Hillside sets its own trends
Forget pop radio, big labels—quality, diversity key to Guelph festival's ongoing success
THE RECORD - 07/31/07
by Robert Reid
If you have any doubts how irrelevant mainstream AM radio and large, multinational record labels have become, you obviously missed the 24th annual Hillside Festival this past weekend.
As usual, Hillside featured a broad spectrum of music on four stages at the Guelph Lake Conservation Area. As usual, most of the music was performed by artists who are either independents or signed with small labels.
Take Sunday night's mainstage headliner Ani DiFranco. DiFranco is a fiercely independent artist who has built an international career without compromising her artistic integrity. Her abundant gifts as a songwriter of conscience and compelling performer are matched by her business smarts, as confirmed by the success of her own label, Righteous Babe Records.
Hillside had been trying to land the Buffalo artist for more than a decade. And she didn't disappoint. "I couldn't be happier to be here," she gushed to thunderous applause. "I've been hearing about this festival for a long time."
Indeed, DiFranco could be a poster girl for Hillside. Her philosophy of feminism, anti-corporatism, social justice, political activism, equality between the sexes, ecology and peace complements the festival's philosophy.
However, it was something of a new DiFranco we saw Sunday. Sporting thick, flowing locks (remember the shaved head of her angry young woman phase), she rhapsodized about motherhood, having giving birth to a daughter six months ago. She actually offered a new song about Love rather than her stock-and-trade anthems charting the treacherous terrain of sexual politics. Motherhood certainly hasn't dulled her edge as a powerful performer. Backed by a drummer and bassist, she was electrifying.
Here, then, is a sketch of some of the other acts who performed Sunday.
Tender heartbreaker: Ron Sexsmith, who preceded DiFranco, was a study in contrasts as he delighted the mainstage crowd with gentle songs of love and love's absence. He expressed deep delight to be returning to Hillside.
Father's footsteps: The legacy of the late Ali Farka Toure is safe in the guitar of son, Vieux Farka Toure, who delivered a stunning set built on powerful Malian rhythms.
Universal spirit: Australian-based Dya Singh opened his musical arms to Hillside, performing traditional Sikh spirituals in his native Punjab.
Intriguing namesake: America's Elvis Perkins (really his name) served up an intriguingly eclectic set of virtually unclassifiable music.
Celtic colours: Cape Breton isn't producing the traditional acts it was a decade or so ago, but the young folk quintet Be˜lach confirmed that Celtic music is still alive and well on the Island.
Sweet violets: Lisa MacIsaac and Brenley MacEachern, otherwise known as Madviolet, seduced with their ear-pleasing blend of folk pop, with a little bit of country and Celtic thrown in for good measure.
Local hero: Veteran Guelph singer/songwriter Sam Turton entertained with a vigorous set reminding his enthusiastic audience that social activism starts in your own backyard, whether it's the war in Afghanistan or attempting to ward off capacious big-box invasion.
Workshop splendour: One of the continuing delights of Hillside are the workshops that bring diverse artists together in creative pressure cookers. While some, such as the Sunday Gospel, are legendary, the real thrill is experiencing something unique and unexpected.
This year's festival supplied its fair share of great workshops, but none surpassed the tribute to The Band, aptly titled When I Get Offa' This Mountain. Colin Linden -- who played with The Band, post-Robbie Roberston -- took charge with passion and artistry, aided by sidekicks Stephen Fearing and Tom Wilson, Sexsmith, Tannis Slimmon, Jude Vadala and others.
It was unadulterated exhilaration. The capacity Island Stage crowd rose spontaneously and sang along to the chorus of The Weight before Linden launched into hair-raising, goose-bumping Shape I'm In that brought the tent down.
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