The current Festival, which first appeared in the United Kingdom in 1996 and was then transplanted to Canada in 2006 in Toronto, hosted musicians such as Our Lady Peace, Broken Social Scene and K-OS. This is the second Virgin Festival in BC; the first was in 2007 at Thunderbird Stadium, where My Chemical Romance, The Killers and AFI also performed.

1:30 pm: The British Columbians opened the Festival with a short 20 minute set, capped off by "Gasoline Handshake" from their self-titled debut CD, a good example of the energy and vibe the indie rock band from Port Moody brings. Next up was the hilarious Matt Nathanson, who ranted about Miley Cyrus (and wrote a song about it too) and "ice cream." Nathanson was promoting his new release "Some Mad Hope."

2:15 pm: Back up at the smaller Festival Stage, Chris Velan from Montreal graced the crowd with a collection of sweet melodies, the best of which was "Out Of Range." Velan sounds similar to Jack Johnson, yet still contains his own originality along with harmonious, lilting vocals. It would not be suprising if Velan would be playing at the Virgin Mobile Stage in the future, beating in time on his guitar.

2:45 pm: The first time MUTEMATH was at Virgin Festival in 2007, the only memorable part of their performance was lead singer Paul Meany's stage antics and destructions, including that of his bass. This time the band actually stuck to the music (for the most part) and the sound came out very clean and honest, and you could feel the rock in your bones. But you can always count on MUTEMATH for crowd surfing, as Meany and drummer Darren King both did it at separate times, Meany taking his microphone stand and King his drum, drumsticks and drum cover with him. The New Orleans band has a new album, Armistice, coming out August 18.

4:00 pm: Normally rap or hip-hop is not a particular favourite of mine, but K-OS was the best set of the evening. K-OS' sixth album, Yes! was released this past year, and the Canadian artist reached platinum with Joyful Rebellion in 2004. Freestyling twice, K-OS was all hussle and energy, and probably one of the friendliest artists to the crowd. Also impressive were his vocals and his originality, more music than sampling.

5:25 pm: It's amazing that they can fit all of the members of Broken Social Scene on one stage! The crowd is starting to get larger now as the late comers are entering the scene, and about half of the people are standing. The ten members of Broken Social Scene (including members of Stars and Metric) pump out a 50 minute long jam session; Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning and Andrew Whiteman each taking turns at the mic. Canning looks pretty stylish in his green skinny jeans. Though the songs may have been a smidgen over-extended, the music was fun blues-rock. Plus K-OS joined in with another dash of freestyling!

6:20 pm: During Plants and Animals, one guy cries out "That was…mediocre!" Warren Spicer's response: "Thank you for those words of encouragement (laughing)." Actually, they were better than mediocre; the Montreal trio rock the house with "Feedback in the Field" and show great promise for the future.

7:00 pm: Despite a faulty mike, Our Lady Peace still manages to enthrall the crowd that has now swelled to the path separating the Virgin Mobile Stage from the Festival Stage. Raine Maida and Co. were pushing their new CD Burn, Burn, their first studio album in four years. Maida's voice is sometimes choppy throughout the set, and the hit singles "Innocent" and "Somewhere Out There" seem to fall short of the grand emotional measures of the songs. "Superman's Dead" is a definite crowd pleaser, and Maida and the band nail this one down with perfection. Being the default headliners, Our Lady Peace did a considerable job. Maida even threw out a dig at the Bacardi Breezer tent; "Seven dollars for a drink? In this recession?"