Bob Mackin News Reporter THREE big events turn 16 years-oid this summer. One’s a fireworks display in English Bay sponsored by a multinational nicotine pusher. Another is a brewery-spon- sored auto race around False Creek. Compared to the cther two, the third produces a miniscule amount of fumes and noise. And it’s right here in North Vancouver’s Cates Park. It’s called Under the Volcano and it’s the little festi- val that could. Don’t go looking for a slice of birthday cake Sunday at the {999 version of the people- powered Festival of Art and Social Change. Instead, come prepared for enough music, art, and political information to feed the mind and soothe the soul. The festival, which drew only 300 people the fizst year, was dubbed Under the Voleane after the signature work by author Malcolm Lowry: he penned the autobio- graphical tome in a squatter’s shack on the shores of Deep Cove. A plaque marks the approximate location of the long gone habitation. Co-organizer Meegan Maultsaid says the 10th anniversary marks a return to the festival’s grassroots. Last year, industrial /hip-hoppers Consolidated and Hain’s Boukman Eksperyans head- lined the mainstage. The for- mer is a veteran of alternative tock festivals while Lie latter was on the folk festival circuit. Attendance hit 8,500, only 500 more than the previous year. Maultsaid says interna- tional acts with popular appeal can attract a inore diverse audi- ence, but they can also change the flavour of the event. “You start to border on being the same structure as other festivals,” says Maultsaid. “There could be a tendency for Volcano te look like anether tock festival, a rock festival with a slanc. We don’t want to be viewed that way. We have worked hard to establish the festival as its own entity.” Under the Volcano is also a name that embodies the radical politics of the organizing col-. lective, headed by local artist /activist Irwin Oostindie. Self-determination for Indigenous peoples, human rights, international economic rm, and anti-militarism are causes promoted through the festival’s myriad political tables. Ie’s essentially a gathering of people exercising their free- dom of speech, something that can’t be said for other music festivals — even the Vancouver Folk Music Festival doesn’t offer as much to ponder. Under the Volcano begins with storytelling on the kids’ stage at 1] a.m. and wraps up wih the organic electronica and dub bass vibe of Third Eye Tribe almost 12 hours later. In between isa truly eclec- tic mix: A pair of daylight raves; breakdancers Contents Under Pressure and capoeira troupe Ache Brasil exhibiting; Vancouver Slam ioetry Team; dancers and singers from the Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish Nations; Japanese taiko drum- mers; and hip-hop singer Ninaie Srarr. Te commemorate the cen- tennia! cf tare Tsleil-Waucuth Chief Dan George's birth, Loretta Todd’s documentary ipes Viotst inck Records photo KINNIE Starr's latest album is in limbo because of 2 corporate takeover. But you can hear her the new songs performed live by the Vancouverite with her new band Sunday at Under the Veicano in Cates Park. on the First Nations icon will be screened tice in the film and video tent. His son, Chief’ Leonard George, will address the crowd and perform with the Children of Takaya. “We're on their traditional land and they’re a pivotal point of the festival,” says Maultsaid. “We feel very humble around them.” Jacob Cino, founder of Vancouver's Third Eye Tribe, is making his second appearance at Cates Park. “The audience is definitely a mix. The music that’s represented is very mixed as well. It goes everywhere from hardcore to hip hop to traditional Haida groups.” Cino enjoys taking his music outside for a fresh audi- ence. “People are there primarily for the music and they’re not there to get drunk or aid. There’s not tobacco smoke in the air and there’s a full spee- trum of ages and sexual orien- tations and races there. I find playing bars to be homoge- nized, it’s all 19-24 year olds dressed the same. At these fes- tivals, I have 60-70 year olds bobbing their heads to the beat.” Cino will be joined onstage for a freestyle jam at the end of the night by fellow Vancouverite Kinnie Starr. Starr has an earlier mainstage slot with her new band. Ir could be the only place to hear her new songs for a while, because a year-old album stil hasn’t made it to record stores on Def Jam/Island records. The alburn is gathering dust as a victim of the Universal Music takeover of Island’s parent company Polygram. “T usually just rage at shows these days, scream my head off because I’m so frustrated,” she says. A kinder, gentler Starr will be on the kids’ stage at 3 p.m. “rolling some basic hip hop beats.” “Ie’s amazing to see chil- dren go from being real shy and not even being able to say their names into the mic, then to have them grab the mic from you and sing the whole chorus,” she says Friday, August 6, 1999 ~ North Shore News - 25 A Sunday in the park 50 artists on five stages in 55-acre Cates Park on Sunday, Aug. 8. Gares open 12 a.m. te 10:30 p.m; admission $5- $20 (pay what you can). Parking is limited. Organizers urge festivalgoers to bike, walk or take transit. Shurtle buses run benveen Phibbs Exchange and Cates Park from 11 a.m.-3 p.m, and 8-11 p.m. Main Stage (M) and Waterfront Stage (W): 12:15 p.m. Saltwater June (M); 1 p.m. Blood Music Project (W); 1:25 p.m. Yu-Ping Chen (M); 2 p.m. Squamish Nation Eaglesong Dancers (W); 2:05 p.m. Sailani Sharma (M); 2:30 p.m. Flying Folk Army (M); 2:45 p.m. Sawagi Taiko (W); 3:15 p.m. Chief Leonard George and Children of Takaya (M); 3:30 p.m. Sara & Tegan (W); 4 p.m. Raices (M); Niga; 4:15 p.m. Web (W); 5 p.m. Lourdes Perez (M); byathread (W); 5:45 p.m. Rigor Coloma (W); 5:35 p.m. Elizabeth Fischer (M); 6:30 p m. Los Higos De La Crisis (W); 6:35 p.m. Contents Under Pressure (M); 7:30 p.m. Once Against (W); 8:45 p.m. Submission Hold (M); 9:25 p.m. Arr & Revolution Collective (M); 9:45 p.m. Third Eye Tribe (M). Matcolm Lowry Stage (ML) and Folkinthebush (FIB): 12:45 p.ni. Michael Bzowy (FIB); 1:30 p.m. Open Stage (ML); 1:45 p.m. Rigor Coloma (FIB); 2:30 p.m. Vancouver Slam Poetry Team (MU); 2:45 p.m. TBA (FIB); 3:40 p.m. Abby Werner (ML); 3:45 p.m. Jim Page (PIB); 4 p.m. Jen Lam (ML); 4:20 p.m. Molly Starlight (ML); 4:40 p.m. Andrea Thompson (ML); 4:45 p.m. Laurel Albina (FIR); 5:00 Sarah Hunt (MI); 5:20 p.m. Ivan E. Coyote (ML); 5:40 p.m. Wayde Compton (ML); 5:45 p.m. joel (FIB); 6 p.m. Open Stage (ML). Kids Zone: 11 a.m. storytelling; 1 p.m. John The Juggler; 2 p.m. bellydancing; 3 p.m. Kinnic Starr & Friends; 3:30 p.m. Storytelling; 4 p.m. Contents Under Pressure; 5 p.m. storytelling; 6 p.m. Ache Brasil capoeira; 7 p.m. fire per- formers. Daylight Raves: Rave #1; noon to 8 p.m. DJ danny-V, DJ j-bone, DJ expo, TRCKZ, Jeet K; Rave #2: noon to 8 p.m. b-side collective. Film & Video Tent: noon Today Is a Good Day: Remembering Chief Dan George;12:45 p.m. Black Kat Cafe presents political shorts; 2 p.m. Video Out Distribution shorts; 3:30 p.m. Gulf Islands Film & Television Schools presents fn Your Face, 4:05 p.m. 1999 Video In & Out On Screen Scholarship Winners shorts; 5 p.m. Doing Time, 5:25 p.m. Shorts; 5:45 p.m. Today Is a Good Day: Remembering Chief Dan George; 6:30 p.m. Gulf Islands Film & Television Schools shorts from HIV Positive week; 7 p.m. In The Company Of Fear, 8 p.m. Luv aint tha Onlee Trith. Under the Volcano is presenting the day-long Relcarning Resistance anti-militarism and anti-imperialism conference Saturday at Britannia Community Centre and a protest opposing the Aerospace North America convention Tuesday at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre. For information about the festival, conference and protest, go to or call 683-7123. popular buxgér! Two acties stacked high with lestuce,: tomate & our Triple “G" sauce on our toasted bun: Served with our half Caesar & a slice of our . famous fresh B.C. For take-out call 310-SPOT.