All Caps! 2013 - Naked Men, Confetti, and More...

Rich Aucoin leads in group singing. Photo: Andrea Wrobel

It's 2am and I'm leaving my tent, pitched on the lawn of Gibraltar Point Arts Centre to brush my teeth. But, rather than making it to the bathroom, the sounds of a Death From Above remix draw me towards the beach. There against the breaking waves is a slew of partiers crowded around a stage covered with string lights, dancing to the beats of DJ Eytantobin. This is the second night of the final All Caps! Music Festival put on by Wavelength.

All Caps! started eight years ago and has been the guest of Artscape Gibraltar Point for the last three. Deemed the perfect "stay-cation", the two-day music festival on Toronto Island features a slew of bands, two nights of optional camping, a curated vegan-friendly menu, plenty of art-installations and even ping-pong and Jenga! All Caps! is about a community of music and art lovers who enjoy the escape these mediums provide.

Before I make it to the Island other festival goers recognize my camping gear and ask who I am most excited to see. Once across the lake, while making my way from the Hanlan's point ferry, a shuttle service picks me up and whisks me to my weekend getaway directly across from the haunted Gibraltar Point lighthouse. I arrive to the up-beat tones and thumping drums of Toronto duo Most People. Immediately I ditch my bag and head to the front of the stage. While it isn't even 4pm and many are strewn across the open lawn, I'm getting wrapped up in one of the more energetic sets of Most People. Complete with on-stage antics and beautifully-mixed harmonies, these two set the perfect tone for what I know will be an incredible weekend.



I set up my tent - which I may note is the only triangle-style tent in a sea of dome tents - to Ev Ree Wuhn's tripy, ambient sounds. As I'm setting up I can't help but feel like the odd-kid on the first day of school with the weird lunch. As other campers stop to congratulate me on the my efforts of erecting such a retro tent, the waves of anxiety wash away and I feel even more ingrained in this community.  Before heading over to the picnic tables to enjoy some food from Island Café with friends and some other writers, I catch a bit of Vancouver based Beekeeper's heavier, more Rockabilliy, Post-Pop set. The most memorable moment, though, comes when they fulfill the $50 wishes of an American in the crowd and play a cover of Alanis Morisette's "You Learn".

Khaela Maricich booty shakin'.
Photo: Brian Cauley

The rest of the crowd and me are slowly taken into the evening with the ironic and sarcastic musings of Shotgun Jimmie, and the distorted, messy, garage anthems of Hooded Fang before the heavily-anticipated set of The Blow. Khaela Maricich's quasi-rapping, sorta-monologue stage antics immediately mesmerize everyone and, along with the beautifully crafted beats of Melissa Dyne, no one can help but be transfixed. Maricich dances around the stage, expertly filling up the space in a way that is rare for a solo-act, and eventually makes her way into the rafters, using the crowd, to their delight, like props. Dyne watches on with her sound set-up from behind the crowd, working in and out of songs split-up with interludes of more steam-of-coniousness rantings from Marichich than typical "interactions" with the crowd. Marichich seems totally uninhibited and in her element, loosing herself in her moves and words, eventually confusing Torontonians for Portlandians - which (maybe?) is a compliment.

For the families and non-campers who didn't want to shell out the extra $8 for the night-owl ferry that was it for Day 1. For the rest of us the more magical parts of the evening begin. For the next 4 hours DJs play sets on both the main-stage and, through the bushes, on the secret beach stage. After DJ Anni Spadifora kicks things off I wander to the beach for a special, un-annonced set by Toronto's DIGITS. Immediately I feel like this was it, this is that unique moment that only All Caps! can bring. Letting everything go I begin to connect with a more primitive, inner-self. Dancing like a beast from Where The Wild Things Are, waves of complete joy sweep over me. After DIGITS I return to my tent to meditate to background noises from the math-derived sounds of the Algorave. Then, during my pre-sleep bathroom run, the sounds of DJ Eytantobin closing out the night call me back to the beach. Somehow, it seems as if the crowd has swelled. Between the two bonfires, the art-installations, and the surprisingly destabilizing sand we all dance like a beach-crazed cult performing a ritual.

The next morning sunlight and sounds of early-risers get me up at 9am - plenty of time to wander before the music starts at 3. I have a breakfast burrito, muffin, and lack-luster coffee with other campers before making it to the beach to wander around the Island. Not long into my wandering a stranger in cutoff shorts pulling on a cord asks me to hop into the over-sized hammock. An unknown number of voices calls to me from inside, letting me know they may or may not be naked. I hop in and am quickly followed by the person in cutoffs. After some lazing around, a nice foot cuddle, and discussion on best hammock lying practices, we start to deal with the far-to-complex ordeal of getting out. Ungracefully I flop out of what now feels like a canvas trap and travel out onto one of the piers overlooking the vastness of lake Ontario.

A Hindu inspired dance for Mother Earth.
Photo: Andrea Wrobel

I make it back to catch the edgy and bass-heavy riffs of the very young yet confident Watershed Hour, before heading onto the beach to see Pachamama play a set dedicated to the water. We watch as one member, dressed in Hindu garb, does traditional dances in praise of Mother Earth while the powerful words and vocals overwhelm. I am only drawn out of my trance to accept a free freezie before returning to what now feels more like an ecumenical ceremony. Keeping the crowd in a more reflective spirit, Matt Cully takes the stage with hypnotizing music of his solo project Eons. 

I return to the main stage to enjoy the orchestral sounds of Elfin Saddle. Unfortunately, due to a lack of amplification, the beautiful tones, powerful vocals and slow builds are lost of anyone further away from the stage. Things get a bit harder when alt-pop band Magneta Lane take the stage and play a harder that gets people up and ready for the last three bands of the night. Beliefs start closing this off as the sun starts setting, playing harder, spiraling, guitar driven songs. Then Catl. play a surprisingly catchy set, reminiscent of duos like The White Stripes or Whitehorse. 

And then I am there, at the front, ready for the last and most anticipated (personally, at least) musician - Rich Aucoin. Due to the schedule running behind and a few technical issues Rich doesn't go on until 10:20, meaning his set will end dangerously close to the last ferry rides. Right from the get-go it is evident Rich is trying out some new things. He begins with the usual fanfare, thanking everyone involved in All Caps! with unique messages that inter-splice YouTube clips playing on a projector screen. But the beginning clips go on much longer than usual and the mixes of his older songs sound a lot harder and cut shorter.. The energy is high and the mood reverent, but this different sound and pace has me feeling as if things are being rushed. I try to forget this and loose myself as Rich preaches from his singular lit-lightbulb to the crowd about community and believing in ourselves. I throw my hands up at the confetti cannons, yell back the choruses to the songs, and charge into the middle of the giant rainbow parachute that covers the entire All Caps! crowd. But I don't feel it like I did before. Maybe it is Rich, or maybe it's the end. Already it feels like things are gone.

But I have to believe in the words of organizers Jonny Dovercourt and Ryan McLaren when they say All Caps! must end for Wavelength to make way for new and better things. I, for one, will be eagerly waiting with anticipation.

Check out some of the photos from Andrea Wrobel and myself and let us know your experiences of All Caps! on Facebook or Twitter.

Brought to you by Brian Cauley.