. But it still seemed like it was just another show for the band. They did play a few songs at a small makeshift stage to the left of the soundboard tower for the fans way at the back, but it was hardly groundbreaking. Most of the new songs sounded good live especially “Lost” (but “Violet Hill” was terrible). I continued waiting for that special moment (perhaps a collaboration with Hova?) But it never came. The biggest disappointed of all: no encore. I couldn’t believe it. Their only festival headline spot this summer in North America or Europe (i think?) at a festival created in part by their management, and not even an encore. Both NIN and Tom Petty did on the previous 2 nights. Most of the crowd continued to stand until the crew began taking down the set. Just like that the festival was over. Little did we know that there was a 13.5 hour trip back to Victoria in store for us the next day (usually about 5 hours).
Nice Article Blaine,
Just to add to the festival notes; traffic and dust were not the only logistical nightmares. Others included overflowing toilets, cramped campgrounds, and, my personal peeve, the fact that you had to stay in a fenced off area to drink alcohol you paid for. So, if you weren’t in the VIP area, you couldn’t sit back with a beer and watch your favorite artist. How dumb is that?
That being said, the music was fantastis. I did not see a band that played poorly. Some of my added favorites that were not mentioned in the above article:
- Sam Roberts opened the main stage Saturday with a energetic set that really got me, my friends, and the rest of the group pumped!
- Low vs Diamond, pay attention to these up and comers
- Solid (but far too short) Set by My Morning Jacket. Unfortunately a lot of the crowd was unaware of MMJ’s live show, hopefully this will wake them up to it.
- So Impressed by Buck 65. If you haven’t heard of him, check him out. A canadian hip hop/spoken word artist with such amazing presence. He played solo on the second stage with only a turntable and a mic, and completely got the crowd into it.
- I am not a hip hop fan, but I loved the Jay-Z set.
- also check out Airborne Toxic Event, they played a tight, solid set.
Lastly, I sure wish we could have gotten into the DJ Tent, pissed me off that you would pay $250 and not be able to see all the acts you wanted to. I may just end up at Sasquatch next year instead of going back to Pemberton, even though it was a blast for anyone that could handle all the logistical blunders.
Bobby,
Yah Sasquatch is 100 times better in terms of organization. Did you stay in a condo? It was great to be in a warm house at the end of the night but too much hassle to get back and forth. If I do go back to Pemberton I will be camping for sure.
Well written article. Too bad I’ll always choose to go to Sasquatch as its organized. Not too long of lineups, and I definitly won’t stay in a condo when I go to a magnificent venue like Pemberton/ Sasquatch. Blaine Whats the deal?
Aug 16th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
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