So, the second Pemberton Music Festival came and went and it was, by our account, a resounding success.
It was also essentially a first-time event – this Pemberton festival was six years later; a new production company, HUKA Entertainment, was behind the scenes; the festival grounds were completely reformatted and re-turfed. Naturally, it had a few hiccups and growing pains.
Still, there were plenty of magic moments, giving us plenty to look forward to next year.. Here are a few of the best and worst things from this year’s festival.
BEST
Switching up Sunday night’s line up
As is custom with big, multi-stage festivals, there were some sacrifices to make when choosing what bands to see. But the conflict between Modest Mouse and St. Vincent was almost too raw for Pemby fans to deal with – an issue apparently palpable enough for the organizers to feel, because they completely rescheduled Sunday night’s lineup, putting St. Vincent on the main stage before Modest Mouse. This started the six best hours of music of the weekend, with Modest Mouse rolling into an incredible OutKast set, which led into Frank Ocean’s subdued, passionate solo set, which was the perfect night cap for a stellar weekend.
The food
Some music festivals have shit food. Full stop. But Pemberton organizers tapped into Vancouver’s accelerating food-cart culture and the West Coast’s demand for healthy-ish and quality ingredients. They nailed the food options as a result, offering delicious (if a bit pricey) tacos, the ever-dependable Jamaican Mi Juicy and some of the best freakin’ perogies we’ve ever had.
Festival security
Despite the death of 21 year-old Nick Phongsavath on the Friday night of the event – or perhaps because of it – the site felt extremely safe. The RCMP was roving the campgrounds and the festival site, but they were never an oppressive presence, hassling no one that didn’t deserve to be hassled.
Security itself was fairly lax – we experienced no pat downs until Sunday evening – but that seemed appropriate. The vast majority of the approximate 75,000 attendees were there to have a fun, not cause trouble.
The site itself
Nearly every artist we saw perform commented on the beauty of the site. Lights and lasers bounced off the surrounding mountains, as did the music. At any given moment, the sounds from the main stage would echo off the mountains, morphing whatever song was playing, and creating an extremely unusual way to enjoy, say, “Tiny City Made of Ashes.”
The site was small enough to seem to get from one side to the other (or to the camp site and back) without wanting to pass out from exhaustion, but big enough where a full day of moving from end to end will burn off the beer calories. It also looked as though the site could easily accommodate more people – there were times during the day, especially on Friday, where the crowds seemed very sparse betweens stages.
Still, there were a few issues with site that can be worked on. The size of the site might be too small for the five music stages it held – the Whistler Stage at the southern tip of the site was constantly fighting sound with the main Pemberton and Mt. Currie stages.
WORST
The hike from parking to the campground
Social media was buzzing on Thursday about the grueling walk from the parking site to the campgrounds. Everyone was warned, but no one truly understood until they had to do it: A half hour slog around the festival site in blazing Pemberton heat made for some very grumpy campers, indeed.
HUKA Entertainment CEO A.J. Niland told the Vancouver Sun that this will be one of the major tweaks for next year. Site restrictions dictate that campsite parking is not an option. This is a good thing, in our opinion, but there either needs to be a more direct route, or more assistance from festival staff in hauling four days worth of camping gear to the campsites,
The beer
First world problem, I know I know. But when you spend $400 for a weekend pass (or $160 for the day), and another $7-$8 for a beer, it might as well be drinkable.
Now, of course the festival needs a beer sponsor and Canadian more than adequately fits the bill. Still, its offerings of Canadian, Coors Light, Granville Island Pale Ale and Heineken (in cans, yet) were extremely tired by day two.
This is a BC festival, in an area with a burgeoning craft beer culture and a population of people who really enjoy tasty, local brews. There must be a way to include a few of these breweries into the event while still keeping the major beer sponsor happy.
Lack of phone charging station
A festival in 2014 surely thrives on its attendees sharing their experiences. Social media fuels the hype that has helped events like Coachella become massive cultural events. This requires smart phones, and smart phones require juice.
Because cars aren’t allowed onsite, people must rely on charging stations around the site – but not much thought went into this at Pemberton. Charging stations were few and far between, which meant dozens upon dozens of people were crowding in corners of the site, waiting up to an hour (possibly more) trying to snag an outlet to gain 10 per cent battery life, getting into arguments, being grumpy and negating the entire festival experience to begin with.
All this to say, for next year, there needs to be way, way more outlets integrated throughout the site for people to charge their phones.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
- Other than that stellar run on Sunday, the best shows we saw, in order, were Kendrick Lamar, Nine Inch Nails, Fucked Up and New Pornographers (sorry kids, we’re way out of touch with EDM).
- If an artist is going to be an hour late (we're talking to you Kendrick) the promoters should take advantage of the giant stage screens and patch in feeds from other performances around the festival. So at least you're still having a musical experience, instead of getting to know your sweaty neighbour surrounded by polite, Canadian silence.
- The wood chips lining the campsite path were treacherous for people without adequate footwear. The medic tents must have been swarmed with sliver incidents.
- At first, the idea of beer tents was appalling, since the BC Liberals had changed the liquor laws to allow for roving liquor consumption. Still, there were enough beer gardens, strategically placed, where it was never an issue. Also, security was lax enough that, if one was so inclined, sneaking a beer or two out of the beer garden or out of the camping area was simple enough.
- Mount Currie is an astonishing site to wake up to every morning.
