Pemberton Day 2: Hometown Heroes Black Mountain Tempt Fates

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It was Black Mountain's singular fate to have the least distance to travel and the most to prove at Pemberton. This may be why the heralded Vancouver band waited to start their side stage set until they were certain their mainstage neighbors (fellow Maple Leafers the Tragically Hip) were finished. As having the most to prove goes, playing up against Canada's most-loved band is about as undesirable as it gets. Still, a sizeable crowd of hipsters gathered (many of whom have probably served Stephen McBean coffee back in the city) to hear Black Mountain's In the Future served up loud and in its near entirety, with "Stormy High" and "Angels" at the forefront of a very speedy set. For all McBean's strategizing, he neglected one thing: starting late means ending late, and he was forced to thrash his way through the last few songs as the hip kids wandered off to see the Flaming Lips.

For complete coverage of the Pemberton Festival, check out rocknrolldiary.com.

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Song Stories

“He Will Break Your Heart”

Jerry Butler | 1960

A lightly swinging Latin-influenced, almost cha-cha groove and close harmonies decorated Jerry Butler's early soul hit "He Will Break Your Heart," delivering a stately warning that his rival would never love his girl like he did. The melody came to Butler as he was driving on the highway from Atlantic City, New Jersey, to Philadelphia with Curtis Mayfield, and as Butler told Rolling Stone, "I just sang the melody and Curtis put the chords to it." The song's premise, Butler added, "was something that I'd lived ...The lyric was an experience rather than a revelation. Whereas music is usually a revelation."

More Song Stories entries »

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