Riverfest Elora 2025: A compendium of posts - Concert Photos

Another Riverfest Elora is in the books. This 2025 edition, which marked the 15th edition of the festival, was fantastic. Not only is it the chillest and friendliest festival around, it features a wide range of musical talent, some of which are destined to be your new favourite bands, along with delicious food and drinks, artisans, merch and random art in an idillic setting. And, the rain restricted itself to an overnight storm this year.

Please click through the links below to check out photos of your favourite acts and to discover some new ones. I'll be basking in the glow of an amazing weekend of music and friends in Elora. It's one of my favourite summer events, and I'm already looking forward to next year.

Friday

Silversun Pickups

Marcy Playground

Wheatus

Cam Kahin

Danny Michel

Emmett Watters

Fionn

Saturday

Fitz and the Tantrums

Sam Roberts Band

Slash Need

Tune-Yards

Tom Wilson

Moontricks

Dear Rouge

War on Women

Aviv

Tony McManus

Gavin McLeod

The J-Strokes

Sunday

City and Colour

Midnight Cowgirls

Rich Aucoin

The Philharmonik

Michie Mee

Delhi 2 Dublin

Grae

Asko

Spencer Burton

Le Couleur

Settlers Creek Band

Drop Dead Poppies

Chris Clark

If you haven't seen my coverage of many previous Riverfests, please click through on these links:

2016

2017

2018

2019

2022

2023

2024

Riverfest Elora 2025: Dear Rouge on the Main Stage - Concert Photos

Dear Rouge performed on the Main stage at Riverfest Elora. This performance marks their third time at Rivefest and I've covered all three of these performances. Check out my pics from their sets at Riverfest in 2016 and Riverfest in 2018. We've also covered their performances at The Ex in 2017, the Danforth Music Hall in 2018 and The Opera House in 2022. 

They always put on a hit-filled, high-energy set that gets the crowd dancing and singing along. What more could you ask for on a bright and sunny Saturday afternoon?

All my other Riverfest coverage is available through one post that you can find right here.

And don't forget to check out some Dear Rouge music:

"Cutting Teeth"

"Black to Gold"

Dear Rouge at The Opera House - Concert Photos

Dear Rouge stopped by The Opera House last Friday on their Spirit Tour 2022. Hotel Mira opened the show and photos of their set are here.

We've covered several Dear Rouge shows in the past. Check out coverage of their shows at The Danforth Music Hall in 2018, Riverfest Elora 2018, The Ex in 2017, and Riverfest Elora 2016.

Check out "Fake Fame" from the band's latest, Spirit. 

Photos by Brad Goldstein

Dear Rouge at The Danforth Music Hall - Concert Photos

I've seen Vancouver BC based pop group Dear Rouge a few times. Most recently, earlier this summer at Riverfest Elora, on The Bandshell stage at The Ex last summer, and in 2016 at Riverfest Elora. Click on the links for those photos.

For this show at Toronto's Danforth Music Hall, they were joined by one of my favourite bands, Ellevator, and Modern Space. Click through to check out the photos of those bands, and to enjoy some of their music.

Dear Rouge are masters of modern pop music and they do such a magnificent job of writing and performing it. They have so much fun delivering uplifting and empowering tunes to their audiences and Danielle McTaggart has energy and magnetic stage presence that is matched by very few artists. Their set came jam-packed with great tunes and I had a fantastic time at the show, as did everyone around me.

Check out some tunes from their setlist:

"Live Through The Night"

"Tongues"

"Black to Gold"

"Best Look Lately"

"Boys & Blondes"

"I Heard I Had"

Riverfest Elora 2018: A compendium of posts - Concert Photos

Three days in August. Thirty-seven live bands captured. Thousands of photos taken, culled, edited and posted, hundreds of songs heard, dozens of words written and we have another Riverfest Elora in the books. It may take a while for me to get through all of those steps, but I hope there's still appreciation for the content, and as the temperature falls along with the coloured leaves and we ease reluctantly into autumn, it's a great time to reflect back on an incredible summer of music and another incredible Riverfest Elora.

This year marked the festival's tenth anniversary. That's quite an impressive milestone when the realities of how hard it is to put on a great festival year after year become more and more apparent. I only hope that Riverfest Elora can keep it up and I'll still be covering it over the decades to come.

Riverfest Elora gathers an amazing mixture of established and classic acts, up and coming artists and brand new discoveries. I'm guaranteed to come away having experienced the best of each, along with some new bands that blew my mind. It's an exceptionally well-curated festival that is well organized and well run, and attracts an enthusiastic and fun-loving yet easy-going crowd. It's a pretty difficult combination to pull off and Riverfest Elora does it so well. I look forward to this festival each year.

I was left this year with one amusing thought. It totally cracks me up that people have these new canoe shaped lounge chair things and they have to run like crazy, trailing them behind like some tubular stringless kite, and do this many times, just so they can sit down. *Shrugs and sits on the grass*

Click through on the links below to a post dedicated to every act I caught at this year's Riverfest Elora.

Day 1

July Talk

Cuff the Duke

Julie & The Wrong Guys

Wolf Parade

Ariana Gillis

New Swears

Royal Castles

Day 2

The Flaming Lips

Sam Coffey and The Iron Lungs
Born Ruffians

Carly Rae Jepsen

Ralph

Moon Hooch

The Beaches

The Creepshow

Donovan Woods

Heartstreets

The Dill

Rawlins Cross

Love Wagon

Madison Galloway

The Bearskins

Day 3

Blue Rodeo

The Flatliners

Dear Rouge

Carole Pope (Rough Trade)

Land of Talk

Weaves

Haviah Mighty

Les Deuxluxes

Bedouin Soundclash
Ellevator

Alanna Gurr & The Greatest State

Leeroy Stagger

Bonnie Trash

cleopatrick

Lee Watson

Riverfest Elora 2018: Day 3: Dear Rouge - Concert Photos

Drew and Danielle McTaggart and their band are Dear Rouge. I caught them once again at their main stage Riverfest Elora 2018 performance.

They really know how to put on a great rock show. Danielle McTaggert keeps your attention rapt as she paces the stage, sings and plays keyboards. She reaches out to every audience member and engages them in the performance, drawing them into the hook-filled songs and making them move along to the beat. I couldn't describe their music any better than I did the first time I saw them, "The songs are exquisitely crafted pop gems with big beats and huge ear-worm choruses."

I've captured the always entertaining and ever-photogenic band a couple of times in the past: at The Ex in 2017 and at Riverfest Elora back in 2016. Click those links to see those photos.

"Live Through The Night"

"I Heard I Had"

"Black to Gold"

"Best Look Lately"

"Tongues"; my favourite Dear Rouge song

"Boys and Blondes"