IN CONCERT: Tilt at the Phillips Backyard
Featuring The Beaches, Half Moon Run, Current Swell, Snotty Nose Rez Kids and more
Where: Phillips Brewing & Malting Co., 2010 Government St.
When: Saturday and Sunday, 3 p.m.
Tickets: $70 daily ($125 for a two-day pass) from
Information:
Glitterbomber, the first instalment of Phillips Brewing’s new three-part concert series, was deemed a success in May, despite some rainy weather and live-event rust from an extended layoff.
For an outdoor venue, with very little cover, drawing between 3,000 fans to the Phillips Backyard is a notable achievement. Co-producer Stephen Franke expects an even better turnout this weekend for Tilt! as both on-site operations and the weather have improved for the second of three two-day festivals planned for the Government Street brewery this summer.
“As a production team, it was our first time running concerts at Phillips, so it was a bit of a learning curve,” Franke said. “There was a little bit of trial and error involved, but moving into this weekend everything is right on track.”
Franke, who produces the event for the brewery with co-producer Morgan Brooker, said the May 14-15 concerts headlined by Future Islands and Bryce Vine ran into issues where on-site wait times were concerned. They have doubled beer ticket sales and bartender staff to accommodate the demand for the events headlined by Half Moon Run, Current Swell and Fleece on Saturday and The Beaches, Snotty Nose Rez Kids and Hotel Mira on Sunday.
Attendees can now purchase drink tickets ahead of time, which will streamline the customer experience, Franke said. Additional food trucks will also be on site, to reduce wait times.
“This will promise to be the best-attended weekend of the series, and the best part is we’re shining a light on only 91原创 acts,” Franke said. “And what should be the biggest night features Current Swell and Half Moon Run, two headliners groomed on 91原创 Island.”
Current Swell has been among the most popular groups in Victoria for the better part of a decade. Two members of Half Moon Run, Conner Molander and Dylan Phillips, were born and raised in the Comox Valley. Half Moon Run won the Juno Award for alternative album of the year in 2020 and 2022.
The stage is set for Saturday to reach 3,500 attendees, Franke said. “We are telling people to get there early, because it will be the busiest of the six days. Weather compliant, it should be one killer weekend.”
The series wraps Aug. 13-14 with Implosion Explosion, featuring St. Paul & Broken Bones, Charlotte Day Wilson and Andy Shauf. Tickets for the series are reasonably priced at $70 per day, or $125 for two-day pass, which is driving awareness, according to Franke.
“It has always been the motto of [brewery owner] Matt Phillips to keep prices down, and the good times up. It didn’t seem right to raise prices, considering what we’ve all been though and knowing that everything else in the world has increased.”
