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These bands will play for free this week

Skier's plaza gets ready to rock every afternoon

Eric Solomon

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Eric Solomon

Thursday April 19, 2:30 pm

Daytime dance parties are wildly underrated. The fine people behind this TWSSF 2012 understand this and are presenting you with L.A.-based Eric Solomon. His brand of danceable, digestible electro-pop will have you shaking in your skivvies under the afternoon sky two minutes into his set. That's a promise.

Dragonette

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Dragonette

Thursday April 19, 4 pm

And so Whistler welcomes a second JUNO-winning act to the stage. Toronto's Dragonette picked up the award for Best Dance Recording, beating out Deadmau5 — who'd reigned in that category for three years — for the single, "Hello," their collaboration with Martin Sloveig.

"It was insane. It felt very strange — but good. Totally good but strange as well," says singer Martina Sorbara. The electro-pop trio had never been subject to that level of media attention and "bonkers energy." They'd always been a low-key act, playing shows and making records with minimal glitz and glamour.

Then, suddenly the cameras were swarming.

"I'd be as taken aback if it happened again tomorrow, maybe a tiny bit more prepared," she says.

"Being a musician, especially in this climate, you can feel like you're pursuing some hobby. You can wake up and realize that you have to go get a real job, so I guess (this award) is very significant and very satisfying because this is what I do and people invited me to an award show and then gave me an award. And now I really do this."

Dragonette will be playing a batch of songs from their forthcoming album, due out in September.

The Hairfarmers

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Whistlers' Own..The Hairfarmers

Friday April 20, 1 pm

If you don't know Whistler's favourite band by now, you obviously don't know Whistler. Charging through classic rock standards with fervor not dissimilar to Evangelicals speaking in tongues, the Hairfarmers offer great value for your money...and since the show is free, consider yourself a winner.

Nine Mile

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Nine Mile

Friday April 20, 2:30 pm

If Bob Marley fathered a child with Loretta Lynn and raised him as a California beach bum, he'd probably share a lot in common with Nine Mile. It's also entirely possible that frontman D'Ari Pouyat is this secret love child and has been dropping hints through his band for the last 10 years. Or then again, maybe not.

Michael Franti

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Michael Franti

Friday April 20, 4pm

The bottom line is people like the beach, and if they can't actually be at the beach, there better be someone out there who can make them feel like they're at the beach. Even when they're not, you know? And so Michael Franti, singer/poet/social justice provocateur returns to Whistler to do just that — to cast those rays on your soul.

Animal Nation

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Animal Nation

Saturday April 21, 2pm

Whistler's whimsical hip hop group returns from a tour across Western Canada to play their first hometown show in quite some time. Did you miss them? You should have. Without them, Whistler's musical landscape is as exciting as a broken guitar string. Go. Show your support. And enjoy. They'll also host their CD release party on Thursday, April 19, at Doc Branigan's.

DJ Grandtheft

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DJ Grandtheft

Saturday April 21, 8pm

It's not enough that the skiers will be launching themselves off a massive jump, twisting and flipping all through the air. No, the crowd wants to dance. And dance they will, or writhe a bit in their bundles of warm clothing, to Grandtheft's much-praised disco house remixes of the latest and greatest pop and rock tunes.

The British Columbians

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The British Columbians

Sunday April 22, 2:30pm

Take the angst and psychotropic of the Vancouver suburbs, channel it through four guys with enough blues-rock chops to make Jack White writhe in envy, with a singer plucked straight out of Steppenwolf, and you have The British Columbians, perhaps the finest use of those three words yet.

The Sheepdogs

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The Sheepdogs

Sunday April 22, 4 pm

Envy is one of seven deadly sins but when we hear The Sheepdogs' rise to prominence, we can't help but flirt with the danger.

The Saskatoon-bred classic rock revivalists found their big break last summer after winning the Rolling Stone "Choose Your Cover" contest, curated by the magazine and Atlantic Records in search of the best unsigned band. The Sheepdogs were the first unsigned band to be featured on Rolling Stone's cover ever in the magazine's history.

They were one of 16 bands selected for the contest, which frontman Ewan Currie says was a shock in and of itself. They'd experienced eight years of rejection leading up to that point — grants had been denied, festivals turned them down, bars across Canada had said, "No thanks."

"We never took anything for granted," Currie says from Palm Springs. "Even when we won it was still hard to believe."

Since August they've signed to Atlantic, recorded an album with Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney (slated for a July release), and won three JUNO Awards last month — including Rock Album of the Year, Best New Group and Single of the Year — which they couldn't accept themselves, mind you, because they were on tour in Australia with John Fogerty.

Yes, an enviable eight months indeed.

Compare that to 16 months before, when the quartet was holding down regular jobs, touring infrequently and taking gigs whenever they could.

"We always felt like we were a good band and played music that people wanted to see. Whenever we toured we would play to these small crowds but they would always be genuine and in appreciation of it," Currie says. "We felt like we had good music it just wasn't catching on to a larger scale."

And now half the population knows who they are — or better know who they are — and not just because of the contest. These guys are tight, playing classic rock for kids who missed out on classic rock when it was contemporary.

Also playing the Kokanee Freeride Club series at Buffalo Bill's later that night.