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It’s kinda true.

Last Sunday, I celebrated my birthday by playing at the Pemberton Music Festival with Dan Mangan + Blacksmith. It was good times. I snuck behind Kenton to take this photo during our set. Might have looked slightly odd, but whatever. It’s all about the art, man.

Here I am.


This photo comes courtesy of the internet.

We were followed on the stage that evening by none other than Missy Elliott and Kendrick Lamar. It’s funny, I think these are the two artists I’ve been listening to the most so far this year! Needless to say, I was pretty stoked. I managed to “convince” the stage security to let me watch Missy’s set from the side stage. Here’s how she hit:


This show was such a blast. The dance crew was amazing to watch up close. The energy was crazy throughout.

Kendrick Lamar started his set around 11pm. I saw Kendrick play the Sasquatch Music Festival back in May, so was expecting to see a somewhat similar set. But he changed it up in Pemberton, focusing more heavily on tracks from the new album, “To Pimp a Butterfly”. Soooo good. Here in this photo, you can clearly see Kendrick pointing me out in the crowd to wish me a happy b-day. What a gentleman.


Although it was after midnight and well past my official b-day,  I certainly appreciated the gesture.

After the show, it became fully aware to me that I was now on my own at the festival site. After wandering around aimlessly for a while, circumstances found me in a line up with the rest of the festival goers to board shuttles bound for Whistler, which was my destination. It ended up being about a 1 1/2 hour wait before i actually got on one of the things. It was a surprisingly amusing experience, however. Many inebriated characters to behold. I totally passed out on the bus.

So yes, that’s the story of how Missy Elliott and Kendrick Lamar played my birthday party.

Here’s a little video compilation I put together with footage of the bands that played the main stage (aka “Pemberton” stage) that Sunday, including Missy, Kendrick, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and also a moment from our set with Dan Mangan + Blacksmith.

Cheers!