This past weekend I went to my first music festival. The fine folk at ShazamFest invited us to participate in the 18th edition of their annual festival. We had 2 hours on the main stage Friday night. Our line up for the festival was
Will E. Skandalz
Smoking Ink
Shobiz514
Chris Chrome
Digital Fire
Natasha Marie
Obzidian
Holden Stephan Roy
I was also set to perform with the brass band Plomberie at 1:30 AM on Sunday morning. Chris and I rented a car for exactly 48 hours and at 3:00 PM EST on Friday we were ready to depart on our adventure. We were on contract as artists for the biggest show of my career.
I wanted to take some time to reflect on the weekend while it’s still fresh on the mind.
This felt like a WrestleMania moment
The KIL Team (Kickin’ It Live, like Will E’s Twitch show) organically came to be. Will E. Skandalz started inviting us out to shows in other cities. It became simpler to brand that many artists under a singular name to be booked as a package. Over the last year and a bit, we’ve performed at all sorts of locations across Quebec and Ontario.
The crowd sizes have varied, some road trips were longer than others, and it created a taste for touring. The experience of seeing my music connect with people outside the city is validating beyond anything I’ve ever felt.
The ShazamFest booking was different. This was the first music festival I’ve been booked at. A real deal, bring your tent and camp in the woods for several days, festival. The entertainment ranged from all genres of music to burlesque shows to watching a dude hammer a nail into his nose.
It was the largest crowd I’d ever performed to. The stage was a proper festival stage. It was also the first time I’d ever performed in front of children. When Natasha Marie got off stage, she was literally swarmed by a group of pre-teen girls. The love ShazamFest gave us was incredible.
For months it felt like the Road to WrestleMania. Very little in the last bit has touched my excitement for ShazamFest. I was ready weekend truly delivered. Performing was incredible and a lot of fun was had.
Arriving at ShazamFest
Unfortunately for Chris and I, the car pickup time was 3:00 PM. I got Chris, then picked up all my gear and we were on road proper by 3:30 PM. This meant that we were about to go sit in a whole bunch of traffic. It took a good hour to get out of the city, but we crossed the bridge, navigated through the south shore, and finally hit the open road.
We stopped to get gas and the Tim Hortons was closed. I needed coffee at that point, so I sucked it up and got bad gas station dep coffee. It wasn’t terrible but psychologically I believe it to be worse because of common social norms. The real frustration was the ATM was closed.
While it turned out there was an ATM at ShazamFest, we felt it was wise to have some cash when we arrived. So, we got on the highway, got off at the next exit and found an ATM. This added a solid 20 mins to our trip.
We arrived around 6:15 PM. Our set was scheduled at 8:00 PM. We parked and carried our stuff onto the campground. Will E. Skandalz and Digital Fire had already set up their tent. We set up our tent next to them. We parked ourselves near the entrance to the campground.
By 6:45 PM Chris and I had our tents up and we were able to chill out. Inevitably the Mr. Rozwel car arrives, and they set up their tents. Around 7:45 PM we take the solid 7-minute walk down to the stage area.
First impressions of ShazamFest
The tent area up top was populated. You could see a good couple of hundred tents spread out. This had us all encouraged because clearly, there were people here. Unlike a regular show, these people were staying here.
We walk down the hill and start seeing the different setups. The ShazamFest grounds have multiple wood structures built all over. Some are zones for chilling. There is a small 100-person stage for smaller performances. A spot with couches and a giant Skee-Ball thing. A pirate ship in the kids’ zone and a bunch of small merchant areas where people were selling items.
You walk down this curved path, and it opens into a giant field. There is a fire pit with flames going strong. You see the main stage and then past that there are some restaurants set up. You can easily fit 1000 people in that main area and still have tons of space left.
As we walk down, we see a woman, on a trapeze pole, with incredible upper body strength, getting naked doing a performance about muscles and learning to love the body you are in.
Yes, the first thing we encountered was a lady getting naked in an abstract art performance. We walk over to the stage area to wait to perform. Ahead of us was the very flexible man and 2 ladies who spilled beer everywhere as they performed an avant-garde dance.
ShazamFest is real hippy-like.
The KIL Team set was well received
After the fact I got a good bit of feedback on our set. All I heard was people liked us. Will E. Skandalz started us off introducing Obzidian, he played the host role introducing each act. Digital Fire held us down with the DJ work.
Obzidian ran her set and performed well. Her songs connect in a way where she shares her story. I followed her set and ran my songs. I didn’t eat enough and almost got sick on stage. Still people liked my performance and the crowd was unaware as I handled it well.
Chris Chrome followed me and did his thing. I hyped him up and we ran through his songs. After chugging water, I was revitalized by the time I had to perform my verse on When The Night Dies.
Shobiz514 followed Chris and brought a big presence and energy to the stage. People loved it. I spent his set getting delicious cheeseburgers from the restaurant so I can refuel. For real, make sure you eat before you perform in hot humid weather in a suit.
Natasha Marie crushed her set and had the entire crowd eating out her hand. It rained a bit during Obzidians set and it had stopped by Natasha’s. The crowd scattered for a bit and then returned in full force. The young ladies went HAM over Natasha’s music for real.
Smoking Ink came through and headlined our set properly. I know they went into the crowd and Mr. Rozwel got surrounded by kids moshing with him. The vibes were proper, and the music was well received.
It felt like we were superstars out there.
The torrential rains came down upon us
There was some food for us, so we stuck around by the stage. The following act was a freak show. I’ve seen this kind of thing on tv or the internet. Seeing it in real life was different. These folk know how to do some serious stuff. Like taking darts in the back or hammering nails into places. It was truly spectacular to witness, and not safe for work.
We wandered back to the tents and proceeded to figure out how we would spend our night. We all knew rain was coming and that the night was young. We were finished performing by 10:30 PM or so. I ended up with some fungal matter and proceeded to start the journey, small amounts over what turned into a good 14 hours straight.
As the trip began, so did the torrential rainstorm. It was a good 90 mins straight of serious downpour. We stuck around the tent area chilling. At one point I moved over to the neighbours’ tent and as I arrived round 3 of big rain kicked in. I got to hear about their past ShazamFest experiences and started learning about the culture of Shazam.
I move back to our main chilling tent and a short while later the rain starts to calm down. I think it’s around 1 in the morning at this point. The rain hadn’t stopped but it had calmed down enough I was willing to head out.
ShazamFest had become mud city quick.
The smaller EDM stage
From where we were, we could hear the pulse of dance music coming from the amphitheatre stage area. This is the smaller, second main stage area. It’s far enough away from the main stage that there is no clash of sound.
I wander my way over there and head towards the music. At this point I hadn’t ventured over to that stage. We’d set up, performed and got rained out of anything else. The aesthetics are cool, there are colourful banners all over and it has a spacey aged theme going on. There are rocks that surround the dancefloor area and provide sitting. You can pack a couple of hundred people into this part for some popping dance party action.
As I arrived, it looked like everything was ending. I find out that any future performances that night are over due to safety concerns. I think the combination of lightning storm and big mud lead to legitimate concern. Still, they ran music the whole rainstorm. I felt too old to be out there partying with that much rain. Soon after that the power gets cut to the whole campground.
I see the camp nurse lady and end up escorting her back across the campground. It’s muddy and slippery and it felt like the noble thing to do. I’m riding my wave and walking under her umbrella, and we take the long walk back to the main area. It was a nice mini adventure.
The late night after party begins
We sat by the fire for a bit once we arrived in the main party area and soon the power came back on. I got antsy and started wandering around. The next couple of hours was me talking to people who didn’t necessarily want to talk to me. I just talked and talked until they were like, uhhh I got to go.
I handed out my cards, socialized and watched the various activities taking place. There were naked people sliding around the mud. There were people twirling fire sticks. Music was being played off a laptop and people were dancing and vibing.
There were still a couple of hundred people out there. I’m pretty sure not many of them were sober.
I run into Chris, Shobiz, Obzidian & Mr. Rozwel. We roamed about Valhalla as it became dubbed and simply experience the festival. This was some middle of nowhere, Quebec hippy energy. These people were living their best lives with no regard.
Unexpectantly a Montreal band, The Sunset Drip, starts to perform and gives a full set. People were vibing and I was having a great time. There is nothing in the city you can go to that will give you the experience of something like ShazamFest.
The best part about the late night festivities is all the underage people have disappeared at this point. After hours ShazamFest is where you can really let your hair down.
No sleep gang for day 2
I end up in the community tent area for what I dubbed “Tent City”. These two ladies run a business where you pay them, and they set up a tent for you. They provide the air mattress/cot. They give you a general area with a gas stove and sink section. Finally, there is the community area, with cot couches and electricity and it was pretty cool.
I start talking to folk in there and then the next thing I know I’m on a coach talking until 6 in the morning. This guy was playing acoustic Quebec folk on his guitar. I believe the best way to describe that part of my experience was some real “Quebec ass shit”. It was really interesting, and I won’t forget the sounds and vibe.
At this point the sun is up and it’s starting to get hot. What I failed to plan for, was the sauna-like conditions in my little tent once the sun came up. Basically, with nowhere to sleep, I just kept going. I needed to eat so I end up wandering down to the main camp area again around 8 or 9 in the morning.
This whole day time part is a blur to me. I know I got the breakfast burrito that tasted very healthy, gave me essential nutrition. I wanted greasy ass unhealthy, but alas I ate my burrito. It was good, just healthy.
The rest of the team departs
There was a lot of wandering around. I tried and failed to hustle merch. I wandered from set to set. Location to location. Watching and experiencing ShazamFest. I was very tired and probably looked wrecked. I think I’m going to manage my sleep better next time I do a festival, sleep helps a man smile.
I found out later there was a special artist area in a more hidden VIP shady part. Not sure if that was a better vibe but our vibe was pretty awesome. I will probably do the shady option next time, should we be invited back. Had I slept from like 9 AM until like 3 PM that would have made the rest of day 2 a lot more productive.
Earlier on in the day Smoking Ink, Shobiz514 & Obzidian depart for Montreal. Digital Fire had a set from 4-6 PM at the amphitheatre stage. The music started up again for real around 1:00 PM, featuring Montreal’s own La Vie, who I had met at Blue Dog one time before.
I caught the end of Digital Fire’s set. Throughout the day the homie I’m dubbing Joe with the Hip Work had been chit chatting with me. We had met months earlier when I had gone to a mini Shazamfest party. After Digital Fire’s set I chopped it up with him. I hear some legendary stories of past ShazamFest experiences.
Joe with the Hip Work has the tips on how to survive ShazamFest.
The wait for the second performance
After Digital Fire’s set the rest of the team has left, our mini tent-city had turned into the CC & HoHo Canadian Tire tent twofer. I hit at a part of the day where I didn’t have a lot of energy. I sat for awhile and watched this Quebec sounding accordion band perform.
Somewhere around 9:00 PM I realized I can finally sleep a bit. The sun had left us, and the sauna effect was over. On my way to the tent, I run into this girl, she asked if I was down to walk to her car. I had nothing else to do, so instead of sleep I did that.
The whole weekend felt a lot like being a pinball bouncing around a theme park. I didn’t really know that many people outside of my team. I’m sure if I went back there’d be familiarity with a lot more people and it would be easier to socialize.
I do finally fall asleep for a couple of hours. However, it’s that sleep where you KNOW you must be up soon, so you don’t really fall asleep. You just doze off over and over again for a while. By 11:30 PM I was waiting around for the Plomberie set.
I couldn’t consume any more substances as I needed to be good to drive in the morning. I am sure I looked miserable, but I wasn’t. I was just exhausted. ShazamFest comes with culture shock.
ShazamFest is people living different
At ShazamFest people introduce themselves with the number of times they went to ShazamFest. A lot of us first timers would share this, “yo there are a LOT of naked people here” chats. It was non-sexualized nudity at its finest.
These are people who live different. They want the freedom to express themselves in a safe environment. This weekend is an escape from the normal boxes of life to have an unforgettable time. I’ve gotten to know Ziv and Elissabeth (organizers of ShazamFest) and they are cool people.
The ethos of ShazamFest is based on community living. It kind of reminds me of the mentality that goes into a kibbutz. Everyone participates to build as a community to create an atmosphere of acceptance. This culture is very different from city life. It feels like it’s also alternative to the average country experience.
It has a live off the land, create peace and harmony and be free energy. I can say it may not be everyone’s vibe, but the experience of ShazamFest goes beyond the music or the festival. Those things are variable. The core people who believe in ShazamFest are the backbone of what makes it great.
The shared mission is clear, and the truth is, I can’t really describe it beyond hippy-esque. I recommend trying out some festival like this in your life. It’s unforgettable.
Plomberie finally performs
This incredible Spanish speaking band performed before Plomberie on the main stage. They also played until 2:08 AM. I eagerly waited for their set to end and Plomberie’s set to start. I was performing deep into Plomberie’s set.
Plomberie is a brass band that dresses like plumbers (their name is a play on the French word for plumber). Their song titles tend to be plumber jokes. They are also truly talented.
I’ve heard their set multiple times as they’ve invited me to perform with them a few times. This was the first time it wasn’t a daytime gig in the middle of a park with “don’t swear” vibes everywhere. I did two songs with them, where I freestyled.
The first one I just rapped stream of consciousness about my experiences at ShazamFest. The second one I followed that up with something about living our dreams. There were several other guests on the Plomberie set and it was really fun. I think Plomberie is spectacular. People should bump them.
There was a good hundred people packed in front of the stage and many more scattered around, chilling. The cool part of this festival thing is the crowd is people within earshot. People all the way by the fire could hear us.
The second I was done, CC ran off to bed. I stuck around a bit more then watched the rest of the set. I finally hit the air mattress around 4:45 AM.
Rain rain wouldn’t go away, it came back another day
A couple of hours later, I heard the pitter patter of rain on my tent. I looked at the Weather Network and saw that within an hour it would be back to torrential downpour vibes. I did not want to take my tent apart in that.
I dealt with my air mattress from inside my tent. Packed up the rest of my stuff and then brought it all right to the car. I came back, took down my tent in the rain, didn’t even bother to fit it all in the tent bag and went right back to the car.
Chris also unpacked his tent and brought stuff to the car, but I am not sure the timeline.
It would have been nice to say bye to people. Get a coffee before the road, all that good stuff. Instead, we jumped right into the car, and I think we were on the road before 9 in the morning. We took the first exit with a McDonalds and drove right on through Magog. I discovered that there are now Chicken McMuffin’s where they use a chicken burger instead of an egg. It’s pretty good.
We then drive through so much rain, I was hydroplaning. Along the way the left signal stopped working. This 2012 Chevrolet Cruze was a gas guzzling heavy car. I can see why some people like the feel of this car, I did not. The car did its job.
The ShazamFest adventure came to its end
I finally got home. I was showered and clean. My toesies had fat blisters on them. I ended up taking 2 naps on Sunday. Still had a foggy brain and exhaustion.
I can tell you I feel more rested today. Still recovering this Tuesday for real. Sleepless partying at a festival has its tax on the human system. Still, the trip was a big success.
A lot of times in life we get excited for things only for reality to smack us in the face with disappointment. This weekend was the opposite of that. I got excited and left satisfied.
I learned a lot of things, like if you want to sell merch, you need something visual to make your life easier. Even a flag attached to my bag saying “merch on deck” would have helped. It was my first ever music festival and I didn’t even bring shorts. Given the heat on Saturday, big mistake.
I am so glad I got to participate in this as an artist, performing twice. I won’t forget this weekend and want to create more memories in new places. It feels like the real reward to the art grind is the memories that come from participating in culture.
I know I didn’t cover everything here, but I also think this just became my longest blog article yet. Go to ShazamFest next year if you can, it’s amazing.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone
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