Festival season is in full force. We’ve had Fern Fest, Ska & Reggae Fest, JazzFest and Laketown Shakedown.
Friday it was time for hang out in the back of Phillips Brewery for Phillips Tilt 2024!
The weather forecast for the weekend showed it was going to be a hot one. Friday saw temperatures in the mid-twenties with nothing but sunshine. Thankfully, doors opened a bit later at 4pm Friday so exposure would be for a shorter amount of time.
Then entrance this year is once again on the Matullia Grounds at Rock Bay. Walking in, one noticeable change is that the Phillips beer truck is now near the entrance paired with the food vendors, games area and merch. As soon as you enter you can purchase drink tickets and grab a beverage before walking over to the Phillips loading bay stage. A second drink ticket and pickup area is also where drinks have traditionally been located. This helped traffic flow quite a bit.
Another change that helped the flow of foot traffic is that one of the chain link fences between the brewery and Pembroke Street has been temporarily rolled up.
Shade near the stage was as limited as it’s always been. People could be seen huddled at one side of front of house where there was a small block of shade.
Welcoming festival goers to Tilt this year was Friday’s house DJ in DJ Boitano. The former [email protected] music director has had a busy week having been the house DJ and MC at Laketown Shakedown and at Canada Day at the inner harbour.
Music started about an hour later than in previous years. OK Charlie kicked off the day at 5pm. The Victoria band known for years as a cover act at local bars has recently been releasing original music and were a Zone Band of The Month earlier in the year. In previous years, Friday’s opening acts have had the difficult task of performing to not a lot of people. Having music start at 5 helped bring a nice crowd for OK Charlie’s set. Brett Smith Daniels was a guest guitarist for their set.
Vox Rea were the second band of the evening. Early on lead singer Kate Kurdyak asked the audience if anyone went to Laketown Shakedown and are still feeling a little rough? She said she was there and was still feeling it. It didn’t noticeably affect the band’s performance though. OK Charlie’s Mitchell Hahn and Morgan Bankes of the Bankes Brothers joined Vox Rea on stage for the final song of the set.
Vancouver/Los Angeles band Hotel Mira were next. Hotel Mira were last at the festival in 2022. Frontman Charlie Kerr is as engaging as ever, though slightly less dapper, dressed in more casual attire this time rather than the bright white suite of 2022. Kerr was on the subwoofers and at the security rail for much of the set and ventured into the crowd during their final song.
Another band that returned to Phillips Tilt were 2022 headliners Half Moon Run. The trio provided a nice change of pace as the sun began to set with some chill tunes that crowd enjoyed.
An addition to the festival this year is theme days. With Saint Motel headlining day one and Hotel Mira being part of the lineup, Friday’s them was “Hotel Convention”. A table with name tag stickers was seen near the drink ticket tent by the entrance and one festival goer was walking around as “convention staff” with a sign and handing out fun amenities.
Food options this year include Greek, Venezuelan, tacos, mini-donuts, ice cream, coffee, and a couple hotdog vendors. While you’re eating at the picnic tables near the vendors there are also tents with games like cornhole and a Jenga to kill some time.
Closing out the first night of Phillips Tilt was Los Angeles indie pop band Saint Motel. It’s the first time the band has been in Victoria since April of 2010 when they opened for Band of Skulls at Sugar Nightclub (now Capital Ballroom). Saint Motel performed a 15-song set that was essentially a near hour and a half funky dance party. They closed the show with their blockbuster hit ‘My Type’ and got the crowd jumping.
Phillips Tilt continues the rest of the weekend with Jessie Reyez headlining Saturday and Orville Peck and Noah Cyrus topping Sunday’s bill. Tickets are available at phillipsbackyard.com
