Complete Current Details On The Return Of The Northern Vibe Festival!!

After a one year hiatus due to the pandemic, the annual Northern Vibe Festival will return from Friday, August 27th-Sunday, August 29th for it's sixth installment! Debuting in 2015 as a spiritual successor to the former Hempfest (both are held on the same festival grounds on Poplardale Road in nearby Ophir), the Northern Vibe Festival has not been a traditional haven for heavier/punk bands, only featuring a couple at most, sometimes not having any. That changes this year, as local concert promoter and punk/metal singer J.D. Pearce is curating this year's Forest Stage lineup! Remember, Northern Vibe has two separate stages, one for bands, and the River Stage for DJs. This poster lists the original artist lineup, though bands and DJs are mixed together, and there have been a couple of withdrawals since, including DJ Fuels from the River Stage (check the official performer listings on the website for the up to date lineups). Performers have been advertised all month, so why have we not covered the festival on here until now?

Honestly, it's because organizers still have not announced daily schedules for the Forest Stage, and as of this writing, bands are being plugged as just performing during the festival and for us to get our weekend passes. That said, we're less than two weeks out, so I better get the ball rolling and at least mention the scheduled bands (click here to see who's spinning tunes on the River Stage). Three touring acts from Sudbury will make their way to Ophir for The Northern Vibe Festival VI, namely "northern soul rock n' roll" septet Harvey King & The Grindstone, alternative/world music solo artist Matt Foy, and funk rock one-man-band Dr. Bong, none of whom I'm familiar with from local dates in the 2010s. Notably, Matt is a new addition to replace Montreal indie rockers (and pre-pandemic touring favourites) Dany Laj & The Looks on the bill. Shame that Dany and crew had to drop out, it'd have been nice to see them back for a sixth local gig later this month!

The highest listed local band in festival advertising is local horror punk quintet Frightlight in their first live set since opening for Michale Graves here in September 2019, and it will be great to see their spooky brand of punk and metal originals back after such a long wait! Instrumental surf rock trio The Dynowaves also get a high placement in event advertising, so their retro feel-good brand of rock should go over well at month's end too! Reunited no-genre (but alternative/punk-leaning) quartet Handsome Sandwich will play their first show with new singer Taylor Emlaw and bassist Mitch Sirie at Northern Vibe during the festival, while fan-favourite punk trio A Dire Setback will play their first true live concert set since the pandemic began as well! No word on if they'll have CD copies of their debut album on sale, but I doubt they're considering this to be their long-delayed release party, which was to have been in March 2020. 

Two bands who you may have seen at the drive-thru Rotaryfest last month will also play at Northern VIbe (see what I did there?), including local funk/hard rock quintet The Wyld Stallyns and online page-less local punk/country supergroup Jonesy Land (featuring Rising Tide and Lake Effect alumni) in their second concert set of any kind. The last two bands share three members between them, one being local Foo Fighters tribute band The Soo Fighters! This band will be playing their fourth concert here, which is also their first non-benefit concert outside of Halloween parties. It will also see the debut of new bassist Arthur Lacasse, and in a surprise, his old Half Past bandmate Chris Thompson, who quietly replaced Jonas Gasperas on drums at some point earlier this year. A reason for Jonas' exit wasn't announced, but you can still see him in Ophir with The Wyld Stallyns, and Chris' prolific drum skill and chemistry with Art should go a long way!

Finally, if you'd like to hear Arthur, Chris, and frontman Jules Cote cover bands other than The Foo Fighters, look for their set together as debuting local cover rock quintet Lockdown, where they'll be joined by singer Nicole Ambeault and guitarist Randy Russell (Soo Fighters guitarist Wes Greco is not in Lockdown). Despite their promising lineup, I haven't heard any hints as to what Lockdown's set might include, but don't bypass them at The Northern Vibe Festival at month's end, assuming we don't actually get locked down again! The festival is a 19+ event, it officially begins at 12:00 PM on Friday the 27th, and tickets run for $100 for the full weekend or $60 for Saturday the 28th only (there are no single day passes listed for Friday or Sunday). Buy your tickets online at this link.  Vendors will be on site selling local goods, food, and drinks (click here for the current list, though updates are forthcoming).

Camping is encouraged for attendees, and the festival website lists directions to Poplardale Road, plus recommended things to bring to have a safe/clean time for the sake of the grounds and everyone else (i.e. don't bring glass bottles or bad attitudes). Re: the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be extra hand washing/sanitizing stations on-site, organizers request that you bring and use face masks when going to vendors/not social distancing, and while being an outdoor festival at this point in the pandemic (and in a wide-open area) allows for the festival to occur close to normally in 2021, please be respectful of others and stay distanced where possible. Click here for more on that. It's been a long year & a half+ for a concert festival of this nature and magnitude to return to the Algoma District, and hopefully Northern Vibe VI goes off without a hitch in Ophir in a couple of weeks!

Visit the above links for full current details, stay tuned for the daily schedules when announced, and look for more news on the SMS this week, both from the Northern Vibe Festival and elsewhere! Thanks everyone!