KELOWNA, BC, JULY 5 – 7, 2013
Keloha Music & Arts Festival kicked off its second year July 5 – 7 bringing a quality lineup of indie rock to Kelowna, BC’s Waterfront Park. The festival’s two stages hosted an eclectic mix of talent ranging from Canadian darlings the Arkells, to indie demi-gods Matt & Kim. Wayfarer sunglasses and high waisted short-shorts covered the Island Stage natural amphitheater while local clothing and food vendors populated the waterfront boardwalk. Keloha’s focus on live bands offers an alternative to Kelowna’s popular electronic festival Center of Gravity.
Festival organizers beefed up the 2013 line-up, adding legitimate headliner status act MGMT as well as many budding British Columbia based bands like Current Swell and The Zolas. Vitamin D was plentiful as politely stoked attendees were genuinely into the music and drawn to various afternoon shows like Wake Owl.
Many of the bands played tight road polished sets, evidence of months on the festival circuit. But, naturally, days full of beer, music and sun lead directly to shenanigans. Here is a selection of noteworthy snap shots taken from Keloha.
Snapshots
The “holy shit” moment
This goes to the utter chaos that ensued when Matt & Kim dropped their rendition of ‘Nigga’s In Paris’
“Like, nobody knows what it means, but its provocative! It gets the people going!”
Meme-worthy moment
This also belongs to Matt & Kim’s Saturday night set, during which Matt, the keyboardist, fell into the open-water moat separating the Island stage from the crowd. Completely submerging himself in the Okanagan Lake.
Best impersonation
Paul Meany of Mutemath grabs this one — firstly, for being Marcus Mumford’s doppelgänger and secondly, for taking a page from Steve Aoki’s party-starting handbook and whipping out an inflatable raft for an impromptu crowd surfing session.
Hottest moment
This is awarded to Kelowna’s scorching mid day sun that fried the poor guy DJ’ing Shad’s set. A technical difficulty of that magnitude can easily ruin a show, but instead led to the hottest jam session of the weekend when the Arkells Max Kerman borrowed a guitar to join Shad onstage in a duet of Outkast’s “Ms. Jackson.”
Most awkward moment
This tag could be placed on MGMT’s entire set, but the climax of weirdness had to be the dead silence that occurred when front man Andrew VanWyngarden literally struggled for minutes putting on his windbreaker. Leaving the entire crowd to look around and mutter, “daaa fak?”
General consensus is Keloha 2013 entered the league of legitimate festivals in British Columbia. Organizers provided two unique stages, perfect for the festival size and ample after-hour shows to ensure everyone had a chance to wake up in a new Bugatti. Aside from the surprisingly lacklustre performance from MGMT, headliners and co-headliners brought great energy whipping the crowd into dancing frenzies and often drawing encore chants. One can bet the majority of attendees will return next year, likely recruiting friends hoping to experience the blossoming indie gem that is Keloha.
Words and photos by Dylan McCullough
