The first annual Pemberton Festival, in the city of the same name in British Columbia, Canada, definitely did its work attracting the right names to attract the right attention — Tom Petty, Nine Inch Nails, Jay-Z, Coldplay, the Flaming Lips, My Morning Jacket, Death Cab, etc. Unfortunately it seems it didn’t quite do its work on the organizational front; while Live Nation’s trumpeting a “triumphant success,” headline writers in Canada are going more with “Confusion, Dust Mar Pemberton Festival.” Apparently things felt slightly out of control at times, from issues at the gates, within the gates, and with traffic on the way in. Those traffic jams affected artists, too (which messed with the schedule), unless the artist’s name was Jay-Z, in which case you helicoptered in (personal air vehicles are great for punctuality).
We sent photographer Jenn Perutka to brave the dust and lineups. Despite the weekend’s rough spots, her photo set makes it look like quite a time. Also there’s a set of crowd shots in there that help illustrate how the audience passed the time “in creative ways” while waiting for N.E.R.D., including tossing crowdurfers in the air, cross-crowd competing strip teases, and good ol’ fashioned long faces. Enjoy the scroll.
CHROMEO
GRAND OLE PARTY
METRIC
SERJ TANKIAN
WOLFMOTHER
NINE INCH NAILS
DAY TWO
MSTRKRFT
MY MORNING JACKET
SAM ROBERTS BAND
TRAGICALLY HIP
THE FLAMING LIPS
TOM PETTY
DAY THREE
DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE
MATISYAHU
VAMPIRE WEEKEND
N.E.R.D.
WAITING FOR N.E.R.D.
JAY-Z
COLDPLAY
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haha, matisyahu
i seriously wish ezra koenig did not look so irresistibly cute in his jean jacket and green shades.
Best. Chris Martin Photo. Ever.
is it just me or is tom petty looking more and more like dan auerbach these days? or vice versa?
Does anyone care about Matisyahu? From the look of the lineup of this festival, him being including is a bit of an anomaly to me. I think we all can agree generic reggae/sublime is completely irrelevant now.
Matisyahu was THE BEST performer of the Festival. He had a huge crowd and one of the only performers who genuinely deserved and got a real encore. Death Cab were already playing and still Matisyahu held his audience. Totally unexpected.
at least that’s one man’s opinion.
Aside from Petty and Hova, this festival must have been extremely lame. So many bands that I could give two shits about in one place! Awesome. Lots O Crap.
“generic reggae/sublime”…?
Actually, Brian, we can’t all agree on that.
So I know it’s probably not cool to say this— but god, I love the Hip. One of the top five live frontmen in rock.
Thanks for including the pics, SG…
When did Serj Tankian become Perry Farrell? And when did Chris Martin turn into Johnny Rotten?
Johnny Rotten? I was thinking the young Bruce Springsteen.
since when has sublime been a musical genre?
This festival was a great, great time. I don’t understand all the negative press and people saying there were no “good” acts playing. Sure, some of the big name acts might not be everyones cup of tea and all but they are big name acts for a reason they know how to put on a good show and that’s why they have booze at these things. Give me enough drinks I will get down to Katy Perry, well maybe not but you get the idea? What’s there not to like about a three day party? As much as I don’t really care for Coldplay, they are still better than your friends band.
The diversity of acts was great, where else are you going to have MSTRKRFT playing alongside Tom Petty? Matisyahu was great, Metric was great, Interpol was great and Death Cab sounded great from my spot in the beer garden. Getting dirty with the lowest common denominator isn’t everyones idea of a great time but neither is chess.
My favorite act was Vampire Weekend, I LOVE VAMPIRE WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
speaking of which, another thing I don’t understand is the VW haters? Get off the internet already.
This should have been getting way more press from the blogs and in the US in general. Hands down the best festival line up all year. Maybe lacking on up and comers, but the headliners are mindblowing, and there were some unreal acts on the b stage.