Recording: DIANA

Artist: DIANA

Song: Confession

Recorded at Artscape Daniels Spectrum (Venus Fest), September 30, 2017.

DIANA - Confession

The idea of a "feminist music festival" might bring to mind an earnest folkie gathering, maybe off in a forest somewhere, but this first annual event was nothing like that, using inclusive and intersectional ideals as guideposts to programming a day of wide-ranging musics. The brainchild of local musician Aerin Fogel, Venus Fest was an ambitious undertaking, presenting a dozen performances in Daniels Spectrum's spacious multi-purpose Regent Park digs. And it all came together quite wonderfully, highlighting a diverse slate of mostly local musicians and incorporating flourishes like Vanessa Rieger's live-mixed visuals. With this first festival completed, there's a new "sessions" series starting up, and lots of energy to build on the positive vibes this day released.

Rolling a half-dozen members deep, there's a lot of moving parts to get set up quickly for this group to play a festival set. And though there were a few points where it looked like several of the members were adjusting and fixing things on the fly, their lush, layered sound cruised like a smooth oiled machine. Only backing vocalist Gary Beals wasn't on hand from when I last saw this expanded lineup, but that left more room for Ivy Mairi to dance and support Carmen Elle's vocals.