The Five Acre Shaker is determined to make a splash for its fifth anniversary, and organizers just got a bit closer. The Shaker announced on Thursday, June 27 that Said the Whale will be the final headliner for the weekend event.
Vancouver’s Said The Whale will join an already impressive lineup that includes Friday night headliner Daniel Wesley and Sunday night stars Harlequin.
READ: Port Alberni’s Five Acre Shaker goes geen
This JUNO Award-winning, radio chart-topping indie rock band be the headliner on Saturday, Aug. 10.
“Adding Said The Whale to our lineup really makes a statement,” explained Lance Goddard, the driving force behind the Shaker, in a press release. “Any day you can bring a Juno award winning artist to the Alberni Valley is a great day in my eyes. This strong lineup sends a message that the Shaker is here to stay and is able to attract big names in the music industry.”
What started out as a songwriting experiment for members of Said The Whale in high school soon lit up the stage. That was in 2007, and the band is still going strong. They have taken the project back to its freeform roots while simultaneously venturing forward into uncharted art-pop territory.
As Long As Your Eyes Are Wide is the group’s fifth album, and it was recorded amidst a period of turnover. Following the success of 2013’s hawaiii, which spawned the Canadian rock/alternative number 1 hit “I Love You,” bassist Nathan Shaw and long-time drummer Spencer Schoening both left the lineup. Now operating as a trio — with frontmen Tyler Bancroft and Ben Worcester and keyboardist Jaycelyn Brown — the group briefly considered making separate solo records before ultimately deciding to enter the studio with no preconceptions and no concrete plan.
“It’s a return to how Tyler and I used to make music, which is just experimenting with anything and everything,” said Worcester. “We started out using Casio keyboards and drumbeats on our computers, and then we turned into a rock band. This is a return to being free to make anything.”
After so much change and uncertainty in recent years, Said The Whale has emerged as a unified force. While some listeners are bound to see the overhauled sound as a reinvention, it’s really just the latest step forward. They’ve evolved, but the DNA is the same, and the group’s musical partnership is more fruitful than ever, and they are ready to take the stage at the fifth annual Five Acre Shaker.
See www.fiveacre.ca for tickets and a full lineup.
Said the Whale is also currently running a contest online, offering an opportunity for one young band (age 18 and under) to perform as the opening act for Said the Whale at the Malkin Bowl on September 6, 2019. Three Port Alberni artists have entered. Vote for Stranger Than Fiction, Aydin Stanton and Sturdy Lemon at saidthewhale.com/vancouver and help them get into the Top 20.