Pristine Douglas fir forests. Glittering coastal waters. Gallons of sunscreen. A few thousand of your closest friends. Ground shaking sets. World-class talent. These are the ingredients to the most epic of all summer concerts on Vancouver Island, Rock The Shores.

Grab your sunglasses and favorite hat and follow the migration of music lovers to the laid-back coastal town of Colwood, BC. Make your way through the gates, find that perfect patch of festival real estate, pitch your lawn chair or spread your blanket out on the sprawling green lawn and tune into high-caliber performances from Vancouver Island’s biggest and finest homegrown talent as well as popular artists from around the globe.

Spanning  July 22nd to July 24th, the first-class festival will keep you rocking all day long with performances by artists such as Current Swell, Jesse Roper, Jon and Roy, Towers and Trees, City and Colour, the Cat Empire, the New Pornographers, Metric and more. To learn more about this three-day extravaganza, we caught up with one of the brilliant minds behind the festival, Dimitri Demers, who with the help of co-founder Nick Blasko, has committed to developing Vancouver Island’s burgeoning music scene.

Water trip from Seattle to Victoria

Q: This year marks the fifth year of Rock the Shores. What do you feel that you’ve learned over the past few years that has made the festival an easy and enjoyable experience for you, the bands and the fans?

A: Rock The Shores is built on a foundation of teamwork across the board. Everyone who has a part, large or small, in making it happen loves music and loves the event. This passion combined with smooth and steady organization, leads to an awesome experience on all levels. Great customer service and a beautiful site, means fans are hopefully as happy and enthusiastic as they can possibly be when bands hit the stage.

Meanwhile backstage we try to do our utmost to take care of bands and make them feel appreciated, which means they’ll hopefully be in a great mood when they perform. Then when these two factors meet, you typically end up with an amazing atmosphere all around!

The Rock The Shores crowd comes to life as the band takes the stage. Photo: Veronica Bonderuda
The Rock The Shores crowd comes to life as the band takes the stage. Photo: Veronica Bonderuda

Q: When first starting out, what was the main goal for Rock the Shores?

A: To deliver a solid straight forward rock-centric festival with a scope that had previously not been seen on Vancouver Island. It’s a home grown vibe, delivered in a first class manner.

Q: How did you pick Colwood as the location for Rock the Shores?

A: The festival site is beautiful, highly functional, and very accessible, and the West Shores community has been very, very welcoming. It’s rare in North America for this many positive factors to be attached to a festival site. What more could you ask for!

Continuous ocean beachfront set against bright blue waters provide the perfect backdrop for the festival. Photo: Jeff Hitchock
Continuous ocean beachfront set against bright blue waters provide the perfect backdrop for the festival. Photo: Jeff Hitchock

Q: With new festivals popping up in droves these days, have you found that the booking process gets more and more competitive (particularly this year with some of the big tickets that jumped back onto the market)? 

A: Right now the festival market is very competitive, but we think Rock The Shores has always been able to boast bands from all over the world in a decidedly home grown environment. This is accomplished by starting on the booking and programming process as early as a year out.

Q: What are you most excited about for this upcoming festival?

A: There is a lot to be excited about, but maybe one thing in particular is the 7 Mile Social we’re holding to kick things off on Friday, July 22. This is basically a showcase of the most exciting acts of the moment from Vancouver Island! The talent is top notch, and the ticket price for this day in particular is very reasonable. Judging from ticket sales so far, we are not the only ones excited about this part of Rock The Shores!

 

 

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Feature Photo: Deringer Photography