The newly renamed Squamish Valley Music Festival nailed it this year.
For its fourth installation, the event's lineup is positively stacked with the kind of bands you'll find at established fests around North America. While we can't fit in all the great acts playing from Aug. 8 to 10 at Hendrickson Fields & Logger Sports Ground, here are five must-see acts that are making splash in the music world.
Queens of the Stone Age
Saturday 9:30 p.m., Stawamus stage
The veteran rockers will undoubtedly play jams from their long-awaited sixth LP ...Like Clockwork, released earlier this summer, to close out the festival.
Vampire Weekend
Friday 9:40 p.m., Stawamus stage
Call them afro-pop, indie rock or anything in between, but this New York City band has put out one of the best records of the year with Modern Vampires of the City, their third release.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Friday, 8 p.m., Stawamus stage
Whether he's rapping about addiction, same sex marriage or his sweet, thrifted threads, Macklemore's album The Heist is the kind of super-catchy, positive hip hop record you can bring home to mom. Warning: the horn refrain in "Thrift Shop" will be stuck in your head until Labour Day.
Gogol Bordello
Saturday, 6:30 p.m., Stawamus stage
This Brooklyn, NY eight-piece band of gypsy-punks is one of a kind. But don't let their quirky genre tag scare you off, fans report they put on the best live show this side of frontman Eugene Hutz's homecountry of Ukraine.
A Tribe Called Red
Friday, 10:30 p.m., The Woodshed stage
Freshly nominated for Canada's prestigious Polaris Prize, this producer/DJ crew from Ottawa combines pow wow vocals and electronic music for a unique and increasingly buzzed about sound.