I’m very happy to be announcing my appearance at Northern Vibe 2023; I’ll be returning to the Roost River Stage on August 25th to 27th in the area of Bruce Mines, Ontario.

If you don’t know, Northern Vibe is a music and arts festival combining rock, dance music, camping and fun activities on some beautiful land a short drive from the north shore of Lake Huron. The entertainment features a combination of dance music during both day and nighttime and daytime concerts. The festival itself typically has a range of vendors selling local food including pancakes and coffee for breakfast each morning. The land itself is spacious and has a very distinct character, one where you are constantly finding new things in it, even when you’ve been coming there for many years on end.

Finally, the environment is unpretentious and friendly; being far from the metropoles of Toronto, Montreal or Ottawa, Northern Vibe attendees cover a wide range of demographics including many people from Northern Ontario either originally or as transplants to other parts of the country, while plenty of people make the trip up from their homes in the GTA. We count ravers, punks, rockabillies, hippies, graffiti artists and “people’s parents” as all part of the mix when you arrive; the “come-as-you-are” attitude you expect from counter-cultural festival is extremely strong here. I think it may be the fact that it takes a lot of work to get “there” when you live “somewhere” and maybe that means that the people who do make it out are the ones who truly want it, but in any case my point is you will make friends upon arrival.

If it seems like I’m enthusiastic about this event, it’s because I am. This is a small festival that I’ve seen grow progressively over the years. The stages have gotten bigger and better as time has gone on and they’ve continued to refine their formula. My friend Hakan Loob who currently heads the River Stage through his company Roost takes the work seriously. To that end I hope you’ll take a look at the flyers here and maybe read my story about the first time I went to Northern Vibe. You can find all that below along with a link to the ticket info. If you want to skip all that and just buy tickets, then do it here.

STORY TIME

Thinking back it’s honestly hard to place the length of time that I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in this collective production. I’m having trouble placing the first year that I played, I think 2017, but regardless; I’ve been coming to Northern Vibe for a long time.

The first year that I ever played I wasn’t originally on the bill, but I had two friends who were scheduled to play and so I got the contact information for the dance stage organizer and reached out. The response was positive in my view: “I have space on the schedule but no money in the budget to pay you”. That seemed like a reasonable enough deal for me as a late add-on. In my view, I just got a free ticket to a festival on a weekend when I would otherwise be doing nothing. I’d rather spin for an audience than sit at home.

When I arrived to the property where the festival was happening (only a few hours from Sudbury) I had no service (something people coming to the festival ought to be aware of) and nothing written to indicate that I was actually supposed to be there, but I explained my situation to the gate staff, named my contact and a little while later I was in a truck driving around the property with a staff member who was pointing out the sites and helping me locate the stage manager.

I checked in with the stage manager, found out where my single friend who had arrived thus far was camped, then pitched my tent nearby. As I was putting the final touches on my ad hoc sleeping arrangements, I heard the rumble of the bass coming from the general area of the stage. Knowing my friends, I guessed correctly and after a short walk downhill to the river I came upon my friend Psyfaun (formerly, and occasionally still “Limix”) spinning a mix of psychedelic techno at the stage. After exchanging greetings I was told that the music “technically” didn’t start until later, but we had received permission to start “running a soundcheck”.

My scheduled DJ set was at 1:30 AM on that Friday night, but to be honest I was just so stoked to be there that I wanted to get onto the decks right away. Psyfaun and I ended up spinning our prog house and techno “soundcheck” until the regularly scheduled music began, roughly 3 hours or so given that it was 6 PM when we started and it was around 9 to 10 PM when the next DJ took over. Regardless of the length, that experience was an absolute vibe and though the crowd was probably only about 10 to 15 people at the time they were absolutely loving it.

After heading back to my campsite, grabbing refreshments and heading back to the stage I took in a 90s Eurodance set spun by a DJ who said she was from Guelph (I wish I could shout her out, but I honestly can’t remember her name). The retro set is something that definitely gets the crowd moving and ready the rest of the evening: so much so that it features regularly at every Northern Vibe. (Side note: literally the only time I have ever danced to Sandstorm by Darude at an event is at Northern Vibe in my 30s. Kinda funny that huh?)

The course of the rest of the night was distinctly jungle-flavored. Later in the night I watched the same staff member who had taken my on my tour rinse Chopstick Dubplate and other ragga-jungle bangers until it was my turn to take over. My set stuck with the ragga-jungle until shifting into liquid and finally into neurofunk. I think I may have played for about two hours, after which I remember chilling on the beach with my friends both old and new, hacking darts and sipping the Sapporo that I had brought with me while a DJ who I believe was either Tremors or Procta (formerly Ehmon, both of whom are reprising their roles at Northern Vibe ’23 this year) rinsed minimal and halftime DNB over the soundsystem. The crowd of maybe 70 people danced, stood round the fire, or otherwise stood off in groups taking in the show. Whether it was the lights, lasers, bubble machine, the soundsystem or the spacious land to explore and camp in, everything about the festival impressed me. Though, what I loved the most was the welcoming staff and community among the festival-goers.

I wrapped up my conversations with people around 3 AM after which I hit my tent. Waking up the next day, I couldn’t stop thinking about what a great night it was, but at the same time, the lack of cellphone service wasn’t something I had anticipated. I missed my partner badly and I was only a few hours drive from my house and a fresh shower.

I packed up my belongings almost as quickly as I had set them up when I arrived. After saying my goodbyes to Psyfaun (who correctly guessed that missed my partner) and apologizing that I was going to miss his set scheduled for that night, I got a fist bump, jumped in the river to wash off best as I could, and then hit the road home.

That story was a long read. If you’ve stuck with me this far then thank you. The point of all that is fundamentally that this festival is a lot of fun though it may be out of the way for some people, so please check out the lineups for this years Northern Vibe 2023. Also for my American readers, if you live in Michigan this is something that you can definitely make it to via the Sault Ste. Marie border crossing.

This year the River Stage presented by Roost features Duskope, Miss Zolly, Knerv, Shazami Rami, DanAfterDark, Hakan Loob, Elixah, Melty, Prestin3, Tremors, Angelazura, Mr. La Rouge, Bobby Lawn, Phil, Thom Foolery, Fraktl, Manskirt, Selectra, Khandroma, Procta, Milu, Dungeon Kru, Vessel, MC Ele and myself, Jordan Freeman.

The Forest Stage features K-Man and the 45s, Handsome Sandwich, Frightlight, Book Club, Castletons, Wyld Stallyns, Sierra Pilot, A Dire Setback, Hellrager, Far From Fine and Haggith.

Tickets and more info can be found here. All photos in this article are from Northern Vibe 2022.