Day 3 at the Pemberton Music Festival 2014 (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)
Day 3 of the Pemberton Music Festival featured heavy hitters like Modest Mouse and a newly-reunited Outkast, but it was a stunning late night set from R&B superstar Frank Ocean that stole the entire festival.
Canadian performers were out in full force early Sunday afternoon with sets from Halifax’s Sloan, Pemberton’s Dakota Pearl and a somber set from Newfoundland’s Hey Rosetta. Festival attendees had to make their first big choice of the day when performances from St. Vincent and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Randy Newman played at opposite ends of the venue at 6:30 p.m.
St. Vincent (a.k.a. Annie Clark) played an hour long set that showcased her self-titled fourth album that came out in February. The new record is a dancier affair than her last few efforts and her band nicely recreated it’s chilly grooves live. Older songs like “Surgeon” and “Marrow” were revamped with a murky EDM feel.
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Modest Mouse rocked the Mt. Currie stage with a fiery set of hits like “Float On” and “A Different City”. Early into set, lead singer Isaac Brock singled out a spectator flying a huge promotional banner over the medium-sized crowd. “Are you representing the country of Jagermeister or are you getting paid to fucking do that?”, he asked the unlucky dude to roars of approval from fans that came to hear their music without commercials.
Outkast was Sunday night’s main attraction and the Southern fried rap stars drew a bigger crowd than headliners deadmau5 and Nine Inch Nails. Big Boi and Andre 3000 reunited at this year’s Coachella after a 12(!) year break from live performance, and the reception was mixed at best. But the duo have clearly worked out the kinks and dazzled Pembyfest with a fast and furious set of iconic hip hop anthems.
The duo opened the show with a manic version of “B.O.B.” from 2000’s Grammy Award-winning “Stankonia” and had little trouble whipping the crowd into a hysterical frenzy. For “Hey Ya!”, Andre 3000 had the crowd shaking it like a Polaroid picture, although I doubt that most of the young hipster crowd could tell a Polaroid camera from a Fisher Price View-Finder.
The hits kept coming at a breakneck speed, with Outkast delivering fresh takes on “Roses”, “Ms. Jackson” and “So Fresh, So Clean”. The affection between the two was genuine; the pair seemed downright giddy performing on stage together, leaving those in attendance wondering if perhaps a new collaboration is in the works.
If there was anything missing from day one or two of Pembyfest, it was the cool but sensitive vibe that performer Frank Ocean brings to his live performances. A last minute schedule change had Ocean moved to 11:15 p.m. which overlapped with Outkast’s show on the Pemberton stage.
Festival goers were forced to make another impossible choice with many abandoning the Outkast set halfway thru to secure a good spot for Ocean’s show on the Mt. Currie stage.
Ocean delivered the festival’s most intimate set by far – no easy feat when you’re the very last artist scheduled to perform. His soft and moody delivery made it easy for the eager crowd to drown him out on stompers like “Pyramids” and “Novocaine”, but many chose to remain silent with their iPhones tucked away for quiet stunners like “Forrest Gump” and “Thinkin’ Bout You”.
Ocean complained that the cold B.C. weather was messing with his vocal chords but soldiered on past midnight, saying “if y’all are still here, then I’m staying here”. He closed the show with a haunting version of “Wise Man”, an obscure Ocean song originally intended for the “Django Unchained” soundtrack.
Thousands of fans stayed until the bitter end, and the buzz around the shuttle bus line was that Ocean had clearly stolen the night, if not the entire festival.
Image: Rob Feller/Vancity Buzz
Image: Rob Feller/Vancity Buzz
Image: Rob Feller/Vancity Buzz
Image: Rob Feller/Vancity Buzz
Image: Rob Feller/Vancity Buzz
Image: Rob Feller/Vancity Buzz
Image: Rob Feller/Vancity Buzz
Image: Rob Feller/Vancity Buzz
Image: Rob Feller/Vancity Buzz
Image: Rob Feller/Vancity Buzz
Image: Rob Feller/Vancity Buzz
Image: Rob Feller/Vancity Buzz
Image: Rob Feller/Vancity Buzz
This place definitely doesn’t suck…. #pemby #pemberton We’re on the bill w #Sloan #StVincent #ModestMouse #Outkast pic.twitter.com/CaFw2UHdde
— MILOŠ ΛNGΞLOV (@MilosAngelov) July 20, 2014
From Palomino to #pemberton! #TheFlamingLips! Probably the most colorful stage yet! #PembertonMusicFestival #yyc pic.twitter.com/xUvNoutVbb — 95.3 The PEAK (@ThePEAKCalgary) July 20, 2014
Pemberton festival magic! Watched Metric from stage #PembertonMusicFestival pic.twitter.com/qOgsr94fuG — Julie Singer (@intractwellness) July 20, 2014
Started with 15 people, ten minutes later #PembertonMusicFestival #PembyFest pic.twitter.com/gWjLqwSyCi
— Justin (@3LAU) July 19, 2014
Thanks @Pemberton_Fest it’s been a slice. #VIPcabana #pembertonfestival #pemberton #snoopdogg @HukaEnt #PembyFest pic.twitter.com/DPwbuVCGL2
— JNP (@JenelleNichole) July 20, 2014
Featured Image: Andres Markwart/Vancity Buzz
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