Arts & Culture

Hillside Inside

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A music festival in the middle of winter

You heard right. Hillside Inside is a music festival held in Guelph, and is celebrating its 31st anniversary this year. From Feb. 6 to 8, downtown Guelph will be a hosting a number of bands and musicians in a local festival just before reading week. The Hillside Festivals celebrate the artistic vision of musicians from Canada and around the world.

The New Pornographers, STARS, Owen Pallett and Kid Koala are a handful of acts headlining this winter music festival held at various venues in downtown Guelph. Featured in the photo is Tanya Tagaq, who stunned St. George’s Church at last year’s festival. Photo By Wendy Shepherd/The Ontarion.
The New Pornographers, STARS, Owen Pallett and Kid Koala are a handful of acts headlining this winter music festival held at various venues in downtown Guelph. Featured in the photo is Tanya Tagaq, who stunned St. George’s Church at last year’s festival. Photo By Wendy Shepherd/The Ontarion.

This February, The New Pornographers, Hey Rosetta, and STARS will be the headlining Hillside Inside.

The New Pornographers are an indie rock band from Vancouver, BC. The band consists of a number of accomplished solo artists and musicians within the Vancouver music scene. They joined together in 1999 as The New Pornographers, and stayed together ever since. They released their sixth studio album, Brill Bruisers, in August of 2014.

Hey Rosetta is a seven-piece indie band from St. John’s, Newfoundland. They can almost always be found on the lineup of Canadian music festivals, including TURF, Hillside, and Osheaga. The band formed in 2005, and has since put out four full-length albums, as well as five EPs. They are known to incorporate piano, violin, and cello into the traditional four-piece rock band setup, creating a large, energetic sound in live shows. Hey Rosetta released their fourth studio album, Second Sight, in 2014, and have been touring since.

STARS is an indie-pop band who grew up in Toronto, but now lives in, and works from, Montreal. The band was formed in 1999 and has released 7 studio albums, with broad influences from Broken Social Scene to Outkast to The Smiths. Their seventh album, titled No One is Lost, was released in October of 2014.

In addition, Jennifer Castle, Owen Pallett, Operators, Kid Koala, BizZarh, Alex Cuba, and Oliver Mtukudzi and the Black Spirits are all also on the lineup. There is a broad musical spectrum available at this festival, and it is a good chance to experience a new artist or band. From DJ Kid Koala to folk singer Jennifer Castle, any music fan will be entertained.

The festival is held indoors in various venues throughout downtown Guelph. It is the perfect opportunity to see bands that normally play for larger crowds in smaller, more intimate venues. Individual show tickets are available, as are weekend passes which will get music fans into any Hillside concert during the weekend.

 

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