For the fifth year running, the Khatsahlano Street Party shut down ten blocks of West 4th Ave here in Vancouver for the city's largest free music & arts festival. With a half dozen stages, there were over fifty bands playing throughout the day, as well as activities throughout, and hundreds of vendors lining the streets.

It ran from 11am, but I didn't get there until early afternoon, regretfully missing The Ruffled Feathers early on, arriving at the main stage on Burrard just in time for Louise Burns. The overcast weather was much more appropriate for her noir-pop than the blisteringly sunny days we've been having recently, as Louise and Her Victims (her backing band comprised of members of Ladyhawk and Jody Glenham) played some old favourites like "Emeralds Shatter" and the heart-breakingly haunting "Heaven", but also and teased some new songs from the album they are busy recording. One I believe called "Pharoah" had a dark, Fleetwood Mac-ish feel to it, and the other, which I didn't catch the name of, was a more rocking song and perhaps my favourite of the set.

From there it was over to the Peak Performance Project stage, where this year's top 12 were playing half-hour sets throughout the day. I only caught a few of the acts, first Windmills, the alter ego of Cory Myraas who was on stage alone with only a drum pad and looping pedal as his backup. His set was full of chill, ambient-pop songs, my favourite of which being "Shame", with a chorus that proclaimed "You're a mistake worth repeating". Cory was also pretty engaging with a good presence -- especially his awkwardly charming banter, which included a few bad great puns.

After him was JP Maurice, in the competition for the third time. Going from one guy to a stage full of a half dozen people, JP's backup band included three members of the now-defunct Fields of Green. He played mostly new songs, including a bombastic, anthemic rock song which featured a guy from fellow PPP band Mindil Beach come out for a rap breakdown. But it wasn't all new songs, as he wrapped up with fan-favourite (judging by the bouncing people at the front of the stage) "The Other One".

The last PPP act that I caught was my favourite of this year's crop (which shouldn't be surprising to regular readers) Chersea. Her set was a little delayed with technical problems, but as soon as she started she brought up the energy and drew a nice crowd with her catchy alt-pop and incredibly powerful voice, as she looped synth, keys, drum pad, and even a trumpet, all on her own. Chersea even brought the crowd into her looping process, getting everyone to yell "hey!" and integrating that into the song. After what seemed like too short of a set, she ended with her current Peak-single, a dark and moody song called "The Wolf".

After a mid-day break for food, I made my way to the Vine stage for Hot Panda and their jittery art-pop. Their big energy and big sound drew a big crowd (including one curious infant at the side of the stage). A couple standout songs included "See You All Around" which started with a nice back-and-forth between Catherine Hiltz on bass and Chris Connelly on guitar, before ending with teased (and delivered) drum solo from Aaron Klassen; and "Masculinity" which featured Hiltz playing the trumpet while simultaneously playing her bass, a feat that Connelly jokingly downplayed by pointing out that HE was simultaneously playing guitar and singing!).

Festivals like this are always bound to have some overlaps, and from Hot Panda I ran back over to the main stage only to catch a little bit of The Belle Game. They played new songs with their new, leaner lineup that had a bit of an soulful R&B influence to them. But the centrepiece is still Andrea Lo's soaring voice, which carried a block away.

And finally, wrapping up the night was a band that had headlined the very first Khats, Yukon Blonde. They burst on stage as Jeff Innes yelled "Kitsilanooooo!" and launched into the first song off their brand new album On Blonde, "Confused". The entire band seemed to be on top of their game, as they rocked the growing crowd, who were more interested in the bands' "Fire" than the sprinkling rain.
As well as new songs like "I Wanna Be Your Man", the band dipped back into their catalogue for the immaculate harmonies of "Rather Be With You" and the ridiculously catchy "Radio".
After they wrapped up the main set with a song that sounded like it would be perfect as the theme for a new Back To The Future movie, "Favourite People", they indulged the chanting crowd with one more song. First they urged everyone to forget the "Vancouver dancing" (of just bobbing your head) and indulge in some "Ibiza dancing!", before ripping into an incendiary rendition of favourite "My Girl", culminating with Brandon Scott leaping off the stage and crowdsurfing down a packed West 4th Ave.

Every year Khatsahlano has been a great display of local talent and vendors, especially the last few years since they added the Peak Performance Project stage. And even with a little bit of clouds and drizzle (which, I think after the unseasonable hot spring and summer so far was a welcome respite) it was still packed with people checking everything out. It was a fun day, and I'm already looking forward to next year.

Photos by Christine McAvoy