The first-ever Legends Valley Music Festival blew into Laketown Ranch last weekend.
Crowds were understandably smaller than at the long-running Sunfest country music extravaganza, which has just relocated to the Lake Cowichan site, but the campsite was filled by Friday night and there were plenty of music lovers out to enjoy a host of great groups on two stages.
Forgotten Rebels, a band whose roots go right back to the 1970s, pulled the crowd towards the main stage when lead singer Mickey De Sadist pranced around on stage wearing a scarlet velvet coat, a pink ruffled shirt, spandex leggings and a hat that looked like it came from a road production of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
Then, it was time for mellow fellow, Daniel Wesley, who had everyone singing along with him by including such crowd favourites as ‘Day-O’.
He was followed as darkness fell by Bif Naked, who brought her signature brand of excitement to the event. She had been around the site earlier and several fans were able to boast of getting a picture taken with her.
Finally, the Sheepdogs made their eagerly awaited appearance on the huge stage, winding up a stellar opening night.
At the same time, the Roachella stage was also blasting out great tunes with a lineup featuring such bands as Power Clown, Buckman Coe and The Librarian.
That set the tone and the whole event continued with two more full days of music and fun with Saturday night’s big draw, Sublime with Rome, bringing in a lot of fans on the strength of their name alone.
The event also featured a cannabis expo, with a large number of booths featuring everything from free samples and information about medical marijuana to vendors selling books about pot and plenty of colourful clothing.