The tenth annual Northern Vibe Festival kicks off TOMORROW NIGHT with another stacked lineup of local and touring musicians descending upon the old Hempfest grounds on Poplardale Road in Ophir, so here's our extended preview! This annual camping & concert festival once again sees vendors, activities, food & drinks, and more along with the live music, so be sure to visit the official website for this weekend's complete non-musical details! Once again, there are two distinct stages for Northern Vibe, with DJs and EDM artists performing on the Roost River Stage (click here for its schedule), while bands and solo musicians will set up shop on the Forest Stage once again, as curated by Spades GT frontman J.D. Pearce for a fifth straight year in his annual return to local concert promotion. 15 acts (up from 10 last year) will grace the Forest Stage between tomorrow and Saturday, so who all can you expect to see an hour east of the Soo this weekend?
Just to preface things: the official schedule (released unusually early on August 11th) was considered "tentative" at that point, but there has been no contradictory announcements to go against what was stated then. Five bands will perform tomorrow during the shorter opening day program, which will be headlined by the local debut of Sudbury-based Tool/A Perfect Circle tribute band Avessel at 10:00 PM. They have the chops, so welcome them to the Algoma District in style tomorrow night! New (and maybe one-off) jazz/standards group The Josh Norling Quartet will co-headline at 9:00 PM, while hard rock quintet HeadF1rst will be the only band from this year's Rotaryfest to pull the summer festival double at 8:00 PM. The Friday bill kicks off with an extended rap block, including the merged Fvcksxvad/Sound Syndrome supergroup SoundSxvad at 7:00 PM & The CSWS Crew at 6:00 PM.
Nice diverse array of music to check out tomorrow, including heavier stretches from Avessel and HeadF1rst to keep things rocking, so keep everything in mind if you'll be in Ophir for night #1 of Northern Vibe X! 9&10 News is calling for cloudy skies with temperature going from 26° down to 18° as the night progresses. Note that they are forecasting rain in the 11:00 PM hour, which may affect Avessel's set, but the forecast isn't projecting more than a 20% chance prior. Visit the above links for more on the Friday Forest Stage lineup, and here's Avessel live!
The longer program on SATURDAY will feature ten bands, and your headliners this year are local Pink Floyd tribute band Dark Side Of The Soo, as the Bourbon Blue side project will build on their recent Beck's gig by closing Northern Vibe in prog rock style at 10:00 PM! Niagara Falls prog/improv rock band The Road Waves will return to Northern Vibe as the 9:00 PM co-headliners in their fourth Ophir appearance, while local alt-hard rock quartet Handsome Sandwich will become the only band to play all five years of this festival since the post-pandemic relaunch at 8:00 PM. This year's other two touring bands (both from Cornwall) take the stage prior, including hard rock quartet Don't Tell Sarah in their second straight year at Northern Vibe at 7:00 PM, and speed metal band Hellrager (featuring ex-Spades GT guitarist Jay Sarrazin) at 6:00 PM, returning for their own second year after dropping out last year.
Folk/country quartet The Golden Scoundrels (featuring fellow Spades alum and Handsome Sandwich drummer Johnny Belanger) will return for their second Forest Stage set at 5:00 PM, preceded by the first of two shows this weekend from local/Barrie alternative/hard rock musician Mike Haggith and his Big Finish Band at 4:00 PM, one year removed from their set that had professional cameras rolling. Will things get filmed thusly again? As revealed on Wednesday the 13th, the 3:00 PM band named The Barbarians are actually the new band fronted by ex-Elements/Wyld Stallyns singer/guitarist Rob Speers (replacing his originally announced solo set), and he will be joined by Handsome Sandwich bandmates Taylor Emlaw and Rafael Medina as well as Boat Dads drummer Kevin Harrison. They're described as a "party band", but what specifically do they play, especially compared to Rob's old bands?
Note that these three musicians have backed up Rob at some solo dates this year, but is this the start of a formal new band, or are The Barbarians a one-off? The 2:00 PM block is listed as "bingo break" on the schedule, and based on promotion since then, it appears to literally be a break in the schedule with no band. I haven't seen direct reference to bingo being played or scheduled elsewhere, but get your dabbers ready just in case! We'll let you know if something else is afoot then. The 1:00 PM set belongs to debuting local punk/hard rock quartet Spun Out (featuring Caveman Morrison and Half Past alumni), who were themselves late additions to the Forest Stage lineup, so come out to Ophir to hear how they sound! The Saturday bill will be lead off by "Benny's Acoustic Thing", which has yet to be elaborated on in official social media promotion. I believe I know who Benny is, but just in case, I won't make an assumption in case I'm incorrect.
Weather-wise, 9&10 News is calling for a high of 22° dipping to the mid teens on Saturday night, and there is a chance of showers in the afternoon, though they're not expected for most of the day (skies are projected to be mostly cloudy early and partly cloudy late). Note that 2023 Forest Stage performer and local magician Ryan McFarling will be back this weekend as a general performer on the festival grounds and does not have a formal timeslot, so keep an eye out for him! Even with no A Dire Setback this year, this year's Northern Vibe lineup is stacked, and after it briefly looked like last year's festival would be the final one, it's great to see everything back and in full swing for the tenth installment! This 19+ festival goes on rain or shine, and if you haven't bought your tickets yet, online sales closed yesterday, so you'll need to buy yours at the gate. The in-person rate isn't given online, but it will be higher than the advance fee was.
For reference, advance tickets cost $125 in advance (for the full weekend) and $80 (Saturday only; there were no Friday-only passes), and while Sunday is part of the schedule, that's strictly for campers to pack up and wrap up, there's no bands that day. There's a lot to take in off the grid once again this weekend, so visit the above links for full details on Northern Vibe in 2025, and for a Saturday preview, here's Don't Tell Sarah live!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for more weekend concert previews on the SMS next! Thanks everyone!
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