IN CONCERT: Vancouver Island Music Festival
Featuring Taj Mahal, Femi Kuti & The Positive Force, Matt Andersen, John Boutté and more
When: Friday through Sunday, July 8-10
Where: Comox Valley Exhibition Grounds, 4839 Headquarters Rd., Courtenay
Tickets: $119-$129 daily ($240 for weekend pass; children 12 and under admitted free) from musicfest.tickit.ca
Information: islandmusicfest.com
Doug Cox has been in the festival-producing business for more than 40 years, a good portion of which as the artistic and executive producer of Courtenay’s Vancouver Island Music Festival. By this point, he’s rattle-proof. Seen it all, done it all, on stage and off.
The Cumberland-based Cox, who makes much of his living as a musician, took the past two years in stride. Gigs dried up during the course of the pandemic, and the Comox Valley Exhibition Grounds, where the event known as Musicfest is based, went dark.
Cox and his crew return to the site this weekend for the multi-day festival’s 26th edition — and its first since 2019. The lineup includes an electric mix of folk and roots favourites (Ferron, Jr. Gone Wild), blues bastions (Taj Mahal, Thornetta Davis, Matt Anderson), soul singers (John Boutté), and world music wonders (Femi Kuti), which longtime supporters have been accustomed to seeing at Musicfest.
On paper, very little has changed.
The pandemic made things difficult, of course. Cox held off finalizing bookings for as long as he could, in the hope of having his pick of artists who were returning to the road. “The day the poster went to print, we were still putting names on it and taking them off. All the protocols were still in place. I was concerned about border crossings and everything, so I was careful not to book as many artists as I normally do from a more international perspective.”
He loves his lineup this year, and though it does not feature the same number of artists as previous years, and was booked “way later than usual,” the quality remains both high and far-reaching. But just when he thought the popular event was out of the woods …
“The real concern right now is travel, because of the airline [delays],” Cox said with a laugh. Persistent supply chain issues — from difficulty finding paper on which to print the festival poster, to a dearth of shuttle vehicles needed to transport artists — added insult to injury along the way.
“It has been extremely stressful, trying to fill all the holes,” he said. “But at the opposite end of the spectrum, it has been just as beautiful and positive, in terms of people who have stepped up. It was really heartening to me that when we decided to do it again this year, all of the staff came back. Everybody had two years to get on with their lives. I was down at the site [Monday] and people have been down there for eight, nine hours a day working their butts off for us to get things going.”
Cox expects an average daily attendance of 9,000 through the weekend, which is more than he could have imagined, and more than what was legally permitted, at one point in the planning process.
When he started booking this year’s edition, the event was capped at 75 per cent; that has since been upgraded to 100 per cent capacity. In previous years, attendance numbers regularly hit the 10,000 mark — a sellout — so this year’s festival is expected to be a runaway success, all things considered.
The way in which Comox Valley residents have embraced to the festival’s return is overwhelming, Cox said. “The energy coming from the public and our volunteers and the musicians … everybody is really excited to be back on board.”
Cox had to be creative, where his bookings were concerned. Many headliners in the roots and blues genres are getting older, and were less inclined to get back out on the road. Some were also not vaccinated. But those who were available, and willing, jumped at the chance to be a part of what many consider to be one of the best-run festivals in Canada.
The lineup is full of remarkable groupings, many of which rarely come through the Vancouver Island area. Those include: Her Majesty, a showcase featuring female blues pioneers from Chicago, Houston, and Detroit; Funky Chester Rhythm Section, a collective of session players featuring Tom Malone of The Blues Brothers; and Family South, a family-themed amalgam featuring Sherman Holmes (of the Holmes Brothers), AJ Croce (son of Jim Croce), The Legendary Ingramettes (a gospel family from Virginia), and Vaneese Thomas (daughter of Rufus Thomas).
“Originally, we were a festival that focused on certain music above everything else. But I decided instead of spending [big] money on headliners I’d do more collaborations, and put money into that. This is a real curated festival. I don’t just go to one [festival] conference and call my favourite booking agent, because it’s easy.”
