Vancouver Folk Festival

Folk Fest 2006 Comes to Jericho Beach - Sunday
By Nick Pannu, The Other Press

Despite the temptations that a hot, sunny day presents in the Lower Mainland, none could possibly be stronger than the lure of the 2006 Vancouver Folk Festival. Managing to get tickets for the very last night I was definitely stoked in anticipation of catching the best acts of the festival. Maybe the wrong assumption to make considering that Feist was not performing the last night of the Fest. Actually, it wa.s a reason to expect artists with unpretentious genuine talent, not superficially hyped artists (life Feist), becoming overnight ptima donnas refusing to meet with any press.

Only mere steps past the main entrance I abruptly stopped to listen to New Zealand artist Mirirangi. Her vocals immediately caught my attention. They were good, versatile. She could sing a high prolonged pitch and effortlessly incorporate a beat box. Although her stage presence and voice were captivating, her means towards self-expression seemed a little unorthodox. Still, she was innovative, creating music right in front of the audience by incorporating tribal rhythms and rhymes, and producing spiritual chants that the audi­ence was able to connect with. Her political rants, however, seemed prolonged and self-indulgent. Her feminist convictions seemed a little militant for my tastes.

As I proceeded further I noticed one particular band that possessed a diverse repertoire named Afrodi2Z, made up of seven band members, each play­ing distinct instruments including trumpet, guitar,
drums and saxophone. Often the saxophone and trumpet performed exclusively in unison. Walking further into the grounds of the festival I started to notice how the diversity of different artists was being consolidated. There were classic folk artists with a style that bordered country music; musicians that utilized non-contempory instruments that were hard to define and artists such as Vishwa & Salil that seemed totally outside the realm of folk. More impressive was the adaptability of different artists as they performed together. When not performing vocals, country/folk musi­cian James Keelaghan played a chorus for Bethany and Rufus. It was interesting how artists accentuated their unique style while playing within a group of different artists. Bethany almost made it a point to belt out her high pitched vocals each time before it was Keelaghan's turn to retake the mic.

The climax defining the 2006 Vancouver Folk Festival was demonstrated on the main stage towards the end of the event. Spanish band Corquieu warmed up the subdued audience. Appropriately expressing their perception of the tradition of folk music were the 40 year folk veterans New Lost City Ramblers. Tanya Tagaq presented a traditional Inuit style of singing that was very physical. After some political ranting, Mighty Popo & the Urunana rw'abadatana showcased a soul reggae style that seemed to quench and pique audience members' appetite. Jane Siberry belted out some classic folk tunes. She delved into the pure context of folk as she cued her acoustics, and did not succumb to naive cheesy political rhetoric to please the crowd. She just sang and played music.