REVIEW: Heat on the hill at folk fest
Thursday evening at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival was likely one of the hottest folk fests on record. There was a heat warning as temperatures hit 34 degrees, and an air quality advisory due to drifting smoke from B.C. wildfires.
There may have been discussions about climate change among the sweaty (but happy) crowd – but likely not landing on the denial side of the debate.
Blazing heat and smoke were not enough to keep the diehard folkies away, with the hill filling up with tarps shortly after 4:30 pm, when the first rounds of fans were led in to Gallagher Park to the sounds of bagpipe players.
The music on the main stage kicked off at 6 pm with Tinariwen, a guitar band from Mali whose hypnotic melodies have been referred to as “desert blues.” The bass and hand drum rhythm provided the backbone for intricate guitar work, with turns taken on the instrument by several members of the band. At times the music almost sounded like a fusion of African sounds and modern rock.
Edmonton is not the only city that has been plagued with bizarre weather. Toronto experienced flash flooding a day or so prior to the folk fest here, and the scheduled headliner Tash Sultana’s custom-made equipment got caught up in the water. As a result, the Australian singer-songwriter was rescheduled to Friday. In her place was DakhaBrakha (right), a quartet from Kiev presenting an eclectic wall of sound. While rooted in Ukrainian vocal tradition utilizing a broad range of harmony, elements of contemporary folk and blues along with almost completely acoustic arrangements were compelling.
Buffy Sainte-Marie (top photo) was definitely a fan favourite of the evening, judging by the audience’s reaction. With her full band she played an assortment of songs from her extensive catalogue spanning her half-century career, from the peace anthem Universal Soldier to newer (but equally relevant songs) like Power in the Blood. Now in well into her 70s, she is a folk icon who still has the energy of artists half her age. She asked. “Are there any hippies in the audience?” Either old or new, and received unreserved applause. The red dress on the stage represented missing and murdered Indigenous women, she said, a haunting reminder of the struggles for which Sainte-Marie continues to stand.
As the evening waned, the temperature started to cool – but not the music. The final act of the night was the highly-anticipated performance by The Decemberists. Their EFMF debut was to have been last year on the Thursday evening, which was cancelled when for the first time in the festival’s history the event was shut down for the night due to a flash storm with high winds. Hailing from Portland, Oregon, the band takes its name both from the sadness of month of December and the Decembrist Revolt in 1825 in Imperialist Russia. With a tight rhythm and catchy melodies and led by vocalist-guitarist Colin Meloy (right), the band’s sound alternated between American folk and rock – sometimes within the same song. The hour-long set featured a variety of songs from a career almost reaching the 20-year mark.
Intermediate acts played at the side of the stage while the main stage was getting set up for its featured performers. Several musicians from the School of Song – a mentorship program led by Rhea March – had a chance to play on the main stage, including Dana Wylie, St. Arnaud, Rebecca Lappa, and Travis Matthews. The School of Song has its own concert on Stage 2, Saturday at 3 pm. Ontario songwriter Jon Brooks also played a short set of well-crafted, meaningful tunes and Kaia Kater from Quebec presented her soulful voice and bluesy banjo.
The Edmonton Folk Music Festival continues through to Sunday, August 12. Headliners include Neko Case, Regina Spektor, Ry Cooder, Shakey Graves, and closing Sunday night, the Milk Carton Kids.
