img src= http://www.chromewaves.net/images/interface/20070730hillside.jpg title= Hillside class= blogPhoto There was merchandise available at this year's a href= Http://www.hillsidefestival.ca target= new title= Hillside Hillside Festival /a with the clever slogan Thrillside emblazoned on it - this I take a little bit of issue with. If they wanted a suitable adjective/awful pun, they should have gone with Chillside . br / br / Held on an island conservation area in the northeast corner of Guelph for the past 24 years, Hillside has a reputation for being one of the mellowest, most laid back music festivals you'll ever find and now having attended my first one this past weekend, I can say that it's a reputation well-earned. I skipped out on the Friday night events just because I couldn't make it out there in time, nor did that night's lineup really entice (but A href= http://radio3.cbc.ca/blogs/2007/7/Happy-Hillside-Friday-Night target= new title= CBCR3 vs Hillside Friday CBC Radio 3 /a was there and have a report). br / br / My Saturday afternoon arrival was just in time to catch the A href= http://www.popmontreal.com target= new title= Pop Montreal Pop Montreal /a showcase out at the Lake Stage, which like its compatriot the Island Stage, was a big beer tent structure filled with picnic table seating and a sturdy but makeshift stage constructed from plywood atop some steel girders (the main stage, on the other hand, was a fancy permanent structure with an impressive a href= http://www.greenroofs.org/ target= new title= Green Roof green roof /a ). br / br / The first performer in this mini showcase was A href= http://www.katiemoore.ca/ target= new title= Katie Moore Katie Moore /a . Moore started my day off ably backed by some of the other performers on the bill in a short set of slow-burning country and breezier bluegrassy fare, all served up with a smile. br / br / strong Photos: /strong A href= http://www.chromewaves.net/hillside2007.php?autoID=47 title= Katie Moore @ The Lake Stage, Hillside Festival - July 28, 2007 Katie Moore @ The Lake Stage, Hillside Festival - July 28, 2007 /a br / strong MySpace: /strong A href= http://www.myspace.com/katiemooremusic target= new title= Katie Moore Katie Moore /a br / br / When Moore finished, half her band stuck around and reconfigured themselves as the hotly-tipped trio A href= http://www.plantsandanimals.ca/ target= new title= Plants Animals Plants Animals /a , newly signed to A href= http://www.secretcityrecords.com/ target= new title= Secret City Secret City Records /a . Specializing in a fascinating blend of math, prog and country, they managed to sound otherworldy and salt of the earth at the same time. Think of them as occupying a similar cosmic plane as A href= Http://www.thesadies.net Target= new title= Sadies The Sadies /a yet in a completely different orbit. Quite possibly as good as everyone says they are. br / br / strong Photos: /strong A href= http://www.chromewaves.net/hillside2007.php?autoID=48 title= Plants Animals @ The Lake Stage, Hillside Festival - July 28, 2007 Plants Animals @ The Lake Stage, Hillside Festival - July 28, 2007 /a br / strong MySpace: /strong A href= http://www.myspace.com/plantsandanimals target= new title= Plants Animals Plants Animals /a br / br / The next while was spent lolling about in the sun, people watching and running into familiar faces. Lolling stopped when it was time for a href= http://www.playthetriangle.com/ target= new title= Forest City Lovers Forest City Lovers /a to take the stage. Though based in Toronto, the band has deep Guelph roots and that was evident from the hearty and supportive crowds that turned out to greet them. Their sprightly folk pop sounded terrific, their songs' inherent Winteriness taking on a different character when heard in the bright Summer sun. Their set included a few new songs that weren't aired a href= http://www.chromewaves.net/index.php?itemid=2603 title= Chromewaves vs FCL last time I saw them /a and offered a tantalizing taste of what's to come when their next album is released this Winter. br / br / strong Photos: /strong A href= http://www.chromewaves.net/hillside2007.php?autoID=49 title= Forest City Lovers @ The Lake Stage, Hillside Festival - July 28, 2007 Forest City Lovers @ The Lake Stage, Hillside Festival - July 28, 2007 /a br / strong MP3: /strong A href= http://www.playthetriangle.com/forest_city_lovers_scared_of_time.mp3 title= Scared Of Time Forest City Lovers - Scared Of Time /a !-- strong MP3: /strong A href= http://www.playthetriangle.com/closetgenius.mp3 title= Closet Genius Forest City Lovers - Closet Genius /a -- br / Strong MySpace: /strong A href= http://www.myspace.com/forestcitylovers title= Forest City Lovers Forest City Lovers /a br / br / Their set was followed by some drifting around the festival grounds, inspecting the tie-dye shirt and bongo drum vendors, catching a tiny bit of a workshop helmed by a href= http://www.ronsexsmith.com/ target= new title= Ron Sexsmith Ron Sexsmith /a , having a sausage and generally people-watching. br / br / As evening rolled in, I headed over to the Island Stage where A href= http://www.thebesnardlakes.com target= new title= The Besnard Lakes The Besnard Lakes /a , just that day recipients of a big feature in a href= http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070727.windiemusic0728/BNStory/Entertainment/home target= new title= TGAM vs Besnard Lakes i The Globe Mail /i /a , were taking the stage. Playing a keyboardist short, their show was slow and stately and if they weren't playing in a beer tent beside a lake at sunset, might have even been a bit sinister. Beneficiaries of some incredible sound from the PA (actually, the sound everywhere was some of the best I've ever heard in any setting), the Besnards' triple-guitar interplay and spot-on, soaring vocals harmonies made for a set that was beautiful and really kind of astonishing, even to someone who's seen them before. br / br / strong Photos: /strong A href= http://www.chromewaves.net/hillside2007.php?autoID=50 title= The Besnard Lakes @ The Island Stage, Hillside Festival - July 28, 2007 The Besnard Lakes @ The Island Stage, Hillside Festival - July 28, 2007 /a br / Strong MP3: /strong A href= http://www.scjag.com/mp3/jag/andyouliedtome.mp3 title= And You Lied To Me The Besnard Lakes - And You Lied To Me /a br / strong Video: /strong A href= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMOyBHIGjnY target= new title= For Agent 13 The Besnard Lakes - For Agent 13 (YouTube) /a br / strong MySpace: /strong A href= http://www.myspace.com/thebesnardlakes target= new title= Besnard Lakes The Besnard Lakes /a br / br / As the day gave way to night, so too did the lineup take on a more rock-friendly vibe. Or in the case of a href= http://dragonette.com/ target= new title= Dragonette Dragonette /a , dance-rock. Fronted by Martina Sorbara, who had played Hillside before in a past life as a folk singer, the band ditched the heavy synths of their recorded output for a lean, classic rock configuration (guitar, bass, drums, vox) with some samples and triggered beats where necessary. They brought a good dose of energy to the day's performances but they couldn't help coming of as an ersatz version of A href= http://www.ilovemetric.com target= new title= Metric Metric /a , though less confrontational, charismatic and more interested in partying than politics. A href= http://www.egigs.co.uk/index.php?a=11895 target= new title= eGigs vs Dragonette eGigs UK /a has an interview with the band. br / br / strong Photos: /strong A href= http://www.chromewaves.net/hillside2007.php?autoID=51 title= Dragonette @ The Island Stage, Hillside Festival - July 28, 2007 Dragonette @ The Island Stage, Hillside Festival - July 28, 2007 /a br / strong Video: /strong A href= http://youtube.com/watch?v=wQwJOVOtZpY target= new title= I Get Around Dragonette - I Get Around (YouTube) /a br / strong Video: /strong A href= http://youtube.com/watch?v=e2pRMT8fd2g target= new title= Take It Like A Man Dragonette - Take It Like A Man (YouTube) /a br / Strong MySpace: /strong A href= http://www.myspace.com/dragonetteband title= Dragonette Dragonette /a br / br / As for the real Metric, their face and voice - a href= http://www.emilyhaines.com target= new title= Emily Haines Emily Haines /a - was setting up at the main stage for what would be the last of her shows in support of her solo endeavours. Accompanied by a one-man Soft Skeleton on keys and backdropped by clips from the films of Guy Maddin, Haines delivered a downbeat but not dour set of piano pieces that were rather poignant. And by taking the time to interact with the audience, smile and even lead the crowd in an odd but well-intentioned clap-along, it was quite a world of difference from her first Metric-era solo performance almost exactly a href= http://www.chromewaves.net/index.php?itemid=1359 title= Chromewaves vs Emily Haines three years ago /a . br / br / strong Photos: /strong A href= http://www.chromewaves.net/hillside2007.php?autoID=52 title= Emily Haines The Soft Skeleton @ The Main Stage, Hillside Festival - July 28, 2007 Emily Haines The Soft Skeleton @ The Main Stage, Hillside Festival - July 28, 2007 /a br / strong MP3: /strong A href= http://www.gangassets01.com/emily/rowboat.mp3 title= Rowboat Emily Haines - Rowboat /A br / strong MP3: /strong a href= http://www.gangassets01.com/emily/doctorblind.mp3 title= Dr Blind Emily Haines The Soft Skeleton - Dr Blind /a br / strong Video: /strong A href= http://studio.adbeast.com/files/00000016/1386820_dr_blind_Large.mov target= new title= Dr Blind Emily Haines The Soft Skeleton - Dr Blind (MOV) /a br / Strong MySpace: /strong A href= http://www.myspace.com/emilyhaines target= new title= Emily Haines Emily Haines /a br / br / I opted for electro-rockers a href= http://www.shoutoutoutoutout.com/ target= new title= SOOOO Shout Out Out Out Out /a to close out the evening over a href= http://www.thedears.org target= new title= The Dears The Dears /a , who I'd seen three time in the past year. As it turns out, I could have done both as the Edmontonians' set was only starting when the Dears were halfway through their. Their set was delayed for 40 minutes after they forgot a del synth /del sampler, essential to their show, in their hotel room. The Island Stage was beyond packed with people looking to get their dance on, and to their credit they waited patiently if a bit disgruntledly, not really appeased by the band's attempt to make nice by tossing fresh fruit into the crowd. The equipment eventually did arrive, however, and SOOOO were pretty damned awesome in the double-drummer, triple-bassist, scissor-kicking, mic-spinning, cowbell-banging, vocoder-junkie kind of way that we've all seen a million times before. The truncated set was a shame, but as they say - 'tis better to have shaken your sweaty ass for a short while than to never have shaken it at all. br / br / strong Photos: /strong A href= http://www.chromewaves.net/hillside2007.php?autoID=53 title= Shout Out Out Out Out @ The Island Stage, Hillside Festival - July 28, 2007 Shout Out Out Out Out @ The Island Stage, Hillside Festival - July 28, 2007 /a br / strong MP3: /strong A href= http://www.shoutoutoutoutout.com/_mp3abcdefgfedcba/abc123.mp3 title= Dude You Feel Electrical Shout Out Out Out Out - Dude You Feel Electrical /a br / strong MySpace: /strong A href= http://www.myspace.com/shoutoutoutoutout target= new title= Shout Out Out Out Out Shout Out Out Out Out /a br / br / And thus ended day one. While the trip up was mostly uneventful, on the way back I made the mistake of assuming the car in front of me leaving the conservation area was heading back the way we came and following it. As a result, I got a href= http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q hl=en geocode= q=victoria+st+%26+hwy+34,+guelph+on sll=43.488798,-80.132647 sspn=0.034,0.065145 ie=UTF8 ll=43.487428,-80.135479 spn=0.068001,0.130291 z=13 om=1 target= new title= Where the hell are we? completely lost /a . Nothing like driving around the unlit backroads of Wellington County at 1 in the morning without a map or even any idea which way is north. Good times indeed. br / br / A href= http://radio3.cbc.ca/blogs/2007/7/Hillside-Festival-Saturday target= new title= CBCR3 vs Hillside Sunday CBC Radio 3 /a and a href= http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070730.HILL30/TPStory/TPEntertainment/Music/ target= new title= TGAM vs Hillside i The Globe Mail /i /a have got their Saturday reports online as well. Check back tomorrow for Sunday's happenings and a general festival wrap-up. ...read full story