A stellar line-up has been slated to appear at The Phillips Backyard Weekender on July 26–28, this year.
As the blue skies of summer stretch ahead of us, nothing says Island living like good flavours, great tunes and sunshine.
Phillips have announced this years line up, featuring a mix of rap, reggae, rock and dance.
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Detroit rapper Danny Brown is top of the bill, described by MTV as “one of rap’s most unique figures in recent memory after releasing 2010’s The Hybrid. XXX, Old and Atrocity Exhibition followed to critical acclaim and spawned the singles Dip, 25 Bucks and Smokin & Drinkin. He’s not the only rhyme slanger on the bill though, with B.C.’s own Merkules performing a set, the face scarred rapper’s performance will be the second date on his current tour. Ontario rappers Shad, k-os and Haviah Mighty are also due to appear. Shad is known to hip-hop heads as the host of Emmy award winning Hip-Hop Evolution and appears on the last day of the weekender. The artist released his fifth album, A Short Story About a War, last year. k-os, an acronym for Knowledge of Self, is a fresh voice on the hip-hop scene with lyrics focusing on positive messages and criticizing the culture’s focus on money, fame and violence. Haviah Mighty has been praised for bringing a female voice to rap, running through a rich seam of themes, and is an outspoken force on a range of gender, racial and social topics. Fans hope to hear some of her album at the show, 13th Floor, which dropped in May.
Dirty Projectors are also due to play, a veteran rock band that have produced eight studio albums, since they arrived on the scene in 2002. Lead singer Dave Longsreth studied at Yale and his intellectual inquisitiveness runs through the band, with the five piece recording a quirky concept album about Don Henley from The Eagles and an album of Black Flag songs called Rise Above.
This is your line-up for #PBW2019! Get all of the deets and buy all of the tickets right here: https://t.co/f2AjKn16hg #atomiqueevents #phillipsbeer Woot! Woot! pic.twitter.com/z9o4uS7ash
— Backyard Weekender (@backyardwkndr) June 4, 2019
Reggae features heavily through the weekend with DJ Z-Trip putting on a reggae set and British born Steel Pulse performing. Pulse was the first non-Jamaican to win a Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 1987. A veteran of Island beats, he’s been making people dance since 1975.
If this is sounding too conventional, look out for Canadian experimental music and performance art collective Yamantaka//Sonic Titan. Formed out of the ashes of Montreal noise rock band Lesbian Fight Club, the band now feature seven members, with key member Alaska B winning the Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Score after composing music for the film Through Black Spruce.
The surreal is brought to life by Mariachi Ghost, who channel Mexican songs through catchy modern rhythms, using synths and guitar lines.
Gulf Islander Art d’Ecco, who describes himself as “an unapologetic, inclusive rock and roll mystic in a wig and lipstick,” plays Sunday, delivering his brand of well-rendered Glam rock.
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Quebec Trip-hop band Random Recipe travels a varied soundscape of different genres, often singing in Spanish and Italian.
“Punk Infused Hip-hop” is the next musical offering, coming by way of Just John x Dom Dias, featuring doubletime rap on high energy beats.
The West Coast isn’t just represented in hip-hop, with cult Vancouver band Brass and Victorian group Peach Pyramid performing. Brass hop over to the Island for some aggressive rock, sure to get the crowd fired up, while Peach Pyramid offer softer dream-pop, with some beach vibes.
Rounding off the bill are local favourites DJ Yeezy Yee and Jennay Badger, marshalling a mix of house, funk and electro from the decks.
Weekend tickets cost $99.50, with single day passes priced at $39.50. For more information or to purchase visit backyardweekender.com.
The Phillips Backyard Weekender is July 26–28, at 2010 Government St. Visit phillipsbeer.com for more.
nick.murray@peninsulanewsreview.com
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