Photos and review by Amanda Daubert – Including interviews with The Gypsy Flats and Living Room for Small.
The Revelree Music Festival was back for its second year, kicking off night one last night in the beautiful Canatara Park in Sarnia, Ontario. Festival Director – Scott Palko describes the festival perfectly, “The Revelree Music Festival is a celebration of live entertainment and we were able to witness just how enjoyable that celebration can be with last year’s event. The entire weekend was filled with positivity and liveliness and our goal is to continue that experience for everyone this year and for years to come.” And for night one, Scott and the entire Revelree Festival team delivered!
Kicking off the festival were local duo Little White Lies. Composed of two sister-in-laws, this dynamic duo filled the stage with their sound and charisma. Playing a mixture of original songs like “Risky Woman” plus a number of crowd-pleasing covers like “No Diggity,” “Pony,” and closing their set with a cover of “River” which perfectly suited lead Katie Rose Campbell’s vocals.
Next to take the stage were fellow Ontario natives, The Gypsy Flats. Over the last decade The Gypsy Flats have been performing their beautiful blend of rock, with a storytelling southern sound, captivating fans from first listen! We caught up with the band who were beyond excited to be part of the festival, “Having this festival here in our hometown is thrilling in itself. For us to be part of it is electrifying, we’re all fired up! It’s a big deal to us, we’re honoured to be part of it.” We also chatted about their debut self-titled EP, released earlier this year, “Taking the time to record some of our music has been a goal of ours for a while, so finally making it to the finish line was both exhilarating and a relief. Releasing these songs is an accomplishment we are proud of.” Then, before we let the band go, we wanted to know what’s next, ”Our calendar is booked with lots of festivals and shows, so we’ll finish off our season doing that. In between shows we’re always writing music. Once we have enough material we’ll go back in the studio and record again.We don’t plan on slowing down anytime soon. You can expect to hear more from The Gypsy Flats.”
With the crowd buzzing it was time to bring yet another Ontario powerhouse group onto the stage, with alternative pop group, Living Room for Small. The product of talented artists cooped up during the lockdown, these rising stars have been slowly releasing some amazing singles, with their next single, “Everything’s Fine,” set to drop August 4th. We had a moment to chat with LRFS who were beyond excited for their latest release, “We’ve been taking more initiative and bigger improvements to our self-producing and mixing, so having this song out is a reflection of our hard work and efforts. We also wanted to release a heavy hitter for the summer, especially for festival season.” Their excitement for the release, and the festival, was palpable, so we asked who they were looking forward to seeing, “We’re probably most excited to see Arkells. Their song ‘Leather Jacket’ has been in our cover list since we started LRFS, so it will be great to hear it live!
The Glorious Sons are also going to be unreal to watch on Saturday!” One last question, the festival provides a great stage for artists on the rise, what was your reaction to being invited to play, “We never thought that we would get the opportunity this early into our band’s career to be able to perform alongside Arkells, who are one of our biggest influences in Canada, as well as huge artists such as LIGHTS, The Glorious Sons, Tom Cochrane and JJ Wilde. It is incredible to be a part of Revelree Music Festival as our drummer Matty Parker is native to Sarnia, so it’s super special for him. It marks a huge achievement for us as well to look how far we’ve come, and to keep building up who we are as Living Room for Small.” As LRFS builds up be sure to check them out at their headlining show at Maxwell’s Concerts and Events in Waterloo as they celebrate their latest release, and check their website/socials for upcoming shows and future announcements.
Next, arriving with a humble presence and hauntingly beautiful voice, was Juno-nominated artist, Aysanabee. Over the past year Aysanabee has built up a fantastic resume with countless live performances, chart topping singles, and award honors including Canadian Live Music New Touring Artist of the Year (2023), INDIES Award Artist of the Year (2023) and CBC Music Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Canadian Album of the Year (2022). Aysanabee put on an incredible set with both his full band and a few select songs with just him and his guitar. His mesmerizing presence and captivating storytelling made for an unforgettable set.
Ready to turn up the energy, the Electropop Princess – Lights arrived with style, personality, and an excitement that was quickly matched by the crowd. Hailing from Timmins, Ontario, Lights has been dazzling us for the past 15 years since her debut single “Drive My Soul” in 2008. She’s stacked up incredible singles, fantastic albums, not to mention a list of nominations and well-deserved awards including Juno’s for New Artist of the Year (2009), Pop Album and Artist of the Year (2018) and Dance Recording of the Year (2020). Last nights set included hits like “Prodigal Daughter,” “Salt and Vinegar,” and her smash duet with deadmou5 “When The Summer Dies.” It’s easy to see that Lights staying power is attributed to her unmatched talent plus infectious energy and stage presence.
Closing out night one was Hamilton, Ontario’s hometown heroes, Arkells. These five friends seem like untouchable pop-rock superstars, but also your drinking buddies who play in a garage band; equal parts famous celebrities and down-to-earth and relatable neighbors. A band that embraces their fans and community, it’s easy to feel like you’re amongst close friends in a crowd of thousands. Since forming in 2006, Arkells have been cranking out Canadian Chart topping hits, stacking up Gold and Platinum singles and albums, and filling their mantels with Juno awards including two for Rock Album of the Year and an incredible six for Group of the Year, yet they still take the stage like excited and eager University students giving the performance all they’ve got. Their set kicked off with “Past Life,” “Leather Jacket,” and “Peoples Champ” plus a snip of “Agent Zero” at the request of a bride-to-be who was hosting her bachelorette party at the festival. The set also included reappearances by Lights, joining for their dance it “Human Being” and an encore cover of the ABBA classic “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight).” Last but not least, fans ended the night with the energy pumping “You Can Get It,” the perfect way to end an incredible day.
