The 10th anniversary of Garden City Grooves—which took place from Thursday, February 15 to Saturday, February 17—featured a tribute to Amy Winehouse, a celebration of Black History Month, and a night of British Columbian hip hop. Once again, the Victoria Ska and Reggae Society put together a stellar music festival.
A last-minute change to the lineup on the opening night brought Ranger to the stage. Ranger has a smooth, mellow jazz sound that provided a melodic start to the fest.
The Capital Collective brought the Amy Winehouse tribute. A 14-piece band from Western Canada made up of musicians from Lovecoast, Jon & Roy, Current Swell, Dope Soda, and Miguelito Valdes, they had three amazing vocalists—one of whom had the same power behind her voice that Winehouse had—sharing the stage. It was like Winehouse herself was there.
One of my favourite aspects of ska is a good brass section. The Capital Collective trombonist Dave St. Jean gave an amazing solo full of quick, punctuated notes unlike anything I’ve ever heard before.
In celebration of Black History Month, the second night of Garden City Grooves, which I was unable to attend, had performances from Toronto’s Tanika Charles, Vancouver-based Missy D, and Zimbabwe-born, Nanaimo-based Alpha Centauri.
The final night was mostly British Columbian hip hop with XL the Band (featuring Prevail and Rob the Viking from Swollen Members), Mo Moshiri, and Sirreal with Blue Satellite.
The only two to take the stage not from BC were Seattle’s Khingz and Prometheus Brown, who’s returning from rapping after a 10-year hiatus.
Sweatshop Union founder Moshiri, from Victoria, gave a solo performance. He has a slower hip hop/rap style with an R&B flair and powerful and inspiring lyrics.
Mixing jazz and hip hop, XL the Band utilizes sound in various ways to create unique, fun, and, at times, transcendent music. Liesa Norman kills it on vocals, keyboard, and flute. Her sweet, angelic voice mixes well with Prevail’s easygoing rap style.
Norman and Prevail create live tracks by Norman playing notes on the flute and drumming on Prevail’s chest, as well as clapping and snapping fingers with Prevail. Rob the Viking then expertly mixes the sounds with the rest of the song, adding a deeper layer of sound as well as an element of fun to their stage presence.
Nick La Rivière manipulated the sound of his trombone with wah pedals, something I didn’t know was possible. How the sound was captured for the wah pedal to bend the notes is a mystery to me.
XL the Band, Mo Moshiri, and Sirreal performed their single “Automatic,” a high-energy song with a message that things work out when you work hard.
Sirreal and Blue Satellite slid into the headlining spot by Sirreal winning a thumb war with Prevail, closing out the 10th anniversary of Garden City Grooves. While bringing his high-energy and positive message, Sirreal made one kid’s night by giving him a fist bump during a song. Seeing the joy and happiness on the kid’s face was almost better than seeing Sirreal perform.