The Ness Creek festival site is strewn with signs announcing that you're in black bear country. But to be honest, any bears hoping to rummage through neglected coolers and sip from discarded Pilsner cans Saturday night were likely scared away by the first thundering chords from the Pack A.D.'s rousing set.
The Vancouver duo were making their Ness Creek debut, and probably felled a few trees simply with the sonic force of singer/guitarist Becky Black's thudding power chords and her Sleater Kinney-inspired wail. Black's partner-in-crime, drummer Maya Miller, kept up a swift pace, notably on the blistering "Animal" from 2014's Do Not Engage and on "Ride," the band's tricky 5/4 ode to driving through the night. Miller also chatted with the crowd more than the taciturn Black, at one point offering her blood to the approximately nine million mosquitos fluttering around the site. Those are the sacrifices you make to play Ness, after all; at least the bears stayed away.
The Vancouver duo were making their Ness Creek debut, and probably felled a few trees simply with the sonic force of singer/guitarist Becky Black's thudding power chords and her Sleater Kinney-inspired wail. Black's partner-in-crime, drummer Maya Miller, kept up a swift pace, notably on the blistering "Animal" from 2014's Do Not Engage and on "Ride," the band's tricky 5/4 ode to driving through the night. Miller also chatted with the crowd more than the taciturn Black, at one point offering her blood to the approximately nine million mosquitos fluttering around the site. Those are the sacrifices you make to play Ness, after all; at least the bears stayed away.