Josh Doyle
Guelph is festival town. That could easily have been the take away point from this year’s Hillside Inside Festival, a two-day celebration of music and community that boasted events all over the downtown, with concerts in two large halls. For Feb. 4 and 5 the adventurous crowds of our city braved the cold air in hopes of hearing and experiencing something that would lift them from winter boredom. Hillside delivered, as it always does, offering a wide array of artists and activities. It did this while acknowledging what’s come to be known as “the five festivals” of our city, including the Guelph Jazz Festival, the Festival of Moving Media, the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival, the Eden Mills Writer’s Festival, and of course Hillside.
The indoor version of Hillside underwent many changes this year, making a move from its former location in the Sleeman center, to the River Run and St. George’s Church for live performances. Crowds seemed to welcome the change, and according to Sam Baijal, Artistic Director for Hillside, this year’s version couldn’t have gone better. Its new format was answered by sold out shows and well attended community workshops, a result of the events becoming more accessible, enhancing the festival atmosphere.
“It went really well. In some ways it went better than I expected, but I think that’s just because it was a whole new thing,” said Baijal of the festival, now in it’s fourth year. The youthful nature of this mid-winter celebration was the topic of discussion in Executive Director Marie Zimmerman’s opening address at the River Run, where she applauded the progress the festival has made in such a short time.
With workshops in hand drumming, laughter yoga, hair styling and belly dancing, there were plenty of engaging events going on simultaneously with large-scale concerts. The variety offered what’s become a crucial component of Hillside programming; having something for everyone. Part of what makes that a possibility is the flexibility of the audience, and the way people of this town and surrounding areas seem to welcome diversity. It seems we’ve put trust in the Hillside name and the attuned ear of their artistic director. This is a trend that’s been picked up on by more than just artists and employees of the festival.
“The festival is easily one of the best in Canada,” said Shane Koyczan of Hillside, likening the same atmosphere to the Inside version. Koyczan is a celebrated spoken word poet, and a many time performer at the Hillside Festival. “This audience isn’t like other audiences. I tour a lot, and there’s just something about the warmth here. Even on a freezing day, everybody’s so lovely.”
In many ways Shane Koyczan encompasses the festival’s nature; experimental, profound, and loved by all. You can see this at work in the way people flock to both.
Whether you were looking to be emotionally engaged by the words of Shane Koyczan, impressed by the musical talent of the many live performers, or just wanting to learn how to belly dance, Hillside Inside had something to offer. It proved a welcome interlude to the monotony that winter can bring, and will continue to do so in years to come.
Artists
Rural Alberta Advantage
Nils Edenloff, Amy Cole, Paul Banwatt
Three musicians take the stage, jumping quickly into a sound that would open up this year’s Hillside Inside Festival. Lead singer Nils Edenloff begins to sing through a raspy voice that at first seems to be working hard at filling the room. That’s only until he hits a note that really calls his vocals to action, and you find filling a room with sound that is acute and powerful is something Edenloff has no trouble doing. With songs often titled after places and landmarks in Alberta, that explode with the emotion of deeply personal encounters, you’re given the beautiful contradiction that is The Rural Alberta Advantage… a rock trio from Toronto.
Sarah Harmer
Sarah Harmer is a truly charming performer. She takes the stage with a graceful, laidback approach that you can’t help but want to go along with. With a line up of songs ranging from light-hearted, poppy hits to heartbreaking tunes about love and loss, Harmer has the ability to make you smile through your tears. Combine effortlessly relatable songwriting with a stage presence that is equal parts casual and committed, and you’ve got Sarah Harmer. “The furnace is burning, but it’s still cold I think,” says Harmer in perhaps her most popular song “Basement Apartment.” It may have been cold outside this weekend, but Harmer’s voice did more than any furnace could to welcome the city’s music lovers.
Shane Koyczan
Shane Koyczan doesn’t play music, not unless you find the unmistakable harmony that exists in his voice alone to qualify. A spoken word poet, it’s likely many people will live and die without ever knowing another. While sad for some we are left with the idea that if you are going to hear one poet in your life it might as well be Koyczan. His profound ability to pull emotion out of minute details is matched only by a capacity to conduct the most profound issues we face as people. Never have words found the ability to cause that rising in your chest, that powerful emotional reaction that surges through you like they do when spoken by Koyczan. And when he recommends a restaurant in town to have dinner, people go.
Matt Andersen
“I’m six-feet-two, 400 pounds, of a man that’s full of love,” sings Matt Andersen, the powerhouse blues singer who followed Koyczan’s set at St. George’s Church Saturday afternoon. When this New Brunswick giant of a man opens his mouth, a roar leaps forth that swallows every other sound in the room, leaving you alone with his voice and guitar, both with an equal ability to render you awestruck. Andersen tears the strings of his acoustic electric guitar like Jimi Hendrix performing bluegrass, with a knack for twiddling and tweaking the strings in a patient way, drawing sounds most guitarists couldn’t find with an instructional booklet. After collaborating on stage with Koyczan, the poet could only say Andersen’s music, “is like listening to an orgasm.”
Jim Bryson
Jim Bryson brings many items to the stage, a few of which include a guitar, a mesh back hat, and a gang of stories that could fill a room on their own. He sorts his way through them like your best friend would, only with more patience and a practiced ability to emphasize when he should, in a way that makes each and every song into a subtle revelation. The most common reaction to a Jim Bryson song is likely the smile that comes with surprise, when you realize what was just said echoes through your own past, evidencing his capacity as a songwriter. Bryson’s presence Saturday night with the Weakerthans band was upbeat and mellow, moving the show along at a most comfortable pace and proving again Hillside’s commitment to offering something for everybody.
Arkells
For this band from Hamilton Ontario, success seems to be a one-way street they’re moving casually along, their heads out the window of a tour van. After winning a CASBY award from Toronto radio station 102.1 in 2009, they went on to take home a Juno award for New Group of the Year in 2010. If it’s not their engaging lyrics and British invasion influenced style of delivery, the Arkell’s stage presence will surely win you over. Of all the acts at Hillside Inside this winter, they occupied their performance space with the most movement, the most energy, and chemistry between band members that can only come from knowing one another like brothers. Picture the Jackson Five without the afros and choreographed dance moves, playing rock music, and you’ve got an idea of what an Arkell’s show can feel like.
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