Phillips Tilt 2025 is days away!
The July edition of the Phillips Backyard Music Festival series takes place Friday July 4 to Sunday July 6, 2025.
There are some major changes to the festival from previous years.The main stage is going to be two feet higher to hopefully provide better sightlines for festival goers. Also this year, the festival won’t be utilizing the Matullia Lands for the entrance, food trucks and activities. The entrance will be at the corner of Discovery and Store streets.
The third massive change is the addition of a second stage presented by Music BC. The new stage will feature three BC based artists/bands per day.
24 acts will perform over the weekend headlined by Cold War Kids, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and G-Eazy. But what are their live shows like? It’s time to take a closer look at the lineup in our Phillips Tilt 2025 Artist Preview.
Weekend and single day passes can be purchased at phillipsbackyard.com
FRIDAY JULY 4
King Bob – Main Stage 4:50pm
King Bob the solo project of Victoria musician Jackson McDonald. He was previously the frontman of synth-punk duo Timing X. King Bob’s alt-rock music is full of catchy hooks and relatable everyman lyrics. His single ‘Figure It Out’, which was featured during his sting as Zone Band of The Month in January 2025 even has a direct local reference of the Saanich police department. King Bob will be hard to miss as McDonald takes the stage in green Hartford Whalers attire and a yellow fabric crown.
Fionn – Main Stage 5:45pm
Fionn are identical twin sisters Alanna and Brianne Finn-Morris from Vancouver. Their music has been in high rotation on rock radio in Canada for the last year and they’ve had more than 2 million streams. They were recently a PEAK BC Artist of The Month.
Carmine – Music BC Stage 6:10
Carmine are a Victoria alt-rock band. Their bio describes their music as dark, moody atmospheres colliding with energetic pop hooks. Carmine was formed in 2024 and their recent single ‘I Don’t Wanna Be Friends’ was produced by Hotel Mira’s Mike Noble. The single also received significant airplay when Carmine was Zone Band of the Month for May 2025.
The Bankes Brothers – Main Stage 6:40pm
Victoria’s The Bankes Brothers are no strangers to the Phillips Backyard stage. Phillips Tilt 2025 will be their fourth year in a row at the brewery. In February they performed two packed shows at Upstairs. Victoria brothers Morgan and Nelson Bankes formed the band in 2017 and by March 2023 they were a Zone Band of The Month.
Cold Fame – Music BC Stage 7:20pm
Victoria’s Cold Fame have had a big 2025. Their latest single ‘Jawbreaker’ recently cracked the top 20 on Canadian Top 40/Alternative charts reaching number 16 as of June 22. The band last performed at the Phillips Backyard in 2023 for Reverb just months after being February 2023 Zone Band of The Month.
Band of Skulls – Main Stage
It’s been nearly 9 years since Band of Skulls performed in Victoria. The British rock band’s last show in town was at Rifflandia 2016. With a catalogue of music spanning 16 years, Band of Skulls will bring a gritty edge to the first day of Tilt.
Hillsboro – Music BC Stage 8:50pm
Victoria’s Hillsboro perform a mix of punk, hardcore and alternative. They were a Zone Band of The Month in May of 2023. Their live shows are known to be high energy and entertaining to watch.
Cold War Kids – Main Stage 9:30pm
Closing out the first day of Phillips Tilt 2025 are Cold War Kids. Victoria last saw the band 14 years ago at Rifflandia. The indie rock band has been around for nearly two decades and continue to release radio hits. Normally for our preview video we look for something recent, but this time we’re going to take you back to their Rifflandia 2011 set at Royal Athletic Park where it turned into a massive crowd surfing session. We wonder if any of the crowd surfers in the video will be at Tilt all these years later.
SATURDAY JULY 5
Neighbourly – Main Stage 4:35pm
Neighbourly are a psych-funk band from Victoria. Their new six-song release ‘Get In’ comes out July 2nd, just days before their set at Tilt. Prior to ‘Get In’, Neighbourly have released a full album and two other EPs since 2022. Prior to that they were known as Speak Easy.
Steve Bays – Main Stage 5:30pm
Victoria producer and musician Steve Bays has a well known voice in the indie rock scene. He’s a founding member of Hot Hot Heat and formed a duo called Fur Trade with Hot Hot Heat bandmate Parker Bossley. He’s also part of Canadian indie supergroup Mounties. He’s now embarking on a solo project that made its live debut recently opening for OK Go at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver. With this being a new project for Bays, there’s not much live footage other than this reel on Instagram.
Dead Summer – Music BC Stage 5:55pm
Dead Summer are a rock duo from Victoria consisting of drummer Michael Wilford and guitarist/vocalst Nate Prevedoros. Wilford was a Zone Band of The Month as a songwriter in May 2022 and Prevedoros was a member of January 2020 Zone Band of The Month Shed Monkeys who later became Sleepshake.
young friend – Main Stage 6:25pm
young friend is Vancouver indie rock musician Drew Tarves. His debut album ‘motorcycle sound effects’ was released in April 2025. The music on the album is described as a “gender-bending fever dream”.
Darrian Gerard – Music BC Stage 7:05pm
Darrian Gerard is a pop-rock singer and multi-instrumentalist from Duncan. Her music draw inspiration from Avril Lavigne, Blink-182, Halsey and Taylor Swift. Gerard was a Zone Band of The Month in June 2024.
Two Feet – Main Stage 7:35pm
Two Feet is a singer-songwriter and producer from New York. He was previously in Victoria for Rifflandia in 2023 and ended up as a favourite set for many in attendance that night. He’s best known for his 2017 hit ‘I Feel Like I’m Drowning’.
Kieran Campbell – Music BC Stage 8:35pm
Kieran Campbell is a singer-songwriter from Victoria. His music is heavily influenced by Americana and Folk performers like Townes Van Zandt and Bob Dylan. His latest single ‘Eyes of Green’ was released in early June.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Main Stage 9:15pm
New Zealand pschaedelic rock band Unknown Mortal Orchestra are Saturday’s headliner at Phillips Tilt 2025. Their new six-song EP ‘Curse’ was released on June 18th. The new music takes inspiration from Italian horror films of the 1970s and 80s and features Black Sabbath inspired riffs and also laid back, intricate guitar playing.
SUNDAY JULY 6
Poncho – Main Stage 3:40pm
Poncho is an Afrobeats artist from Ghana, but now based in Victoria. The West Afrian genre fuses hip-hop, dancehall and other genres. Poncho’s music is influence by highlife, a popular genre in Ghana. Poncho has performed the Phillips stage before at Rifflandia 2024.
Murge (Live) – Main Stage 4:35pm
Murge is a Victoria Dj and producer. in 2024 he performed at the Phillips Backyard with vocalist Saundra Williams. This year he’s bringing more musician friends for a full live set of his original music for the first time in Victoria. Roy Vizer from Jon and Roy, vocalists Ashleigh Eymann and Sierra Lundy, trumpet player Phil Hamelin and Anand Greenwell of Astrocolor on sax will join Murge on stage.
Kid Filthy – Music BC Stage 4:55pm
Kid Filthy is a Vancouver-based hip-hop artist originally from Congo, DRC. In 2021 he was named Hip Hop Artist of the Year for the Fraser Valley Music Awards by CIVL 101.7 FM
Haviah Mighty – Main Stage 5:25pm
Haviah Mighty is a hip hop artist from Brampton, Ontario. She was a member of all-female hip hop group The Sorority that performed at the 2019 Phillips Backyard Weekender. In 2019, Haviah Mighty won Polaris Music Prize for her album ’13th Floor’. The last time she was on Vancouver Island was in 2022 for Laketown Shakedown. Prior to that she performed a show at Capital Ballroom just weeks before the world shutdown in 2020.
AHSIA – Music BC Stage 6:05pm
AHSIA is a Vancouver singer/songwriter and producer. she infuses her work with themes of empowerment, self-reclamation, and humor in a blend of soul, R&B, hip-hop, and jazz.
Snotty Nose Rez Kids – Main Stage 6:35pm
Snotty Nose Rez Kids are coming back to the Phillips Backyard for the third time in four years, but this time they’re returning as Juno Award winners. The 2025 Rap Album of the Year recipients are the first Indigenous artists to win the award. The crowds have always been hyped when they’ve performed at the brewery.
BAWAH – Music BC Stage 6:05
BAWAH is an Afro-fusion artist based in Vancouver. BAWAH was born in Ghana and spent part of his life in the U.K. From 2018 to 2024 BAWAH was known as Mauvey and performed at Laketown Shakedown as well as Canada Day in Victoria. His music is a mix of Afro, Pop, Hip-hop, Alternative, and Electronic genres.
G-Eazy – Main Stage 8:20pm
Oakland rapper G-Eazy will close out the Tilt 2025. G-Eazy is known for collaborative hits ‘Me Myself & I’ (that features Bebe Rexha) in 2015 and 2017’s ‘No Limit’ (featuring ASAP Rocky & Cardi B) and ‘Him & I’ (with Halsey). His latest album ‘Helium’ was released in May.
