I’m very glad that I have a perfect record so far with Sappyfest and the third year was the best yet for the indie music festival in Sackville, New Brunswick. This year I took fewer photos (but I have a Sappyfest 2008 set) and didn’t blog, but I was able to post short updates as things happened through my Twitter feed. Using my tweets I was able to reconstruct what I saw two weeks ago, since with a lineup of about 60 bands over three days, it’s easy to forget stuff. The rough statistics for me from Sappyfest 2008 are 27 bands, 4 readings, 3 films, and 1 dance performance.
What distinguishes Sappyfest is that it’s a more organic DIY hand-crafted festival. The performers are carefully chosen based on the Sappy Records folks (Julie Doiron, Jon Claytor, and Paul Henderson) having met and admired them. That provides a very friendly and casual atmosphere and at any time the audience is filled with people who will take the stage. The bands aren’t just there to play their songs and leave, but to see the other bands as well. The musicians wait in line like everyone else for food and beer, and there are lots of smiles and laughter all around.
The schedule for Sappyfest was packed with bands and the big addition this year was the moving of the main venue from the parking lot beside Struts Gallery to Bridge Steet and having a large tent for both the performers and the audience. While the weather for Sappyfest has been pretty good in the past, this year it rained a lot, but the tent kept everyone nice and dry. The other perfect addition to Sappyfest was the presence of Picaroons beer in the tent. The delicious microbrew from Fredericton is a perfect fit for a festival that celebrates the indie spirit.
In nearby Moncton a concert with the Eagles was attracting a lot of people and when I called to book a room in the university residence, there weren’t any rooms available. In checking around I couldn’t find anywhere to stay except for a campground, so I booked that and set up my tent. When I arrived I checked with the Mount Allison residence and found a room, so after one night in the tent I moved to the residence (which has wireless internet too). There didn’t seem to be a lot of overlap between the fans of the Eagles with fans of great indie music, as Sackville embraced the music. But things didn’t start with Sappyfest, which is paired up with the Ok.Quoi?! festival of contemporary arts that Struts Gallery & Faucet Media Arts Centre puts on with a wide array of workshops, events, performances and exhibitions.
On the first day, August 1, I spent a lot of time in the tent where I saw Shotgun Jimmie, Baird Brothers, Laura Barrett (a cool kalimba-playing singer/songwriter/geek) with Rebekah Higgs (see them perform “The Wood Between Worlds” on Zunior.tv), Wax Mannequin, 100 Dollars, the Bicycles, Jim Bryson, and Bruce Peninsula. I ended my day with a lovely show in the Vogue Theatre that started with The Acorn followed by Julie Doiron. What was particularly nice about the show in the Vogue was that Rolf Klausener (The Acorn in solo configuration) started with a cover of Obijou’s Steep, which was my favourite song that I heard at Sappyfest last year. Then Julie Doiron ended by singing “Me and My Friend” (watch the film of “Me and My Friend” by Jon Claytor), which is another favourite. It’s always great when the first day of a three day festival would be enough.
Day 2 started for me with the music documentary film 6015 Willow, which documents 3 days in the Halifax house with 20 bands playing great music in different rooms. The screening was followed by performances by the Superfantastics and the Just Barelys who were also featured in the film (in the pantry and the bathroom, I think). Then it was out to the tent for another great marathon show that started with Hard Drugs and then moved on to Colonial Quarrels, Calm Down It’s Monday, Elfin Saddle, Burning Hell, Katie Stelmanis, Old Man Luedecke, and finally Chad Van Gaalen. I absolutely loved Chris Luedecke’s set. When he started to play the tent quickly filled up and everyone gently crowded together to listen to him play. Even though he wasn’t the last performer on the bill that night, he got a wave of continuous applause and then gave an encore. It was beautiful also to hear the crowd sing along with some songs as Old Man Luedecke sat on a stool and plucked his banjo (you can see his performance of “I Quit My Job” on Zunior.tv, as shot by Paul Watson). The day of wonderful music and standing a lot tired me out, so I skipped the evening shows and went back to the residence and slept well.
I was tired, but relaxed on the third and final day of Sappyfest and the schedule wasn’t as full of the previous two, which is good. I started my festival day in the Vogue Theatre with some writers reading and a beautiful short film called “Flawed” from Andrea Dorfman. Then I wandered around and in the tent I saw Mardeen and Construction and Destruction (and I picked up C&D’s The Volume Wars on Zunior.com when I got home). Then I went into the Sackville Music Hall where I watched the modern dance piece “Mouse & Man” and went back to the room to relax and go through some of the CDs that I bought to make sure that I had them on my iPod for the drive home.
The final music portion for me started back in the tent with Adam & the Amethysts and then the Luyas, Dog Day (I loved seeing keyboardist Crystal Thili take pictures while playing) , Miracle Fortress, and finally Eric’s Trip. I wrapped it all up with Rick White’s loose music documentary about Eric’s Trip, called Eric’s Trip Video Show 1990-1996. While it was a bit long, it had some great moments and gave me a good overview of the history and experiences of the band.
Sappyfest is a beautiful festival that is built around great people and great music and I’m so glad that I’ve been able to go to every one so far. It’s a special time and the musical highlight of my year. Now I have a stack of new music to listen to and a bunch of favourite new bands.
