Pemberton’s Party In The Mountains Is A Tough Act To Follow

Story and Images by: Matt Williams

On Saturday, New Toronto’s Tory Lanez grabbed the Bass Camp stage by the throat to drop his high-energy hip-hop on a crowd that was ready and willing. He swooped in like a tornado, bouncing around the stage launching “Makaveli” and “Juvenile (Freestyle),” eventually testing the audience with a few classics to see if they could sing along, asking, “how many ‘80s and ‘90s babies we got here right now?!” Turns out there were quite a few. Bell Biv DeVoe’s “Poison” and Ginuwine’s “Pony” both had big moments, as Lanez belted both out with his elastic singing voice. The next day, California rapper Vince Staples laid some waste to the Pemberton stage, ending with “Street Punks” and “Blue Suede,” wading out to the barrier to get up close and personal with fans as he brought the set to a close.

But it was hard for anyone to compete with Tyler, The Creator. If the Tasmanian Devil was a human being, it’d be Tyler. "I got 54 minutes,” he said. “I'm gon jump around and yell. Is that cool, you motherfuckers?" Based on the packed and sweltering audience it was definitely cool, and they got into it heavy with as many as three mosh pits going at once, someone setting off a firework from the middle of the crowd, one guy bouncing on the roof of the sound tent like a maniac, and a very high number of female flashers perched on shoulder tops. Tyler raged through tunes like “DEATHCAMP” and “Yonkers,” slowing it down a notch for more “romantic” numbers like “Bimmer” and “IFHY.” Someone tossed a football on stage, he punted it, and it was caught. He lit a match and held it to his stomach until it went out. He got most of the crowd to take their shirts off. And for “The Brown Stains of Darkeese Latifah, Pt. 6-12 (Remix),” he got nearly everyone watching to squat down until the beat dropped and then “jump for fucking Mars.” He left on a sweet note. “Thank you Canada. I’ll come back and fuck all of you in the ass.”

Two of Pemberton 2016’s most anticipated acts have been icons for ages. Billy Idol, who you might know from his cameo on Adam Sandler’s The Wedding Singer, also wrote a lot of great songs. He’s kept up his appearance over the years, too, looking svelte and gothic in his unbuttoned black mesh blouse, trademark spiky blonde hair, and countless accessories. Sometimes bands that have been around a while phone it in, but Idol and his band nailed everything, and loud, pummeling the crowd with mega-hits like “Rebel Yell,” “Dancing With Myself,” and then ending, of course, with “White Wedding.”

Ice Cube played directly after across the way, with a revved-up set that saw him challenging would-be naysayers about whether he can still “get on the mic and do what you like,” right before smashing them over the head with “Check Yo Self.” He took it back more than a couple times, nailing N.W.A. classic “Straight Outta Compton,” and introducing another by referencing the police and saying, “Them motherfuckers told us what we can't play. We N.W.A. motherfucker. We do what we wanna do, and we say what the fuck we wanna say. So everybody, put your middle fingers high up in the sky. And to the motherfucking police, I got one thing I want to say.” Guess what it was.

And Noel Gallagher, with his High Flying Birds, were predictably all business, with Gallagher stopping the music only briefly to switch guitars or treat the audience to sweet little jokes. “This is not too dissimilar to my home in England,” he said about the mountain view. “I mean, it's smaller but pretty much the fucking same." He rattled off a bevy of his new tunes like “You Know We Can’t Go Back” (dedicated to Oasis fans) and “In The Heat of The Moment.” But he also gave the crowd what they wanted, soaring through Oasis’ “Champagne Supernova,” dedicating “Wonderwall” to a girl waving an Irish flag, and ending his set with a sing-along for the forever classic “Don’t Look Back In Anger.” Just before he played it, though, he said his goodbyes: "I don't know when the fuck I'm gonna see you again. You might see me on YouTube being fucking amazing or something."

It’s been four long years since a new Killers album, but the band is out on the road this summer, trying to give fans at least a taste of Las Vegas new wave stadium-rock. They went on a bit late (half an hour!) but made up for it with a slur of super-hits like “Mr. Brightside,” “Human,” and “Somebody Told Me” that had the crowd collectively losing it. The Killers are built for festivals, stadiums, and arenas, with their glitzy, excessive take on post-punk and new wave, and the mountain backdrop didn’t hurt their vibes. They rounded things off with “All These Things That I’ve Done,” as a couple other festival veterans started over at the SiriusXM Backstage Stage. Stoner buddy comics Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong (who met in Vancouver!) sat down for a set as Shelby Chong (Tommy’s wife) asked them questions about being “stoner grandpas” and their movies. But first she’d asked the crowd, “don’t you guys love pot?! Isn’t it the greatest thing in the world?!” The response was unsurprisingly a touch lukewarm—specifically, of course, because everyone who would come to a Cheech and Chong show loves pot. They were likely too mellowed out to respond with much fervour. 

Pearl Jam took the stage for the last set of the weekend with the big lights of the Pemberton Stage on and dwarfed by mountains, as dramatic piano swells played them in. After an impassioned version of “Release,” singer Eddie Vedder took a bottle of wine, pulled its cork out with his teeth, and stole a couple gulps, but remained silent. After “Footsteps,” though, he addressed the gigantic crowd. "Well goddamn, what a beautiful place and what a beautiful day," he said, expressing gratitude for the fact that he and his band get to do this as a job. “Did i mention that you look beautiful too?" Later, after mixing “Daughter” with a little of Suicide’s “Dream Baby Dream” and Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2), he thanked the town of Pemberton for helping put together the festival.

With the moon rising over cloudy mountains behind the ‘90s grunge legends, it was clear that no matter how good or hyped or legendary the music, it’s impossible to compete with a view like that, but you can embrace it, and let it become part of the performance. That’s what makes Pemberton a tough act to follow.