A School's Out Party To Be Remembered
Good times for good causes.
UBC’s 14th annual Arts County Fair, a celebration of the end of classes, was a great success. Big-name acts and local favourites combined to create a memorable daylong concert and party.
Edmonton rockers Tupelo Honey opened the day with a high-octane set comprised of tracks from their Tupelo Honey EP, and also played a flawless cover of Audioslave’s “Show Me How to Live.”
The concert continued with a set by Stabilo, who captivated a growing crowd with their much-lauded single “Everybody” and other songs off of “Cupid?.” They also tried out several new songs, and finished with a cover medley that included “Let It Be” and “No Woman No Cry.”
Late in the afternoon Metric took the stage. These artsy indie rockers boast talented female vocalist Emily Haines, and an electric keyboard straight out of a Flock of Seagulls video. Their musical style was bizarre and nebulous, but they rocked hard enough that their complexities didn’t alienate the crowd.
K-OS was the showstopper. Having cleaned up at the Junos, he and his talented band delivered an unbelievable performance which even had security guards bobbing their heads. K-OS’ unique brand of hip hop is the kind of diverse, well-crafted urban music that any hip-hop artist wishes they could create. Indeed, his intelligent and energetic rhymes stole the show from headliner Matthew Good.
Good was in fine form, executing his guitar-driven socio-critical rock with a veteran’s deftness. His excellent songs have a rare depth and edge to them. Unfortunately, his intellectual lyrics carry with them a certain pretentiousness which is magnified on stage. Good spent most of his set exploring the complexities of what is wrong with North America; K-OS simply raised a middle finger to George W. Bush. K-OS was certainly the more effective showman, though Matthew Good still turned in a solid effort.
With a concert like this every April, UBC students should look forward to spring not for the freedom from schoolwork, but for the prospect of seeing such a good show. And it’s not all just for fun. Arts County Fair has always been a charity event. In fact, all proceeds from Arts County Fair 14 were donated to the Canadian Liver Foundation and the Autism Society of British Columbia. Fun for a good cause? It doesn’t get much better than that in the spring sun.