I went to the Hillside Festival in Guelph with my mom, sister, and grandmother on July 24th and all I can say is that it was fantastic!! My sister and I are both avid fans of Loreena Mckennitt and were extremely interested in seeing her perform, but we saw a few others as well.
Xavier Rudd is an Australian born multi-instrumentalist who is described in the Hillside info-book as showcasing the "mysticism of the didgeridoo", an Aboriginal intrument of Australia. I feel incredibly privileged to have seen such an accomplished instrumentalist as himself perform. When he played, people were dancing up by the stage and were especially excited when Xavier Rudd's bassist went into a bass solo.
We also watched Kae Sun, a musician who can be described a blend of hip-hop, folk, and reggae. Being of Ghanaian descent this should not come as a surprise. His music was rhythmically complex, soulful, and slightly reminiscent of Bob Marley.
Loreena Mckennitt to my understanding was the only musician at Hillside offered a full-set of approximately 90 minutes. She didn't play until 9:30 pm so sitting out in the night made her performance even more magical. She opened with her song "the Stolen Child" which was fitting because Loreena looked like a fairy herself sitting at her harp, strawberry blonde hair around her. I was extremely happy when she played "Marco Polo", because she had neglected to play it when I had previously seen her at Massey Hall in Toronto.
Here is a video of Xavier Rudd to finish this post off!!
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