Montreal is playing host to the Virgin Festival this year for the first time ever. However, the festival has been in existence for 13 years now with regular shows in England, Toronto, Baltimore and Vancouver. According to Andrew Bridge, director of Virgin Festivals, Montreal is a great city and has long been overdue to host the festival.
The Virgin Festival Venue
The festival is being held in Parc Jean-Drapeau and includes two stages with a large surface that is covered with vendors and kiosks. The venue is supposed to be environmentally friendly but all the rocks on the floor give a not so friendly feel to the festival.
Some of the critics have accused Virgin of putting together a giant corporate festival that is only in existence to sell the Virgin brand. On the site, there are lots of kiosks from corporate partners like Future Shop and X-Box 360. The venue did however have a strong presence from the organizations like Song for Africa and Apathy is Boring.
Canadian Bands at The Montreal Virgin Festival
The Canadian bands who were on the bill for Friday were The New Cities, Kreesha Turner, Eva Avila, Simple Plan, the Stereos, Hedley and Ten Second Epic. The huge international headliner to perform on Friday was the Black Eyed Peas.
Review of the Virgin Festival
The most notable bands to play the festival on Friday are the Stereos. The band is from Edmonton and their sound is a mixture of pop punk sound. Their set played well with the teenage crowd at the festival. Another performer that made a good impression on Friday was Eva Avila, who took the crowd on a musical experience with her sound and her cover of Beyonce’s song: If I were a Boy.
The New Cities gave a great show with a strong performance. They are nominated for a Much Music Video Award for Post production of the year. The band played an energetic and strong set from their debut album, Lost In City Lights. Simple Plan was another band that really delivered on Friday with good energy and gave the hometown crowd a really good mixture of old and new hits. Among the most surprising song choice was Simple Plan's rendition of Lady Gaga's Poker face and Just Dance.
The Black Eyed Peas at the Virgin Festival
The Black Eyed Peas decided to begin their worldwide tour with the Virgin Festival in Montreal. from their first presence on stage, the audience knew they were in for something special. The band delivered an incredible performance and left the people of Montreal chanting for more. They played all of their past hits and a selection from their new album, The Energy Never Dies.
Among the best moments of the set came when Will I Am began to play his favorite song from Kings Of Leon, Sex on Fire. The groups looks as good as they did in the beginning when they went on tour for the Elephunk album.
Zach Efron at Montreal Virgin Festival
On a side note, Zach Efron was in attendance at the Virgin festival on Friday, June 19 in Montreal. He was watching the festival with his girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens.
All pictures were taken by Sandra Meilie Ng Fuk Chong
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