The Original Wailers (photo: Erika Bouchard)
Choosing headliners for any music festival is about who’s going to bring the most amount of people to any given show. It’s on this basis that The Original Wailers headlined the Friday night of this year’s Phillips Backyard Weekender in Victoria, BC. No doubt The Original Wailers are a solid band, playing some of the most legendary songs in all of music. Seriously, who’s going to be unhappy hearing Bob Marley songs in the fading sunlight? It’s really a no-brainer. But if we’re being totally honest here, The Original Wailers aren’t playing anything new or particularly vital.
Five Alarm Funk (photo: Erika Bouchard)
The band before them, however, the mighty Five Alarm Funk, continues to impress with their overwhelming power and the sheer audacity of their fun. Blasting a set of songs culled mainly from their latest album, ABANDONEARTH, Five Alarm Funk dominated the audience with raucous energy, members of the band dancing and hamming it up seemingly more than anyone in the captive crowd. This is not say there wasn’t dancing, because there was an ass-load of dancing. People in every direction were getting down with their bad selves. I don’t think Five Alarm Funk was really giving them a choice. Everyone there was going to have fun, regardless of their desire (or not) to do so. Even The Original Wailers, after playing a truly bizarre, reverb-laden rendition of “Redemption Song,” seemed energized when they invited the members of Five Alarm Funk out to share the stage with them for a scorching version of “Exodus.” Really, Five Alarm Funk should have headlined the first night.
Five Alarm Funk (photo: Erika Bouchard)
Unfortunately we had to miss Saturday night’s more rock-centric lineup, but Sunday night, arguably the most impressive lineup-wise, got off to a blistering tempo with New York-based “afro-soul” cats The Budos Band. An instrumental band, things started to bleed together and run into a giant, funky swirl of sound. None of that matters when the band is as tight and groovy as The Budos Band. The group seemingly caught the crowd off guard with their highly danceable instrumental barrage. It was the perfect setup for the one-two punch of East Vancouver rapping dynamo Shad and Florida soul-baron Charles Bradley.
Shad (photo: Céline Grandbois
Shad was in fine form with a giant smile on his face as he rapped his way through tracks covering the entirety of his career. Highlights came in a steady stream with tracks like “Keep Shining,” “The Old Prince Still Lives at Home” and “Fam Jam” all acting as reminders of why Shad is one of the most important cats in the rap game today. His music and his personality are both overflowing with positivity; he really was the perfect guy to play on a Sunday evening as the sun dropped.
Charles Bradley (photo: Céline Grandbois)
Coming on an hour after his scheduled time because of border troubles, Charles Bradley gave an expectantly magical performance. Few people working in music today deserve the things they’ve been bestowed like Bradley does. The man is simply a beast. His nickname, “The Screaming Eagle of Soul,” is well deserved, with his piercing voice blasting away apathy and grief from all who hear it. Songs like the dark, throbbing “Confusion” and the aching “The World (Is Going up in Flames)” attack the heart and the hips with equal vigour. His rendition of “Slip Away” (made famous by the great Clarence Carter) was a special gem that I hope everyone else enjoyed as much as I did. It was a fitting end to a wonderfully eclectic and well thought out weekend of music in the back lot of a Victoria brewery.
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