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Something for everyone

Pemberton Festival offerings sate diverse musical appetites
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On-Stage Antics The Flaming Lips pulled out all the stops for their performance on the Mount Currie main stage. Photo by darrenrobertsstudio.com

It didn’t matter if you dig classic rock ’n’ roll, heavy metal, rap, hip-hop, or electronica — there was a bit of everything to keep any and all music lovers happy during the three days and four nights of rhythms, beats and melodies in Pemberton last weekend.

Despite complaints about the transportation and other logistical issues, nary a whine was uttered about the talent, and even the biggest names that came to play seemed blown away by the breathtaking backdrop of Mount Currie, and the positive vibe from the audience of 40,000 enthusiastic music lovers.

“I’ve had so many phone calls and e-mails from artists that were like, ‘unbelievable,’” Shane Bourbonnais, president of North American touring and business development for Live Nation, said in an interview Tuesday.

Bourbonnais had just returned from a wrap-up meeting at their staff offices in Pemberton, and had driven past the site, where crews were in full clean-up mode. He was still reeling from events of the weekend, and remarked that he couldn’t believe that just two days before, the site played host to performances by some of the biggest names in the business: Jay Z, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Nine Inch Nails, Coldplay and The Tragically Hip, just to name a few.

“After Tom Petty’s set, he was going to go off the back of the stage, into a car and take off, but he wanted to come and see me first, and he gave me a big hug and he went, ‘most beautiful place I’ve ever played in my life,’” Bourbonnais said. “…It was amazing. Jay Z, after his set, he called me into his dressing room and he gave me a shot of Patron, and he just had a smile from ear to ear. He was just like, ‘run with this, it’s crazy, this is awesome!’ Just watching that set and watching people just respond to his energy was unbelievable.’”

Bourbonnais said the performers were blown away by the setting and the energy from the audience, and added that his phone is already ringing off the hook with calls from agents who are looking to book their musicians into Pemberton Festival 2009.

“We always talked about this festival was about music, and that’s what came through,” Bourbonnais said.

The ground literally pulsed with a heavy baseline from noon until 3 a.m. each and every day, as the Mount Currie Stage, Lillooet Stage, Bacardi B-Live Tent, and Barn Dance Tent churned out a steady stream of top-notch musical performances.

On Thursday afternoon, before the festival even officially kicked off, the grounds were packed with sweaty, shirtless and smiling festival goers who were eager to set up shop at the campgrounds and hear some amazing tunes, which were provided by local musicians at the Barn Dance Tent from 5 p.m. until late into the evening.

The real challenge of the weekend was trying to decide where you wanted to be, and making sure you were there on time to get a good spot in the crowd.

Also, fans of electronica were definitely disappointed by the huge lineups at the Bacardi B-Live tent, where all of the DJs set up shop. Though the tent was built to accommodate 5,000 people — which was Bacardi’s largest promotional effort of this kind — it simply wasn’t big enough to accommodate the hoards of people who wanted to check out some of the biggest names in the biz — Chromeo, MSTRKRFT, DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist and more. According to Bourbonnais, the capacity was limited in part due to liquor license restrictions, and he said they would be trying to increase the size of the area if they come back next year.

If you weren’t amongst the legions of people on-site for the first Pemberton Festival, or you may have overindulged and are blanking on a few of the performances, here are some highlights from the weekend.

On Friday afternoon, a coveted Canadian band kicked things off. Metric’s lead singer, Emily Haines, charmed the crowd with an enthusiastic, passionate performance, finishing off with a recent hit, Monster Hospital.

The Australian brothers of Wolf Mother remarked that this is the most beautiful place in the world, right before they blew the audience away with their heavy, fist-pumping rock riffs. The crowd went wild when they busted out, Woman.

Afterwards, Serj Tankian took to the main stage and engaged the audience with politics, making a statement about America being taken hostage. But the message didn’t overtake the music, and the crowd was swaying to the sounds of the Lebanese-born Armenian American, best known as the voice of System of a Down. He also got the audience to chime in on a special birthday song for a good friend of System of a Down, Lauren Valencia.

Finally, Nine Inch Nails kicked off their North American tour, giving an emotional and insanely trippy, borderline psychedelic, light show. After closing with Head Like a Hole, the band gave a half-hour encore.

Saturday was a day full of Canadian acts.

The heavens opened as Canadian rocker Sam Roberts wrapped up an amazing performance that had a patriotic crowd standing proud and singing along.

Another Canadian act, Buck 65, performed on the Lillooet stage and remarked that he was probably the only solo show of the festival. Well, he can certainly stand alone — he gave a personal, intimate performance.

The Tragically Hip gave a typical top-notch show, playing their biggest hits, and finishing with lead singer Gord Downie destroying the mic stand.

Afterwards, The Flaming Lips gave an over-the-top performance, complete with Zorb ball, odd creatures, and confetti shotguns.

Last but not least, the legendary Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers simply brought down the house as the rain fell down. The sound of 40,000 people singing along to Free Fallin’ was enough to send shivers up anyone’s spine.

On the final day of the festival, N.E.R.D. fell victim to the traffic issues that all festivalgoers experienced — they were 35 minutes late for their set, and showed up missing two of their members. But hey, it’s quality, not quantity, right? They more than made up for their tardiness with an expletive-laden, pumped up set, bringing members of the audience up on stage to get down.

Jay Z brought along a surprise guest — Memphis Bleek — and basically performed every mainstream hit he’s ever had, much to the delight of the massive crowd that gathered at the main stage. People were throwing up the diamond, left, right and centre.

Finally, as a crowd of exhausted and euphoric music lovers mentally prepared for an epic journey home, Coldplay closed out the weekend. It was a perfect choice — Chris Martin et al played some material from their new album, but it was crowd favourites like Yellow, Clocks and an acoustic version of, The Scientists, that left the audience in awe.

Can’t wait to see what organizers have in store for next year.