LAKE COWICHAN — No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani delivered a mega performance to close out the Laketown Shakedown Festival on Sunday, adding a glamorous touch to the event in front of nearly 7,000 fans.
“Look who showed up!” the pop star shouted shortly after the start of her headlining set, which marked the arrival of the biggest star to ever play the Lake Cowichan Festival.
Every year, event organizer Wideglide Entertainment makes minor changes to the on-site operations, but currently Laketown Ranch has little room for improvement: It sits on 400 acres of private property and is an outdoor venue unlike any other in this part of the country.
The camping creates a small village feel, as visitors roam the grounds at all hours of the day and night. But the main focus is the music. Metchosin rocker Jesse Roper brought a buzz on Friday and rapper Busta Rhymes brought a raw intensity to the festival on Saturday, but the festival’s mix of local and international pop, rock and hip-hop acts worked best this year when Stefani was on hand. And she made every step count.
Stars of her stature don’t usually do their own sound check at festivals, so it was a surprise to see the 54-year-old on stage in the early afternoon, familiarizing herself with everything during her timed walk-through. It was a shock for the experienced crew on site, said festival manager Mike Hann.
“She is an absolute professional. The way she came to the sound check and spent the whole day on location was incredible.”
On Sunday, temperatures reached 20°C around dinnertime in Lake Cowichan, which was good news for the final night of the three-day event. This temperature is below the summer weather expected at this time, which hurt the festival in terms of overall attendance. It even rained on Saturday.
Any event where camping plays a major role is at the mercy of Mother Nature, and the lack of warmth was felt at the Laketown Shakedown this weekend.
So credit goes to Stefani, whose first full performance on Vancouver Island since 1992 was a great one. She was in high spirits throughout and lived up to her reputation as a dazzling stage performer. She’s an A-lister for a reason, and it showed on Sunday. The production quality alone made her the act to beat this year and every year.
Other acts on the bill included members of Los Angeles hip-hop collective Jurassic 5, alt-rocker Grandson and Vancouver rapper BBNO$, who provided some comical entertainment at the festival – and on his birthday, no less. Stefani stood tallest, however, in front of the biggest crowd of the weekend, many of whom were amazed at the sight of the Do not speak Singer.
Stefani even had tears in her eyes at one point as she brought the first of several young female fans onstage during her performance. The icon – who has clearly learned a thing or two in her 30-plus years in music and television – handled the conversations with class.
Hits from her solo career and her time with No Doubt were included (from It’s my life And Cool To Hey baby And Spider webs), but there were outstanding moments. Purple Iriseswhich she sang with her husband, country star Blake Shelton, on this very stage at Sunfest last year, was a surprise and held its own alongside the beach-friendly Under allwhich was received enthusiastically.
Shelton did not perform on stage this year.
Strangely enough, her most famous hit is Do not speakwas the only boring song of the evening. The call and response of Hollaback Girlselastic radio from Rich girl, and Dr. Dre-produced Let me blow your mind (which made good use of Stefani’s eight background dancers and gave her time for a costume change) were exceptional.
The organizers definitely saved the best for last.
With 60 million records sold worldwide, Stefani definitely deserves the hype beforehand and gives Laketown Shakedown something special that next year’s edition can build on.
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