Suuns may have started playing to overcast skies but there was no shortage of fans at the Yeti stage Saturday. The Montreal quartet didn’t say much, but instead charged into their brand of electronic noise rock. The pounding kick drum of “2020” drew more people from up the hill into the mass of dancers collected at the front of the stage. “And what you see is really what you see, what you, what you, what you, what you, do what you please, the thing what you see,” sang guitarist Ben Shemie, clutching the mic with one hand and sneering into the audience. The Suun’s calculated chaos of distorted effects and snapping electronic beats was a perfect way to open up the day.

Indians only recently signed to 4AD last year, but Søren Løkke Juul, the Danish singer-songwriter behind the band, has been playing in different musical projects for 10 years. This fact became quickly apparent when Juul and his two touring vocalists/keyboardists hit the Yeti stage and began their set of hauntingly effervescent tunes.  Indians don’t play the kind of music you’d necessarily dance to, but the way “New” and “I Am Haunted” floated over the gorge, it’s no wonder the audience’s attention was completely transfixed. With knowing smiles being exchanged throughout the set, Indians displayed some of the most pure musicianship I’ve seen at the festival thus far.  Some call him the Danish Bon Iver. But sonic parallels aside, Juul and Indians are a force in their own right. “Have a beautiful weekend,” said Juul smiling as they left the stage.

It was somewhat of a rough start for Michael Kiwanuka. After drawing an enormous crowd at the Honda Bigfoot Stage, sound problems delayed the show. When the band finished sound check and did finally begin playing together, another problem occurred and they had to stop again. With the crowd yelling “Michael! Michael! Michael!” Kiwanuka grabbed his acoustic guitar and started a short set of solo songs to the delight of the audience. After the quick set, the sound problems were eventually fixed and the rest of Michael’s band was able to join in. However, I’m pretty confident no one would have objected to a fully acoustic set from the British singer-songwriter. With comparisons to Otis Redding, Van Morrison, and Bill Withers, Kiwanuka’s soulful tracks were an ideal soundtrack for the sun-baked inhabitants laid out on the Bigfoot lawn. 

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Photos © Zach Klassen