Even under grey skies and with a taste of snow in the air — Blackcomb was dusted white — the inaugural concert of the Whistler edition of Wanderlust was well-attended by a chanting & grooving crowd of earthy types getting down to the mantras of Krishna Das.

I dug it. The whole thing was exactly the dose of meditative sounds I was looking for, no earplugs nor aging tastes in tired rockers required — just Hare Krishna hippies.

Creating an authentic, spiritual vibe is essential for this kind of event, and I believe some deep bows are in order to Wanderlust, whose stage banners displayed artistic depictions of sky and landscapes without a sponsor logo to be seen. Whistler festivals take note: it is possible to seek corporate sponsorship without branding every centimetre! This meant that the stage itself was free from logos, and free to express solely the intent of the performing artists — just the Wanderlust symbol and title, with hearts and stars dangling from the rafters. This is nearly without precedent in Whistler’s profoundly corporate sports + festival culture, and I hope can serve to be a mature model for other festivals.

Speaking of the vibe, all was moving into bliss and darkness until some auto-robot or muni employee decided to play Lighting Guy and subject the crowd and seated fans to eye-popping purple LEDs. An audible groan arose from the crowd, and it took about 20 minutes for somebody to figure out that hey, putting people under a surveillance spotlight kind of ruins the vibe, so eventually we got some deep reds instead of bright purple. Even then, it made sitting in the stone amphitheatre a real eye-dazzler and the crowd was lit up for no apparent purpose. Is this for legal reasons or what? Even then, how about using the lights on the west side that face away from the seated amphitheatre crowd? It is this kind of lack of attention to aesthetic detail that still dogs events at the Olympic Plaza.

Alright, gathering my goods together for some meditative sound sessions at 2pm, and the Feast in the Mountains at 6pm in Rebliagati Park…