Riverfest Elora 2023: A compendium of posts - Concert Photos

Riverfest Elora is my favourite summer music festival. It combines artists I love with new artists that I've never heard of that find a permanent spot in my music library. The vibe of the festival is chill and inviting, friendly and fun.

The 2023 edition of the festival is also their lucky 13th festival, and my sixth. And there wasn't a drop of rain during the festival!

Thanks to the Riverfest Elora team for curating and orchestrating an amazing weekend of music, fun, food and friends. And, of course, for granting me access to capture the images of the festival performers.

Follow the links below to individual posts on each artist that I covered.

Friday, August 18

The Reklaws

Matt Mays

Renforshort

Spoons

Shred Kelly

Adam Baldwin

Myst Milano.

Saturday, August 19

Metric

JJ Wilde

Talk

The Aggrolites

Rêve

Aviv

Fake Shark

Maestro Fresh Wes

Boogey the Beat

CJ Wiley

Vince the Messenger

Michael Costantini

Animal Boy

Sunday, August 20

Feist

Charlotte Cardin

Leif Vollebekk

Mobley

Kellie Loder

Skye Wallace

K-Man and the 45s

Shebad

Anna Padock & The Lay Awakes

Jiggity James

This was my sixth time covering Riverfest Elora. You can check out my coverage of previous years' through these links:

2016

2017

2018

2019

2022

I'm already looking forward to next year... 

Riverfest Elora 2023: Metric on the Main Stage - Concert Photos

Metric are Canadian indie-alternative music royalty! They were a great Saturday night headliner at Riverfest Elora 2023. They played a hit-filled set that dated back to Live it Out!, included brand new tunes, and everything in between.

I've captured a few Metric shows, most recently in London at the Budweiser Gardens in 2019. Before that,  it was Field Trip in 2018 and Riot Fest in 2014.

Everything Riverfest 2023 is right here in one post. Hope you enjoy all the photos.

"False Dichotomy"

"Breathing Underwater"

Metric at Budweiser Gardens - Concert Photos

Metric headlined Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario and I was lucky enough to be there to capture these photos. I also captured July Talk and Murray A. Lightburn's sets. Please click through to check out those photos, too.

Metric took to the stage and started into one of the songs that made me fall in love with the band way back when, "Dead Disco" from 2003's Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?. It put me into the right headspace to love this Metric show. That tune was the furthest back in the Metric cannon that we'd delve on this night, but that's just fine, thank you. The set spanned their recorded history and demonstrated just how consistently solid their output is, with due focus on their latest, Art of Doubt.

"Synthetica" is a solid rocker of a tune. "Breathing Underwater" is always a favourite, and the ending of the main set with "Gimme Sympathy", "Youth Without Youth" and "Gold Guns Girls" was powerful. "Dark Saturday" sounded awesome kicking off the encore, followed by another classic, "Monster Hospital". It all ended with "Now or Never Now" from their latest album, Art of Doubt.

I've only photographed Metric on two other occasions. Check out my photos from them at Field Trip in 2018 and from way back in 2014 at Riot Fest.

And here are some highlights from the band's set.

"Dead Disco"

"Synthetica"

"Risk"

"Breathing Underwater"

"Dressed to Suppress"

"Gimme Sympathy"

"Youth Without Youth"

"Gold Guns Girls"

"Dark Saturday"

"Monster Hospital"

"Now or Never Now"

Field Trip 2018: A Compendium of Posts - Concert Photos

Field Trip is always a highlight of the summer festival season. This 2018 edition was extra special. There were so many of my favourite acts that I was either seeing for the first time or was seeing put on some amazing performances. This was my first time seeing Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Damian 'Jr. Gong' Marley, Bahamas, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Haerts, Allan Rayman and more. I experienced great performances from bands I'd already seen before including Metric, Japandroids, Partner, Dizzy and Ellevator.

There were also a number of new discoveries for me; artists I wasn't familiar with going in that I walked away a fan of. These included Middle Kids, Allie X, Liza Anne, Jacob Banks, Pierre Kwenders and Charlotte Cardin. This is absolutely one of my favourite things about music festivals; discovering great new artists.

Please click through on the links below to check out photos of each artist, my thoughts on each performance and music from each artist.

Day 1

Metric

Noname

Damian 'Jr. Gong' Marley

Jacob Banks

Bahamas

Middle Kids

The Barr Brothers

Charlotte Cardin

Pierre Kwenders

Reuben and The Dark

Dizzy

Partner

Chris Larocca

Maddee

Day 2

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Allan Rayman

Alvvays

Deer Tick

Japandroids

Cuco

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue

Haerts

Allie X

Liza Anne

Ellevator

Field Trip 2018: Day 1: Metric on the Garrison Stage - Concert Photos

I've seen Metric perform a few times over the years. The only time I've photographed them before was a Riot Fest back in 2014. Those photos are here.

This Field Trip performance was a celebration. It has been nine years since Fantasies was released. To mark this milestone, we heard the entire album from front-to-back, plus a few more tunes from the rest of the band's catalogue, and some brand new music, too.

For whatever reason, I found this particular performance to have a fantastic energy that I thoroughly enjoyed. I'm looking forward to what's next with new music from the band and to covering them on the next chapter in the life of Metric.

These are some of my favourite tunes from their setlist.

"Help I'm Alive"

"Sick Muse"

"Gold Guns Girls"

"Gimme Sympathy"

"Dark Saturday"

"Black Sheep"

"Youth without Youth"

"Breathing Underwater"