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Folk Fest: Gillian Welch, Joel Plaskett wrap up first night of Vancouver Folk Music Festival
Joel Plaskett capped off the first evening of performances at Jericho Beach Friday.
Yolande Cole
An upbeat performance from Halifax musician Joel Plaskett wrapped up the first night of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival Friday.
Backed by his band The Emergency, Plaskett pulled out a variety of songs from the group's repertoire, including "Nowhere With You" off the 2006 album Make a Little Noise, and "Work Out Fine" off the Truthfully Truthfully record.
Plaskett told the packed, standing crowd that the band is "working towards" a new album.
As the musicians wrapped up the lively set, coloured lanterns floated above the audience held by volunteers who wove their way through the crowd.
Winnipeg band Imaginary Cities played a short set before Plaskett took to the stage, and after a performance from Nashville musician Gillian Welch and her musical partner Dave Rawlings.
The duo played a mix of old and new songs, including tracks from their 2011 album, The Harrow and the Harvest. Welch introduced one of the numbers by joking that a new album for them is about "as frequent as a comet going by".
Welch told the crowd they had driven all the way to Vancouver instead of flying.
"We saw a lot of country along the way," she said.
After an impressive mix of banjo and guitar picking and studio-quality vocals, the duo finished with "I'll Fly Away" from the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack.
Other performers on the main stage Friday included Justin Townes Earle, Freshlyground and Taiko for Tohoku.
The three-day folk festival at Jericho Beach will also feature groups including the Jayhawks, Elliott Brood, Jim Bryson and the Weakerthans, C.R. Avery, Kathryn Calder and Josh Ritter.
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Then again, this show was overlooked by at least some of the festival organizers as well, namely those who trained the volunteers, none of the five or six of whom I asked seemed to know where Stage 3 was. There were a small number of maps on festival grounds, but not many. The better to sell $5 festival programs (which contained maps), I suppose.