Dawson City Music Festival

DAWSON CITY, YT — Without exception, for every artist interviewed, the Dawson City Music Festival was unquestionably their best festival experience.

That's saying a lot. Some talked of big festivals, opening for giant names, and still they genuinely spoke of Dawson as their favourite festival ever.

Located in the Yukon Territory and held from July 18 to 20, the festival has been described as "Canada's tiny, perfect festival" by Vancouver's Georgia Straight. This year marked its 30th anniversary.

Producer Tim Jones tried to explain the phenomenon of why this tiny event is so endearing in the eyes of its performers.

"It's partly the 'Dawson City' of the music festival. This is an excuse for a lot of people who have never been to come to the Yukon, and that itself is an incredibly powerful experience. Any new person coming off the plane and seeing those mountains is blown away by it all."

Twenty-four acts performed this year, though that number appeared to multiply as members of some bands split up and played separately in solos, workshops and jam sessions.

Approximately one third of the lineup was from Ontario. These acts included Basia Bulat, The Good Brothers, Hayden, James Gordon And Sons, Justin Rutledge, Ken Whiteley, The Magic, The Sadies and Mike Stevens & Ray McLain.

Another third of the performers were from the Yukon. They included Brandon Isaak & The Whitehorse Blues All Stars, Done Gone String Band, Nicole Edwards, Out Of The Blue, Soir De Semaine, Plaid and the Tr'ondek Hwech'in Singers.

Of the remaining acts, four were from British Columbia: Black Mountain, Immaculate Machine, Threat From Outer Space and Wayne Lavallee. Snailhouse, Bell Orchestre and Torngat came from Quebec and Julie Doiron made the trip from New Brunswick.

Kevin Kane, who played alongside Lavallee, shared his thoughts on the festival.

"Dawson's a really unique place. It's almost like a ghost town that never died, and it's got this great energy. All the people who live here have a real appreciation and artistic spirit. It's beautiful scenery. It's a privilege to get to come to a place like this. The audiences are great.

"And they take care of all the details the right way. The sound is great. The venues are incredible. It's one of the best places I've ever played. What's not to like? What do they do wrong? Nothing."

Travis Good of The Sadies echoed those sentiments.

"It's incredible. It's a place I always wanted to get to. It's something, it's the end of the road. It's one of the coolest festivals there is."

Immaculate Machine's Brooke Gallupe, who participated in an artist residency in Dawson earlier this year, suggested the beautiful sense of community was what made it most appealing to him.

"The workshops have been pretty cool. There's been some really amazing ones where there's 20 people on stage and you wouldn't know that they weren't a band, and that's the best. They play a song and everyone just makes it happen, fills it in, and those are the best moments of festivals for me."

For the fans who packed the venues, the festival was no less amazing. Black Mountain, Immaculate Machine, The Sadies and Threat From Outer Space whipped the crowds into an unforgiving raving mass at the main stage, while the smaller, more formal Palace Grand Theatre gave audiences an intimate look into the delicate, intricate sounds of Bell Orchestre, Bulat and Rutledge.

The only significant tarnish was the weather, as cold rain mercilessly pounded down, day after day, for an event at which most of the audience camped. The beer gardens quickly turned to mud pits in which barefoot dancing and wrestling quickly took hold of the alcohol-infused crowd.

But rain and mud weren't enough to deter or turn anyone away, as weekend passes sold-out well in advance and lineups at all the smaller venues stretched into the distance. Great music and a wonderfully small, charismatic setting made DCMF an awe-inspiring place to be.