International acts, myriad of genres
Downtown Vancouver’s Westward Music Festival boasts a vast array of rising stars
The Westward Music Festival kicked off last year with an ambitious program of local, national and international artists homing in on rising talents. MRG Concerts, a division of the cross-Canada MRG Group, presents the event at its own venues — they operate the Vogue Theatre, Biltmore Cabaret, Imperial and Dublin Calling — as well as other local spots such as Rickshaw Theatre, Rio Theatre, Fox Cabaret, Orpheum Theatre, Venue and Fortune Sound Club.
In terms of positioning, you can think of this festival as either the last gasp of summer fun, or the first salvo of the coming fall/winter concert calendar. Without doubt, Westward Music Festival showcases the kinds of acts that often play out better in a club setting than outdoors on a big stage.
Artists like New York-based former Vancouverite Hannah Epperson (Sept. 14, 7 p.m., Rio Theatre) or Kelela (Sept. 14, 9 p.m., Vogue Theatre) can certainly hold their own at big outdoor shows. It’s just that they bring something different to the more intimate confines of a club. Ditto for grunge legends Mudhoney (Sept. 15, 9 p.m., The Rickshaw Theatre) and drum and bass pioneer Ronnie Size (Sept. 16, 7 p.m., Biltmore Cabaret), who just don’t come across nearly as heavy when there isn’t a roof to blow off the room.
Canadian electronic hushpop producer Rhye (a.k.a. singer Michael Milosh) is thrilled to be among those appearing at the Westward Music Festival (Sept. 15, 9 p.m., Vogue Theatre). With the release of his second album, titled Blood, the L.A.-based musician doesn’t get home much anymore.
“My life is so transient, and I’m pretty much everywhere,” said Rhye. “Blood came out in February and we’ve been on the road constantly, but not in Canada too much. We’d love to play at home more.”
Demand for the downtempo grooves, whispered, quiet vocals and deceptively simple melodies found in tunes such as Taste or the orchestral pulses of Stay Safe have been big in northern Europe, particularly Denmark. That’s not to say Rhye isn’t getting nods in Canada. His debut album, Woman, was long-listed for a 2013 Polaris Music Prize and press for Blood has been positive in media as varied as Pitchfork to GQ. Blood is the kind of immaculately rendered music that crosses over a lot of ground.
The album was cut to fit on vinyl.
“The sequencing took a really long time, because I wanted it to fit on vinyl with enough room for the bass to be big in the grooves,” he said. “So that took a lot of attention, how the music comes across live. With players whose previous credits include employers such as Kelis, Jhené Aiko and David Byrne, it’s a safe bet that the Rhye live experience is going to be pretty slick, with tracks such as Phoenix getting bodies swaying.
“Playing a lot of these summer shows, it’s a tighter time limit and that constrains what you can do to a degree, but we never do things the same every night,” he said. “The songs lend themselves to experimentation and extending parts an additional 64 or 32 bars happens a lot. And I have really reworked Song For You on occasions.”
Rhye’s girlfriend is involved in freeform vocal events known as Secular Sabbath sing-alongs, and it was at one of these that he tried getting the crowd to join in on Song For You, a quiet, tender ballad off of Blood. He says he was incredibly surprised with the results.
“Some nights, at more intimate shows like perhaps Vancouver, I might get the crowd to join in singing at the end of the song and carrying it along,” he said. “It’s not something you can do at Coachella, but certainly can be rewarding at smaller, more intimate shows. At the end, it all comes down to what you want from a concert experience.”
All of which fits right in with the Westward Music Festival’s apparent booking philosophy around the event: “Downtown Vancouver will once again be taken over by local and international acts that celebrate a myriad of genres at multiple venues.”
The company has plenty of opportunity to work with artists on the rise. Its properties across the country include some key rooms such as the Vogue, The Garrick in Winnipeg and Rock ‘n’ Horse Saloon in Toronto. In May of this year, MRG Group acquired Donnelly Events, which presents such major street parties and community events as Surrey Fusion Festival and Khatsahlano Street Party. Perhaps the Westward Music Festival might be on its way to getting a lot larger?