Fun times at Phillips Backyard Weekender!

So, my weekend wasn’t all falling off my horse and going for grinding 15km runs…

We also went to Phillips Backyard Weekend party on Sunday – the day that had the best bands- in my opinion. And it was a blast!

We saw Built to Spill, John and Roy and Dan Mangan and the Blacksmiths.

All good, all of them.

I particularly enjoyed Built to Spill’s retro 90’s comeback style, and then John and Roy were a relaxing listen. I actually found it difficult to listen to them in a big crowd-type atmosphere, as their type of West Coast chill music seems to be best listened to around a campfire on the beach at night with good friends.

Also Dan Mangan and the Blacksmiths- classic. He still had to play ‘Robots’ of course, but cleverly intermingled Robots with another, newer piece that escapes me at the moment. They were good, though I have heard uneven reviews of his performance as of lately. There are no complaints on this end though!

The weekender is an affordable, easy to get to excursion and I highly recommend it. Sunday’s passes cost approx. $35/day and that is pretty reasonable to see the level of bands that were playing. Beers are $5 and the only quibble I have is that Merridale ciders raised their prices to $7, instead of having 1 tix price for all, so I stuck with the beers. I mean, I like ciders but for an extra $2? I’ll stick with the beer, thanks…

Check them out next year, the sound is even better and improved from the past year (some technical issues from what I heard), and we had no bad experiences at all!

Oh, the boss is coming!

The Arkells were GREAT on Saturday. Personable, happy, and totally ready to rock. They stepped on stage with a great presence and just kept the good vibes rolling.

They played all their best hits, and a lot of new stuff too. They knew when to keep the new materials short, and the audience interested. Not that I didn’t like the new stuff, but when you follow a band, you also want them to show their ‘roots’ and history, so to speak.

Oh, the boss is coming!

They also relayed a fun anecdote- when they were first touring in Victoria, they played at Lucky Bar (that still exists) and didn’t have a place to crash – being young, broke and free willing, they relayed their sad story and a woman chatting with them offered her floor for the night.

They crashed there, and remembered her very fondly, for her generosity and free spirit. They called her out in the crowed, and my husband knew her! He said it was the type of thing she would do, and not think twice about- she was that cool and generous.

Great show, and ended with a cover of Diana Ross’ ‘Ain’t no mountain high enough’ with Dear Rouge singing as well. Love it!

Highly recommend checking them out, they played to sold-out crowd at Sugar, and wow…You could tell it was sold out, felt like there was barely any breathing room! I was sweating to death!