Tony Lepage

I acquired the Arcade Fire CD about a month ago and I gave it a couple spins. It soon landed on my backburner because it didn’t move me the way some music does. About a week ago, I randomly got to borrow a ticket for the Hillside Festival in Guelph and spent an evening at the event.

Yes, that is a fiddle and an accordion [large]

(I completely forgot the word accordion until Ryan helped me out, Thanks!)

I must tell you how amazing the festival is; I have never before been to the Hillside Festival and felt it is a must if you live in Guelph for any amount of time. There is a large emphasis on social responsibility and movements like sustainable development as well as Anti-Walmart campaigns are given a platform to explain themselves.

There are 3 stages with live music throughout the day. There are workshops on building guitars, learning shiatsu, printmaking, self-hypnosis and tons more. Did I mention that the event takes place on an island?

The lineup is full of the best Canadian Talent. Some of the bands playing this year were Stars, Broken Social Scene and the aforementioned Arcade Fire. You can get more info at the official Hillside website.

On to the topic of this post

“The Arcade Fire” are excellent performers and their stage presence is truly motivational. I was especially diggin’ the violinist. She was so into her music that her face was completely void of emotion. I am sure the only thing on her mind was being one with the violin. My buddy brendan wrote about this as “flow control”.

I’ll be working that new motivation into a painting depicting my memories of the event. Watch for some progress sketches here.