At the 2008 Virgin music festival in Calgary, Alberta, there were some lessons learned in being environmentally friendly as well as some memories made and some great Canadian talent enjoyed.

Virgin Music Festival
Fort Calgary, Alberta
June 21-22, 2008
Amanda Waschuk (Calgary Correspondent - Canada) 

It was a beautiful weekend with the sun shining, bands rocking, and 35,000 people partying.  With two stages showcasing numerous bands, attendees of the Virgin Music Festival in Calgary were given a huge selection of choice on the music they wanted to hear.  The main Virgin music stage is the largest stage available in North America taking 2 days and 100 people to set up, so you can imagine the sheer magnitude of the event for all attendees. 

This festival may not have had the biggest lineup in comparison to other events this summer, but it definitely had big talent. Recently reunited, The Stone Temple Pilots headlined the festival along with The Tragically Hip. The weekend was mainly rock-oriented with Corb Lund bringing a bit of country to the plate.  Transition between bands was still music-filled as a DJ played pop-rock music to keep the crowd on their feet.

There was more to the Virgin Music Festival than just the music. The majority of the crowd were young adults looking to party and enjoy some great Canadian bands.  This resulted in the beer gardens becoming completely packed to the point where, at times, the wait for entry was over an hour.  There were also many different food vendors and sponsor stands where there was everything from an oxygen bar to karaoke and gaming, to an area where you could plug-in your phone to a stationary bicycle and charge it while riding.

If you like free stuff, Virgin Music Festival is where it's at.  Contests galore included the giveaway of a Gibson ‘Flying V' guitar, the chance to win prizes with Energizer, and entry to win a Wolfmother-signed guitar with a donation to Virgin's charity "Virgin Unite".  Also give-aways were large numbers of freezies, bags designed specifically for the Virgin Music Festival, and other random things like Virgin shutter sunglasses and ‘Oh Henry' bars. 

But of course, people were there to have the chance to see numerous bands in a short amount of time, whether it be bands they are long-time fans of or to check out some new up-and-comers. This festival was a great way to showcase some talent that hasn't necessarily had the exposure they deserve.  X92.9 gave a few lucky 2008 Xposure winners the chance to show the people of Calgary what they've got. These bands included the hard rocking, all girl metal band Kilbourne, the enthusiastic Michael Bernard Fitzgerald who blew away the crowd with big sound coming from a wide variety of instruments including sax, trombone, and trumpet, The Fast Romantics, Secret Broadcast, and The Summerland.

Other lesser-known bands also added to the rock-infused vibe that was this weekend.  Virgin Music Festival was a great opportunity for these bands to gain the exposure they need to create a bigger fan base.  Crash Parallel has the same producer as City and Colour, which explains their similar genre of softer rock with spiritual-centric lyrics.  Their current radio hit is titled "World We Know".  Representing Calgary was The Dudes and The Whitsundays made the trek from Edmonton to play their music, which is driven by melody and harmony of the 60s.  Some other bands included Attack in Black, Said the Whale (currently on tour with fellow festival act Hey Ocean), The New Pornographers, Chixdiggit, and Ten Second Epic. 

Then there was the established bands that drew most of the crowds; these included headliners the Stone Temple Pilots (STP) and The Tragically Hip as well as Three Days Grace, The Flaming Lips, The Stars, City and Colour, and Matthew Good. 

Three Days Grace attracted a lot of fans, and to no surprise.  This Canadian rock band has made quite a name for themselves in the last 11 years while developing a high-energy rock show that drives people to craziness as they mosh and dance around in excitement.

The Flaming Lips are known to produce an eclectic, original show, didn't disappoint.  The stage was adorned with Teletubbies, streamers and confetti besieging the sky, and frontman Wayne Coyne entered his famous, giant ball where he proceeded to walk all over the crowd.  Another highlight of their show was the Led Zeppelin cover of "Hey Ocean". 

STP can be summed up in a lyric of their song "Big bang baby it's a crash crash crash".  The crowd went wild with fans who had not seen STP in 5 years due to a temporary separation.  Back and full of vigor, STP rocked late into the night giving fans exactly what they wanted to hear.

The Stars can only be described as beautiful. Both Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan generate two of the most stunning voices around and joined by gentle sounds of keyboard, bass and other lush instrumentation, their show was mesmerizing.  The stage set-up reflected this beauty in that it was adorned with flowers that were thrown into the crowd throughout the show. 

City and Colour's Dallas Green has a voice so powerful that when he played without his band, it still sounded as though there were background vocals.  Many of his songs have the appearance of being calm, but they build and explode.  Coming from hardcore Alexisonfire, Dallas Green takes this band (City and Colour) as his opportunity to show his sensitive side with a beautiful voice and soulful lyrics.

Previously suffering from addiction, this was Matthew Good's first show completely sober and you could see his pride in his prevalence during the show.  He catered to his fans, playing many of his radio hits. 

The most entertaining of the weekend had to be the The Tragically Hip.  Playing for an hour and a half, the entire show consisted of extended versions of their many hits and a high energy Gordon Downie who clowned around the stage to the delight of the fans.  After the destruction of mike stand number five, fans knew Downie was enjoying himself on stage.  Full of intensity and integrity gained through 25 years of playing, The Tragically Hip were the band to see and ended the festival with flare.

The Virgin Music Festival had a big message important to our world today: be environmentally friendly.  They promoted PickupPal, which is a website that organizes carpooling between strangers, to find a ride to the festival.  You could learn about solar-power at the ENMAX Energy Interpretive Centre while enjoying a smoothie made by solar-powered blenders.  Only biodegradable cups/plates were used and all paper materials, including toilet paper, were made from recycled paper.  Virgin Angels were on hand to make sure the recycle bins were used while also helping with anything you needed.  To keep the park clean, people were able to trade a specific number of empty bottles (many collected off the ground) for swag at the TRASHed Recycling Store.  $1 of every ticket went to Virgin's global charity which supports more than a dozen different charities around the world.

At the 2008 Virgin music festival in Calgary, Alberta, there were some lessons learned in being environmentally friendly as well as some memories made and some great Canadian talent enjoyed.