It’s been a couple of days now since Hillside. We’ve dried off, had some time to reflect, think about what we saw, and come to some conclusions. Here are the acts we enjoyed most (or least) in a number of categories we just made up.
Best Rock ‘n’ Roll Singing Face: The lead singer of Attack in Black.
Just look at that scowl! Top notch. Attack in Black were pretty good. They quite clearly listened to an unhealthy amount of grunge music at a young age, but have a pretty bright future ahead of them if they can catch a few breaks. Read more
Since we have no time this morning to post a full Day 2 recap, mostly because we had no energy to write it last night after getting off the grounds at close to midnight last night and passing out shortly after returning to our hotel after a solid 10+ hours of music festing, here is a quick update on Day 2 and what we’re anticipating as Day 3 begins.
The three highlights from yesterday were far and away Ohbijou, Tokyo Police Club and The Sunparlour Players. Delays seemed to hit all three stages, but Hillside tried their best to keep things moving. As a result, Ohbijou and Sunparlour Players appeared to have their sets cut short, while Tokyo Police Club was told at one point they had ten minutes left, then ten minutes later were told they had another ten minutes. Anyway, despite set delays, all three managed particularly tight sets and great performances. Pumpkin ice cream was again a highlight for Trina, and Sausage Brothers italian sausage and grilled corn on the cob was the height of the food fair.
Also, the lineup to enter the festival was not nearly as long as it was Friday night, though arriving at noon might’ve had something to do with that. Leaving the festival was actually not as bad as anticipated, as we waited around in the VIP parking lot for about 20 minutes listening to the new Sunparlour Players album Wave North, giving the crowd a chance to clear, and our strategy worked out pretty well. There was one big dump of rain around 2, but surprisingly, given the forecast, the day was mostly dry.
If you’re not following me on Twitter, here’s some of the highlights:
– Line for coffee far longer than line for beer right now. Already lightly raining could be wet day #hillside – about 23 hours ago from mobile web
– Dozens of people on stage for bruce peninsula. Bruce is apparently some kind of collective hive mind #hillside – about 22 hours ago from mobile web
– Ohbijou best of the day so far, for sure. Great set #hillside – about 19 hours ago from mobile web
– I think i’ve discovered a fetish for girls in rubber boots. Weird? #hillside – about 17 hours ago from mobile web
– If pearl jam grew up in newfoundland they would sound a lot like hey rosetta i think #hillside – about 15 hours ago from mobile web
My phone battery died two tweets after that. Again, if you’d like to follow me at Hillside again, I’m @brianjpike. If you follow me just for this weekend then unfollow, I’ll understand, I promise.
Today, Trina is most looking forward to Rural Alberta Advantage at 6 on the Lake Stage and Great Lake Swimmers at 7 on the main stage, while personally I’m kind of curious how Dave Bidini’s going to sound (Lake Stage, 3:00) and, as always, am looking forward to seeing Patrick Watson again (Main Stage, 8:00).
Forecast is once again for scattered thunderstorms throughout the day, but hey, those are just the risks we take for you people. The work of the independent blog site blogger that somehow got media passes is never done…
