CHRISTOPHER FRIESEN Enlarge Image

Zoppa at Lo Pub

After three days of Big Fun, it was time for a few rounds of coffee (or Mimosas), some greasy food and music that remained below a certain decibel level.

Thankfully, the genius organizers of the festival had this all worked out for the closing gig / brunch at the Lo Pub.

The curtain-closing afternoon show was a different sort of gig from other Big Fun events. The sound was low enough to carry a conversation and still make out tunes in the periphery, and the acts seemed to be more of a secondary character rather than the main draw. Every table in the day-lit room was filled with familiar faces from the nights before and play-by-plays of weekend highlights.

With bellies full and headaches fading, Bog River (consisting of Ben Hadaller, Carly Dow and Dave Barchyn) made a go for the crowd’s second wind, playing rousing old-time bluegrass, full of nimble banjo work and finger-picking acoustics, particularly on lively numbers Miner’s Delight and Mountains for Sale.

Jonnie Vaude & the Villains shuffled along to dusty, country-tinged roots rock while frontman Jon McPhail (Jon McPhail and His Band) stomped his foot to the rhythm and blew away at his kazoo, and then there was the quietly careening set by Matlock, Man., outfit Zoppa, led by the gorgeously unsure vocals of Micah Erenberg.

A round of applause goes out to the organizers of the festival. The event was well executed, the shows were excellently curated, I got to see acts that I already loved and discovered a few new ones on the way and if I had to measure the amount of fun that I had over the course of the weekend, I would say that the festival lived up to its name.