Get ready to dance

2011 Summer Music Festivals

 

By Allie Davison

lowly but surely the snow, or slush,

in Vancouver, is melting. And as

the ground gradually defrosts,
stages are being set up and tents are being
pitched. Music is coming to towns across
North America. Starting this April, and
continuing all summer, music festivals
will be-taking place all over the world,
and we are lucky enough to be within a
few hours drive of four of the major long-
running music fests. ;
Coachella — Indio, California — April
15~17 SOLD OUT

The Coachella Music and Arts
Festival has been going strong for 12
years, and has gained a reputation of
being one of the best music festivals in
North America. This year a crowd of
25,000 will gather in the Empire Polo
Field to hear bands and artists such as
Arcade Fire, Cage the Elephant, The
Strokes, The Black Keys and Cee Lo
Green. With over 150 bands participating
in the festival, it promises to be one hell
of a party, provided that you can get
tickets. This year, tickets sold out in a
record breaking five days. Although the
tickets originally sold for $269 (for a
three day pass) prices on Craigslist have
inflated, adding hundreds of dollars to the
initial price. Good luck.
Sasquatch — George, Washington —
May 27 -30 SOLD OUT
Celebrating its tenth year of music,

the Sasquatch! Music Festival is another
example of hundreds of great bands
gathering in one place. Hosted at the
Gorge Amphitheatre the four stages
of Sasquatch will hold bands such
as the Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse,
Bassnector, Sam Roberts Band, and
K-OS. Featured in the festivals comedy
tent will be The Trailer Park Boys,
among others. Sasquatch offered both
single tickets (approximately $80) and a
four-day pass ($285), unfortunately both
of these have been sold out and would-
be festival goers are doomed to browse
the internet in hopes of finding an extra
ticket.
Merritt Mountain Music Fest —

Merritt, BC — July 7 — 10

Canada’s biggest country music
festival will be going into its 18" year,
making it one of the oldest music
festivals in BC. Although the full artist
list has not yet been posted, the few
country music sensations that have been
named are Vince Gill; Joe Nichols, Ray
Prince and Crystal Gayle. Differing
from the previous two festivals, Merritt
Mountain will also offer a breakfast
buffet, helicopter sight-seeing tours
and music boot camp. And if that’s not
enough, as the festival takes place right
on the Coldwater River, swimming (or
just hanging out down there) is always
an option too. Tickets for this festival
are going for the low price of $165, for
the four day pass, or $80, for a day pass.
You-can still purchase them at www.
mountainfest.com, but hurry! They won’t
stick around forever.
Shambala — Salmo, BC — Aug. 5 - 8

Shambala is one of the more unique
festivals around: it is sponsor free
(funding comes from ticket sales alone),
family run, and hosts up & coming
electric music talent. The Shambala
website describes the festival as aiming
to be a “celebration of music, art, life...
most importantly it’s about the people
on the dance floor.” Shambala is hosted
on a family farm in Salmo and started
as an intimate gathering of only 150
people. Now organizers have capped
the ticket sales at 10,000 in hopes of
keeping the festivals personal feeling.
The list of artists is yet to be announced
but already about 50% of the tickets are
sold. You can get tickets to the three day
event for $260 on their website www.
shambhalamusicfestival.com.

Music festival enthusiast, and
Douglas College student, Ryan Going
says “these music festivals are places of
magic. Where ordinary, everyday, people
get to connect on a spiritual level through
the rituals of music and dance, laughter
and love.”

Be sure not to miss out on any
festival experiences this summer, because
you'll surely regret it for years to come.

 

College and cabaret

 

collide

Brecht’s Kabaret opens this Friday

Brecht’s Kabaret

A political entertainment from Bertolt Brecht -
ereator of Epic Theatre and a vehement anti-Nazi.

Directed & Compiled by Allan Lysell

Set Design by Ross Nichol

Lighting Design by Shannon Montgomery
Costume Design by Danica West

WARNING: puppet violence, coarse language &
suggestive scenes p

By Cody Klyne, Arts Editor

very now and then, to no one’s
B= but my own, I’m reminded

of how isolated and shallow my
understanding of the world around me
truly is. As a 20-something student, it’s
easier than ever to refrain from developing
and exploring outside of the safety of
my bubble; I’ve got enough on my plate
without taking on the problems of the
world, right?

Thankfully, for as much as it
continues to devastate my productivity on
a daily basis, the internet, and in particular
social media, represents a stringy,
intangible tether that connects me directly
into the nervous system of the politically
driven world outside of Me Land
(population of one). From revolutions
in Egypt to the more local discourse
surrounding provincial leadership and
government funding, there’s a surplus
of information at our disposal in an age
of unmatched social exchange. Which
raises this question: does having access
to information equate to us being more
critically, socially aware?

If you were to ask Bertolt Brecht—
deceased influential German playwright,
theatre director, and poet—I think he’d
say we’re missing the point. As the
creator of “epic theatre” Brecht was of the
mindset that an emphasis on emotional
identification, between the audience
and the characters on stage, made for an
ineffectual result and left theatre goers
complacent to the larger issues being
communicated. To Brecht, enforcing
the idea that theatre was a constructed
representation of the world, and not
a reality in its own right, was the key
to encouraging reflection and change.

 
   

Much like how many of us passively
consume online; relating, sympathizing,
or expressing grief and hostility but
refraining from exploring the issue further
than leaving a comment at the bottom

of a blog post: it doesn’t seem real. Its
consumption and digestion followed by
action. That said, I can’t think of a better
way to begin to understand Brecht’s
ideology than to see it come to life on
stage. By now, you may have seen the
posters tacked up around campus (I know
my eyes couldn’t resist being drawn to
them) now make preparations to go and
see the show for yourself. It’s Brecht's
Kabaret.

Presented by director (and department
coordinator) Allan Lysell and Douglas
College’s departments of Theatre &
Stagecraft and Event Technology, Brecht’s
Kabaret will explore the breadth of the
German playwright’s work through a
combined presentation of poetry, song,
and excerpts from larger works. Running

from March 4-12, Brecht’s Kabaret

promises to be a highly entertaining.
production that looks to explore ideas
the likes of power in government,
subjugation, truth, and the class struggle.
Set in a rundown cabaret, with a cast

of second-year theatre students poised

to make an impression, expect the

unexpected but expect to be entertained at
this, the semester’s first of two, scheduled
theatre productions.

What you need to know:

Who — Departments of Theatre &
Stagecraft and Event Technology

What — Brecht’s Kabaret

Where — Douglas College Studio Theatre
(NW Campus)

When — March 4-12

Bid