Saturday
Written by Claudia Idzik | photos by Dana Bellamy/the Ontarion
The second headlining show of Hillside Inside featured The Strumbellas, with The Elwins serving as openers. The two Ontario bands played Mitchell Hall for the multi-venue festival. Keswick natives, The Elwins, played the majority of the show with tracks from their newest album, Play For Keeps. They opened up with “Show Me How To Move,” with an elated response from the crowd. Lead vocalist Matthew Sweeney jumped into the crowd while performing “It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over,” and the crowd responded by jumping to the infectious track. Having just played eBar this past December, this show was their first for Hillside Inside.
Soon after, The Strumbellas hit the stage and in an instant, the crowd erupted with hearty cheers. The band members waved as they entered, positioning themselves on stage before opening with a new song. “We’re working out the kinks,” lead vocalist Simon Ward explained. Throughout the show, the band laid out a couple new tracks, as well as some classics from their previous records. Their dynamic stage presence captivated the audience in the crowded venue, and the energy that they had on stage seemed to resonate with the crowd. They prompted a clap along to “Did I Die,” and got the crowd jumping along to other favourites tracks. “Home Sweet Home” got the crowd foot-stomping and belting out the lyrics. They ended their encore performance with “Sailing,” which elicited the strongest response. The entire venue sang along to the fan-favourite.
Hillside Inside shows create an inviting environment that lets the artists connect with the fans during the performance on a personal level. Throughout the show, the band joked with the crowd, shared personal stories of Dave Ritter’s breakup, and played a game in which fans in the crowd had to guess which band member won a 1500 metre race. Ritter took a moment to reminisce over their previous Hillside performance. “Hillside was our first big show,” he said. “There was so much jumping in this whole crowd of dust.”
I had the chance to chat with the band just before the show. The bassist, Darryl James, who is also a Guelph alumnus, talked about their upcoming record, which is due for release in April. “I think we’ve tried to expand our sound, but also part of the record maintains what we’ve done in the past. It’s a little bit of both,” he said. Isabel Ritchie, the violinist, explained that the record has “a few songs that are a little more acoustic and folky, and there’s a few that are a little more synth-y and pop-y.” The band certainly showed that side of the album as they debuted a few unfamiliar, new tracks during the show.