Journalism wins at the Pemberton Festival

I drove up to Whistler the night before, hoping to beat the rush. Instead, I found myself in a convoy of similar thinkers, steadily rolling along at the strictly enforced speed limit, comparable to the pace of a snail. We all arrived eventually.

The Pemberton Festival seemingly came out of nowhere. Coldplay partnered up with concert giant Live Nation to handpick the sleepy spud town as the scenic backdrop for what is suddenly poised to be the biggest music event to hit Canadian soil -- maybe ever. Our answer to Britain’s Glastonbury and America’s Woodstock, there’s no question the event has put Pemberton, B.C., on the map. Forty thousand visitors will descend on the Lillooet River valley to witness an impressive lineup that includes Coldplay, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Jay-Z. With a population of 2,300, Pemberton hasn’t seen this many folks come through since the gold rush of 1858.

Against a mountainous backdrop, Interpol emerged, business-like, in black button up suits (save Carlos D, who chose a white alternative). Playing towards the setting sun, the band at first resisted and then reveled in the contrast between their slick, cloak-of-night songs and the sunny, hippie-filled crowd. This loosening effect was most evident in Paul Banks, whose typically stone face melted to a near-tickled smile as his band backed him on tracks largely taken from last year’s Our Love to Admire (”Pioneer to the Falls,” the Pixies-like “Rest My Chemistry”). He even undid a few buttons on his shirt for good measure during “Heinrich Maneuver.” For his part, Carlos D stayed buttoned, didn’t smile and double-fisted Red Bull and white wine. “There are lots of beautiful people here today,” Banks said, eyeing a gaggle of hot girls on shoulders down front before ending on Turn on the Bright Lights‘ “Roland.” “Thank you, Pemberton!”

Well, nothing like a day of excellent music to help those white knuckles unwind – starting with Sam Roberts, the indie darling from Montreal whose performance was so cool, as it wrapped up with one monumental (in both length and quality) jam, the skies opened up. The shower in no way put a damper on Saturday's main stage opener; it was in fact welcomed by the dusty crowd (stores in town were having trouble keeping mouth-and-nose-protecting bandanas in stock).

It was a good day overall here for Canadian music. Buck 65, backed by a turntable and his laptop (and calling himself “the loneliest man in Pemberton” as he had the stage all to himself), coolly conquered the complicated verbiage on tracks like Indestructible Sam and The Centaur, while offering descriptive dance moves to go with the smart, irreverent lyrics (the guy can shake his booty, it should be noted).

The Vancouver group Black Mountain, also on the smaller Lillooet stage, sounded terrific. Too bad more people weren't there to hear the indie up-and-comers: The Tragically Hip went 25 minutes long, keeping fans over at the main stage for a good chunk of Black Mountain's set.

As for The Hip, it was a classic performance. As Downie made his way through hits including Courage, Ahead by a Century, Poets and New Orleans is Sinking, he was at his beloved weirdest, paying particular attention to the microphone stand (disassembling and handing pieces of it out to the audience, at times).

Explosive back-to-back sets by Jay-Z and Coldplay capped the closing day of the inaugural Pemberton Festival, an ambitious three days of music set in a dusty B.C. mountain valley that, minus a few snags, was a resounding success.

The sun had just set behind the mountains on Sunday evening as Jay-Z took the stage to a roar of cheers - and quickly stole the show.

Backed by a brass band, the legendary producer and rapper worked the 30,000-person strong crowd into a frenzy. The ground shook as the audience thrust their fists in the air to hit after hit, including "99 Problems" and his breakthrough "A Hard Knock Life."

"To come up and here and get this much love, don't think I don't appreciate it," Jay-Z shouted to the thundering crowd.

"I appreciate each and every one of y'all out there."

And while songs from Coldplay's latest album, the critically lauded 'Viva la "Vida or Death and All His Friends," were interspersed throughout the band's closing set, it was crowd favourites that took centre stage.