Arboretum Festival 2014 Review: Pony Girl, Weaves, Lowell, Chad VanGaalen & Constantines

After six spectacular days of music, art and everything else the Arboretum Arts + Music Festival had to offer, the 2014 festival came to a close with a huge final day at Arts Court in Ottawa.

It was an especially memorable day, with 11 acts, live art and plenty of great music throughout the venue. Looking back, it was also a special opportunity to experience Arts Court as a festival space and capture a moment in Ottawa’s independent music scene.

The day started with Ottawa’s Pony Girl, who delivered an excellent art-pop and rock set.
I noticed that the band had added a new member, and they sounded fantastic.

Next up was Weaves.
The person introducing them described the Toronto band as “a musician’s wet dream,” and I could definitely understand why.
I loved their music and energy. My only disappointment was that they didn’t play “Buttercup.”

And, of course, I had to get a photo of that awesome monkey bag!

Toronto artist Lowell was the third act of the day, and this was my first time seeing her perform live.
I was absolutely blown away.
Her music blended pop, dream pop, electronic dance music and alternative sounds into something completely her own.
I kept thinking of artists such as Lykke Li, Björk and tUnE-yArDs, but Lowell brought her own Canadian energy and personality to the mix.
She also had a ton of stage presence.
At one point, she jumped off the stage and interacted with the audience, making the performance even more memorable.

There was also a secret show happening near the hammock area.
The first performer was Sarah Bradley of Fevers, who played a lovely solo set of her own music on keyboards.
It was a quieter moment in the middle of such a busy festival day, but a really nice one.

Then Steve Adamyk Band turned things up a notch with their garage power-pop and rock.
They were a great way to inject some energy into the crowd halfway through the day.

The secret show continued with Andy Swan, accompanied by Emily Jeffers and Kristy Niche.
Their set was quite short, but it was another interesting surprise tucked away in the festival grounds.

After that came Giant Hand, the Ottawa expat now based in Toronto.
It had been a while since I had seen him perform, and he previewed a lot of new material.
It was a really nice surprise.

Then things got really exciting with Chad VanGaalen.

He was finally back in Ottawa to promote his latest album, Shrink Dust, and I was very excited to see him perform. He put on an amazing set and it was one of my highlights of the entire festival.

I especially loved hearing “Where Are You.”

Julie Fader also joined Chad onstage for two songs.
One of them was “Willow Tree,” which is one of my all-time favourite Chad VanGaalen songs.

I also caught most of Fiftymen, another Ottawa act that helped keep the momentum going as the festival moved toward its finale.

Then came the big finale: the reunited Constantines.
The band delivered a solid, loud and rocking performance that was the perfect way to close out the festival.
After six days of music and art, it was hard to imagine a better way to end Arboretum Festival 2014.

Overall, this was one of the best days of the festival. From Pony Girl and Weaves to Lowell, Steve Adamyk Band, Chad VanGaalen and the Constantines, there was an incredible mix of Ottawa talent, Canadian artists and reunited favourites.
Arboretum Festival 2014 was a fantastic celebration of independent music, art and community in Ottawa.
I’m glad I was there to experience it and photograph it.
Check out the full photo gallery below.
And stay tuned for my next post covering the Arboretum Festival 2014 after-party at Gabba Hey!