PHILLIPS BACKYARD MUSIC FESTIVAL
Where: Phillips Brewing & Malting Co., 2010 Government St.
When: Aug. 9-11
Tickets: $105.83 daily ($271.21 for a three-day pass) from showpass.com
Info: phillipsbackyard.com
Organizers of a festival series that spans six days over a four-week period must have moments where it feels like the finish line is never in view, especially as it arrives during the height of busy summer season.
Phillips Backyard Music Festival co-producers Stephen Franke and Morgan Brooker managed to bypass some of that stress, thanks to one of the strongest line-ups on Vancouver Island this year. Among the 16 acts on tap this weekend at the three-day Reverb — the follow-up to Tilt!, which took place July 5-7 at Phillips Brewing — the festival boasts three top-tier standouts who have never performed in Victoria: Seven-time Grammy Award nominees Black Pumas, acclaimed rapper Earl Sweatshirt, and U.K. nu-disco favourites Jungle.
The trio of established acts (see sidebar below) has added some buzz to the city landscape, and made the marketing of Reverb to awaiting audiences something of a slam dunk. Franke expects the Friday festivities (headlined by Black Pumas) and Sunday showcase (led by Jungle) to both reach capacity, which is 5,000 people.
“We program the music we want to see,” said Franke, who produces the event with Brooker on behalf of the Government Street brewery. “But we also want to push the boundaries and bring new stuff to Victoria. We’re trying to raise the profile of a city that is a B market to an A market. We were extremely fortunate that we were able to thread the needle in this case and find some partners to help us pull it all together. We’re very proud of this line-up and thrilled to bring in such significant headliners.”
Additional acts scheduled to perform include Current Swell, The Bankes Brothers, Trophy Dad, and Surf Hat (on Friday), Cautious Clay, Astrocolor, Jungle Bobby, and TK the Artist (Saturday), and DRAMA, DJ Murge, Saundra Williams, Nicky MacKenzie, and Posh Coat (Sunday). Reverb will be “significantly busier” than Tilt!, Franke said, which required some operational forethought. The number of food trucks has been doubled, along with more shade tents, turf, and games. The festival has also added a splash zone with mist tent, to relieve temperature spikes, he added.
“We’re trying to improve the experience. With every event we do, we add to it. We want to put in the work, and give people the best experience we can.”
With bigger artistic offerings comes bigger expectations, however. The stage and technical requirements for Jungle, in particular, have Franke thinking the performance might set a regional record, where lighting and stagecraft is considered.
“We have a 38-foot video wall with the most amount of lights ever used for a show on Vancouver Island. There are three five-ton trucks bringing lights over from Vancouver for the show. We have a crane putting the stage together. This extra work that is going into this makes it a show that is not to be missed. This is going to be an absolute spectacle.”
BLACK PUMAS (Friday)
Who: Soul-inflected rock band featuring singer-songwriter Eric Burton and guitarist-producer Adrian Quesada
Where: Austin, Texas
Singles: Colors, More Than a Love Song, Ice Cream (Pay Phone)
Spotify Listeners: 4 million (monthly)
Accolade: Seven career Grammy Award nominations, including record of the year and album of the year in 2021
EARL SWEATSHIRT (Saturday)
Who: Former member of hip-hop collective Odd Future and nephew of South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela
Where: Los Angeles, California
Singles: Chum, Hive, Whoa
Spotify Listeners: 2.7 million (monthly)
Accolade: 2018’s Some Rap Songs landed at No. 80 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time
JUNGLE (Sunday)
Who: Funky electronic act led by co-founders Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland and multi-instrumentalist Lydia Kitto
Where: London, England
Singles: Back on 74, Busy Earnin’, Casio
Spotify Listeners: 13 million (monthly)
Accolade: Won best group at the 2024 Brit Awards
