Festival Overview: Evolve 2012 - July 20th 2012
Evolve, otherwise known as the biggest party in the Maritimes, once again lures us back with the promise of spectacular bands like Deerhoof, Dan Deacon, Holy Fuck, We're Doomed, Rich Aucoin, Force Fields, and so many more.
As with every year, massive sound systems, lights, projections, and a whole village full of all the necessary staples of a good party – beer, cheeseburgers, glow sticks, coffee, and ice – arise in the middle of no where in a giant field with 5000 of your best friends.
Friday night seems to jam all hot band action into one constant back and forth, with sets staggered between the main stage and the village yurt, insuring that not a single moment will have to pass without fantastic artists and performers to hold your attention. Deerhoof seemed to (as I predicted) stun and delight many festival goers with their super energetic, quirky songs. The sounds of home grown organic electronica flooded over the hill as Holy Fuck and Shout Out Out Out Out tweaked synths and delivered pummeling drum beats late into the night.
The Saturday morning sun quickly came to bear full force on the hill, as tired attendees lined up for coffee and cinnamon buns. As the sun slowly floated over head, the music continued to pump into the evening. Windom Earle shaved beards galore in the yurt, and Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt festooned the main stage with robots and Christmas lights. After a 2nd and still brilliant Force Fields set, Toronto's Woodhands delivered the surprise set of the weekend with pack of all new songs, which sounded full and fresh with only keyboards and drums. Of course, everyone was (hopefully) waiting for Dan Deacon, and a promising shout out from Rich Aucion probably helped here as well. Dan set up on the ground in front of the stage, his tiny table packed with gear and glowing skull lights. From the very first second of his set he grabbed the audiences attention and didn't let go until the end. With the crowd splitting, dancing, weaving, and uniting at his every command, it was safe to say the audience participation award was won right here. Hopefully everyone on the hill heard chipmunk vocals echoing over choatic drum beats for miles around, and wondering what they were missing.
Not to be outdone, Rich Aucoin brought out all the tricks, with giant balloons, streamers, and literal crowd surfing. Skratch Bastid appealed to the bro rock crowd and brought pole dancers to the main stage, plus of course, the incredible and intricate beat mixing, remixing, and scratching skills he's best known for.Sunday was decidedly low key, but Slowcoaster manages to coax out most of the music goers with heavy infectious grooves from the main stage. Ben Caplan entertains in the side stage, but the magic doesn't come until Hey Rosetta!, who manage to pull of the most coordinate participation by far, with sparklers galore suddenly lighting up the audience, and confusing and hilarious chains of yarn winding and weaving their way through the crowd. Exhausted, we fall asleep to the disturbing and hilarious funk of now festival regular That 1 Guy, with music pumping all night until the very last ounce of party is drained out of everyone.
Written/Videos by Dan Nightingale
Photos/Videos by Tiffany Naugler
For all the photos from Evolve 2012 visit the Flickr album here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tnaugler/sets/72157631203352214/
Check out all our Evolve video's in the Youtube playlist [here] or watch below!
A 1 hour, 13 minute slice of live on the hill!
Comments