Sunday was another fine day at the Vancouver Island MusicFest

By Keith and Heather Nicol

Listen to Asani's version of Oh Canada if you get a chance

     With the men’s tennis finals at Wimbledon playing the Sunday morning we had a decision to make-watch tennis or head to MusicFest.  Our group opted for the tennis since it looked like Federer was on his way to a record setting victory. But then Djokovic stormed back and forced a tie breaker at 12 games each in the final set.  The tennis went on much longer than we thought (Djokovic pulled out a victory at the last minute) so that meant we missed some of the opening music.  We arrived at 11:30 and headed again for the Grierson stage (one of our favourites) where we caught a session titled “Rhythms”. This also allowed us to see the First Nations group “Asani” which we had missed the day before but we had heard were amazing.  They were certainly a highlight of the morning and we loved their version of “Oh Canada”. 

Kids are welcome at MusicFest. They have their own area with games and shade

      Next up at the Grierson at 1:30 was a session called “Whoa Guitar!” and it featured some the festivals top guitar players all under one roof.  As each of the performers selected the song they planned to play the rest of the group picked up the chords which often rocked the stage.  Headliner Colin James got the award for getting the most people up and dancing in the aisles (see video clip below).

Colin James had Greirson rocking and dancing

    Then we decided to check out something completely different and headed to the Barn to see “The Moaning Yoni” which is one woman show by Joylyn Secunda. The show has a warning “Viewer discretion is advised” since it deals with a college student named Zoe who has a sexual awakening.  Joylyn had the audience laughing throughout and we especially liked her depiction of the various ways men kiss. 

The Moaning Yoni was something completely different

In the evening on the main stage we caught Danny  Kortchmar with Waddy Wachtel and friends. Turns out these guys wrote music for and performed with many well known names like James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt. Together they have played on close to 5000 records which says something about their talent and longevity.  Next up was a group which surprised everyone last year when they backed up Ry Cooder. The Hamiltones now have their own band and are a grammy nominated soul group from North Carolina. Keep your eye on these guys and MusicFest gets our nod for bringing them back this year. Rain again in for the evening performances sent some people home early but this time we were abit better prepared.  

Waddy Wachtel (left) and Danny Kortchmar have a long history in the star making music business

MusicFest 2019 certainly brought together an amazing mix of music and we can’t wait for next year. Congrats to the organizers!! See you in 2020. For more information see: www.islandmusicfest.com.

The rain didn't deter too many people

   Colin James got people up and dancing at 2019 Vancouver Island Music Fest