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Post by weenie on Jan 31, 2017 10:08:36 GMT -8
I would love to hear any and all tips that you have about the festival, but after a few days of research the most pressing question that I have is: is the Francesinha really that good/essential? Because it looks like a disgusting sandwich-elada. I don't think any of us actually ever finished one, though our incredible hulk-like friend sure tried (a couple of times). There was plenty other amazing food there. This was one of the vendors at the festival!
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Post by banana on Jan 31, 2017 10:21:50 GMT -8
I would love to hear any and all tips that you have about the festival, but after a few days of research the most pressing question that I have is: is the Francesinha really that good/essential? Because it looks like a disgusting sandwich-elada. I don't think any of us actually ever finished one, though our incredible hulk-like friend sure tried (a couple of times). There was plenty other amazing food there. This was one of the vendors at the festival! Oh man that looks amazing! Thanks for the picture. Definitely one-to-ten steps up from sad Sasquatch chicken fingers and yakisoba.
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Post by weenie on Jan 31, 2017 10:29:08 GMT -8
Oh yeah, and if anybody goes to regular Primavera GET THE NOODLES!!! They were the best fucking things ever.
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Post by davers on Jan 31, 2017 10:29:26 GMT -8
It's fucking awesome. Remind me after the weekend to dig up my info from when I went. The place I stayed slept 6 and was super city center and the bus to the festival literally outside the door. It was something like 100 euro a night. Everything there was cheap as balls. The only kind of expensive thing was the flights. I've been researching everything over the past 3 days and I'm certain that this will be the best time ever. Our hotel is right next to the Bolhao station, so we can take the bus or train to the fest, and the late night 1M bus will take us home. Also everything I've read about Porto makes it seem like paradise on Earth. I would love to hear any and all tips that you have about the festival, but after a few days of research the most pressing question that I have is: is the Francesinha really that good/essential? Because it looks like a disgusting sandwich-elada. Sorry I meant to do this yesterday but the internet at my hotel was not working. I think I only had a bite of one that we all shared. It was alright but it probably isn't going to change your life. It was more for the novelty than anything else. The best places to eat generally seem to be off the main streets. Do a little googling and find some of the places in the back roads. It's hard to tell from looking at a map but Porto is all hills so wandering around aimlessly isn't great if you are hungry or on a deadline. The best place we ate was Portugues de Gema (I'm 95% sure that's what it was), sit on the patio if you can. Awesome lunch for 10 of us and 2 pitchers of sangria came to less than 100 Euro and we basically had to fight the lady to leave a 10% tip (people don't really tip there, but I still did if I thought things were awesome). Places down by the river will have a nice view but will be touristy as hell, mediocre food and more expensive, though still pretty reasonable. People I was with also went to Katsu Sushibar and loved it, so that's probably a good place for sushi if you're into that. We stayed near Sao Bento Station and the bus left right from there to the festival. Don't worry about missing night busses home, as long as the festival is still going and there are still people there then they will keep running buses. Protip when you land at the airport you can take the train into town and not bother with a taxi. When you do this buy a multi use pass that has stored trips on it. The cards have little RFID things in them so you can skip the sometimes somewhat large line of people waiting for buses on the way back that need to pay with cash. There was a guy with a little reader scanning passes to make things go faster. Also the buses are still city buses and even though they may run more they do still fill up and you might miss one as it will be full. Plan for a little extra time if there's an act you really need to see in case a bus is full. The line to get into the festival was pretty minimal when we went. Go a little early on the first day to get your wristband and explore the grounds a little. It's a pretty good size and easy to get from stage to stage. Check out the places to hang out and maybe make a meeting place for if you get separated. The bar between the main stages always seems to have the biggest line, you do much better on either side or the ones up the hill. Sometimes the people will seem like they are in no hurry to serve you. That's because they aren't. Waving money or other typical North American things will make them ignore you more, just try to make eye contact. Again, they don't really take tips but feel free to leave a Euro if they were cool. They also seem to have different things so look around. I was thrilled they had dark beer because all the Barcelona one had was Heineken and man I got sick of it. There's also some merch they give away randomly. Everyone had these drawstring backpacks that folded out into picnic blankets and it turns out they were free. We found a guy handing them out, and as soon as we were about to get one a cop came up and took the whole stack. Then the guy said 'follow me!" and lead us a little away and pulled out another stack from some bushes and continued handing them out. I was so confused, but it was hilarious. That's pretty much all I have for festival tips. Must do things in Porto: Visit a few port caves. Just stroll across the bridge (Pointe Luis) and pick some. According to our hotel host skip Calem, but the rest are good. Some have guided tours that you pay for and get samples, others are free self guided tours and then you just go get some samples. A glass of port that is older than you will cost like 8 Euro and taste amazing. I recommend bringing a couple nice bottles home. I bought them at a little shop in town rather than the actual port caves. (side note they aren't actual caves, that's just what they call them). Do a walking tour and/or pub crawl. These guys are good. www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g189180-d4022488-r200513026-Porto_Walkers-Porto_Porto_District_Northern_Portugal.html Best way to see a city in my mind. Earlier rather than later as they always have tips on things to do. Go to Livraria Lello which is a super cool bookstore. Check out some random shops with art or second hand stores. That's all I got right now, maybe I'll think of more later...
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Post by weenie on Jan 31, 2017 10:31:08 GMT -8
Now that I'm in my trip pics, here's a view from walking across the bridge in Porto: And here's the staircase at the Livraria Lello, one of the world's coolest bookstores. Definitely worth a visit!
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Post by banana on Jan 31, 2017 10:38:18 GMT -8
That's all I got right now, maybe I'll think of more later... This is awesome, thanks so much for taking the time to write it all out. We will for sure take you up on those tips. Were you able to communicate with people fairly easily? I don't want to be the asshole American who assumes everyone speaks English, but my Spanish is pretty muddled and my Portuguese does not exist (although I'm already working on learning some).
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Post by banana on Jan 31, 2017 10:40:44 GMT -8
Now that I'm in my trip pics, here's a view from walking across the bridge in Porto: And here's the staircase at the Livraria Lello, one of the world's coolest bookstores. dolphinately worth a visit! Ok, after seeing these pictures and hearing both of your tips, there have to be some other boarders at least thinking about making the trip. Everything has made it look and sound so great!
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Post by davers on Jan 31, 2017 11:02:22 GMT -8
That's all I got right now, maybe I'll think of more later... This is awesome, thanks so much for taking the time to write it all out. We will for sure take you up on those tips. Were you able to communicate with people fairly easily? I don't want to be the asshole American who assumes everyone speaks English, but my Spanish is pretty muddled and my Portuguese does not exist (although I'm already working on learning some). Honestly I figured out maybe 5 words of Portuguese. It's pretty similar to Spanish but all the conjugations are weird and everything is gendered in a weird way. It's like someone on acid trying to speak Spanish. I don't think anyone expects you to speak Portuguese and anyone around the tourist area will speak enough English for you to get by. Especially with the festival in town there's a lot of English speakers about. Just speak slowly in English and if all else fails point and use hand gestures. Learning please and thanks is always good though.
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Post by totinoboy on Feb 21, 2017 13:03:16 GMT -8
So, it's confirmed. I'm going to Portugal. Hype hype hype. banana SEE YOU THERE
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Post by banana on Feb 21, 2017 13:54:16 GMT -8
So, it's confirmed. I'm going to Portugal. Hype hype hype. banana SEE YOU THERE
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Post by rimjobflashmob on Feb 21, 2017 14:45:45 GMT -8
So, it's confirmed. I'm going to Portugal. Hype hype hype. banana SEE YOU THERE
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Post by davers on Mar 10, 2017 15:03:33 GMT -8
2016
Song and Surf #3
Song and Surf is a tiny festival in a tiny town on Vancouver Island put on by the same people that do Tall Tree. I believe about 500 tickets are sold. It’s in February, so most people rent a cabin in town since it’s low season and there’s a pretty good amount available in the little fishing village. It’s pretty fantastic. There’s 2 stages during the day. One is in a building beside the beach. They dig a huge hole, line it with tarps, fill it with water and cycle the water through a bonfire and it becomes a big hot tub. The night stage is just a community centre where they set up a stage. It is also small but fun. Beers are pretty cheap, people are great, and it’s in a lovely setting. It’s a great way to get a festival in early in the year and a great way to get over the winter blues. Sasquatch #4
Returning to Sasquatch was pretty fantastic this year. I know 4/6 isn’t very high on the list but the top 3 were pretty amazing. The low attendance coupled with a great lineup was just up my alley. It still has the same issues it always has like minimal showers, an annoying walk to the venue, minimal things to do once inside the venue… but it’s still a great time. Given the giant group of people I know that go I always have a great time. It’s close enough for me to drive to in a day, a pretty relaxed time for a festival of its size and the weather is usually pretty solid. The cost has ballooned over the years to the point that it isn’t worth the money any more but I got cheaper secondary market tickets so it wasn’t too bad. The failing Canadian dollar certainly hasn’t helped though.
Highlights: M83, The Cure, Sufjan Stevens, Florence, Wolf Alice, Grimes
Tall Tree #2
Another great year at Tall Tree. A few of us got the early entry this year to get a prime spot and set up everyone’s tents. The awesome people are really what make this festival. Everyone is generally really respectful to the bands they are seeing even if there’s only 60 people at the show. There’s friendly people abound willing to share everything. For two years in a row there has been a big camp that makes free bacon for everyone in the festival for an hour every morning. They won best theme camp last year and all won free tickets for this year.
With camp integrated into the stage areas you can wake up to the Valley Stage playing chill music at 11am and bounce around to different camps and stages, the last of which being the Spirit Tent playing dance music until about 5am.
It's small enough that you can see a lot of the bands just walking around enjoying the festival and I even got to sit and watch the headliner of the whole festival play a few requests during sound check to 20 people while eating my breakfast.
Except for the aforementioned clusterfuck of getting up the hill (which didn’t apply to us early campers this year!) it’s pretty much perfect. Awesome people, awesome music, beautiful scenery and a great way to switch off from the world for a weekend.
Highlights: Odell Fox, Shad, Bear Mountain, JackLDN, Hollerado, Mother Mother
Shambhala #5
I wanted to love Shambhala, I really did. And I did love the festival aspect of it, just not the music aspect. I knew going in what to expect and bought my ticket pre-lineup as it was almost sold out before the lineup and I had pretty much decided I wanted to go. I have always had non festival people ask me if I really go to these things for the music or if it’s just an excuse to party for an extended weekend. I had to admit that while I do love concerts and attend lots outside of festivals, I couldn’t say for sure if the festival aspect was a major factor.
Almost everything about Shambhala is pretty well done. The stages are amazing. The way the festival integrates into the forest is so cool. The people are generally fantastic and free spirited. They do a ridiculously good job making sure everyone is safe. There is tons to do other than see music. There’s a river to float on, lots of little art installations everywhere, many hidden little gems and tons of generally excellent people watching. The only real complaint I have about the organization was getting in. We paid an extra $40 each person to get in a day early, and the campground was basically full. We arrived around 11am, which involved spending the night somewhat close by, and then waited in line in the heat for probably 5 hours to get searched and go in. This wasn’t absurdly long to wait, but when we finally did get searched no one seemed to be in any sort of hurry and they had an embarrassingly small amount of searchers given how many people were waiting to get in. When we did get through we ended up setting up in what was supposed to be the parking lot, not the campground, and were about as far from the festival as we could be. I have no idea at all where the thousands of people behind us in line ended up, but they mentioned an overflow lot that wasn’t quite opened when we got in. It was a clusterfuck and they should really have that figured out after 19 festivals. Other than that, everything was great.
Once you are in though, you’re in. There’s no search between camping and the festival, just walk in with whatever. This is technically an alcohol free event so hide that stuff going in. Once you have it in there though just put it in a cup and you are free to wander anywhere with it. No one checks bags, so save for a security guard seeing you with an open beer you can go wherever you please.
The problem I had was finding anything to hold my attention for more than 20 minutes. Electronic music just doesn’t do it for me. I like the odd electronic set at festivals, but when it’s pretty much the only option I seem to get bored quick. I sought out any acts that played instruments or sang. I found some, and they were good, but overall I just didn’t get much out of the performances. It dolphinately reaffirmed my belief that I do in fact go to festivals for the music and not just the party. If you like electronic music and want something very safe and organized with responsible attendees, this is your festival. Tickets are already long sold out but keep an eye out and maybe you’ll get lucky. And if you are willing to take 2 straight weeks off my favourite festival of the year is the following week and only a couple hours away…
Highlights: Dirtwire, AlunaGeorge, Chali 2na, Cut Chemist, Scratch Bastid, Val Kilmer and the New Coke
Ponderosa #1
I had a really tough time between this and Tall Tree for the #1 spot because I love them both so much. In the end this one was shinny and new while it was my third Tall Tree so this one seemed more special. This is a tiny little festival with less than 1000 people. It has 2 little stages that alternate and the camping is right next to it, and the whole festival is right next to a river. You don’t camp with your car but they let you in with your car to drop your stuff off and then you park a 3 minute walk away. Technically this place doesn’t have a liquor licence but you could drink in the campground. Thankfully they gave zero shits if you brought beer into the venue, maybe just don’t literally walk in holding an opened one.
There was a surprising amount to do for such a tiny festival. There was volley ball set up in the venue. There was yoga in the mornings. There was a little artist market. The food options were pretty great. The river was great to go cool off in, and as a huge super fun bonus there was a shuttle into town so you could bring your floaties and take an hour float back down the river to camp.
Everyone was super laid back. It was probably the biggest age range I’ve ever seen at a festival. Everyone from toddlers to seniors. That seems lame but it was kind of great. The parents totally understood where they were and took care of their kids and the old people were a fucking blast. Mostly it was still standard festival people still, but the range was kind of interesting.
It was not really a super party all night rager type festival, but shows ended around 1230 and you could go back to camp and hang out with beers until morning as long as you weren’t blasting music and being a dick. Overall this was exactly what I hoped it was, a chill camping weekend with some music. And because tickets were less than $150 including an upgrade to riverside camping it was a pretty cheap weekend. I've already got my passes for this year and early bird tickets are still $120...
Highlights: Moontricks, Black Mountain, the Pack AD, Harpoonist and the Axe Murder, Stickybuds
Rifflandia #6
I can hardly count Rifflandia as a festival. I go to Victoria enough that the city is no any sort of a vacation. It’s basically some shows in a park and then a few shows at a venue in town. Repeat for 3 days. It’s fairly cheap, and there’s some decent shows for sure, but nothing about it is special in the least. The lineup is slowly moving towards more bland pop acts to the point where it almost doesn’t seem like they’re trying. That being said it is probably pretty difficult to get acts to come over to Victoria so kudos to them for making it happen.
Highlights: Prozzac, Jurassic 5, Del the Funky Homosapien, Wolf Parade, Band of Skulls
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Post by davers on Mar 10, 2017 15:12:54 GMT -8
Fuck it, it's a really slow day at work, so here's the living list for 2017.
2017
Song and Surf
Man do I ever love this festival, and this year was better than last. Grabbed a few kegs, drove to our rented cabins in Port Renfrew and we were off. Despite being in super rainy Port Renfrew, we seemed to luck out with the weather again. Just a little bit of rain, and the snow had mostly melted by the time the festival rolled around. Our cabins were about a 20 minute walk from the festival area but they do a have a shuttle running to pick people up every so often or you can just hop in the back of a local’s pickup truck.
The Friday is just a few warm up shows at the main stage alternating band-DJ-band-DJ so the music doesn’t stop which is kind of cool. Saturday we managed to rally for an awesome little hike and stop in for a show on the beach stage on the way back. A little later I went for my first show in the church and just as I’d been told that place is pretty magical. It’s just an old church with some basic lights but something about it is awesome. The setting makes everyone super quiet but the bands can banter and the crowd quips in with some hilarious commentary. It may as well be the comedy stage.
We weren’t really feeling the later shows on the night stage so a stroll back to the beach revealed that there were still about 10 people by the fire and the beach hot tub was quite nice. Hanging out with great people on the ocean in a hot tub next to a fire? Yes please.
By Sunday it feels like you know ¼ of the people there, and you kind of do because there’s only 500 of them. Being able to see the artists drinking around the fire and saying how much you enjoyed their set is just great. Running into those people that put tiger balm on your nipples the night before? Also great.
The people who put on this festival (same people that do Tall Tree) really seem to care and want everyone to have a great time, and it really shows. 100% recommend this festival, even though it’s a bit of a pain to get to if you don’t live on Vancouver Island.
Highlights: Youngblood, Dirty Mountain, Buckman Coe, Wil, JPNSGRLS, Neon Steve, Caleb Heart, Wise Child, Astrocolor. (basically everything I saw)
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Post by totinoboy on Mar 14, 2017 19:55:09 GMT -8
Song and Surf sounds so awesome. Bonfire-fueled hot tubs on the beach on Vancouver Island? Hell yes.
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Post by davers on Mar 15, 2017 9:04:54 GMT -8
It is pretty great. Also all the locals bring their dogs and they just run around on the beach all afternoon. And it's freaking beautiful. Photo cred: Pea Photo cred: Pea Photo cred: Pea
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Post by Pea on Mar 15, 2017 12:13:35 GMT -8
Good write-ups, Dave! I thought a couple of those photos looked familiar
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Post by davers on Mar 15, 2017 13:40:06 GMT -8
Good write-ups, Dave! I thought a couple of those photos looked familiar Edited to reflect as such!
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Post by Pea on Mar 15, 2017 17:02:02 GMT -8
Haha no worries there! I don't need credit. Just happy to see some S&S photos on the board!
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Post by totinoboy on May 30, 2017 9:00:39 GMT -8
Oh my god the goddamn conflicts are going to give me whiplash
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Post by rimjobflashmob on May 30, 2017 9:05:26 GMT -8
lol at the Pitchfork stage going till 5 in the morning
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