Yellowknife crowd finds calm as FONTINE steers a soulful set at the lake

Soft-focus moments amid summertime volume

The mid-afternoon sun hung bright over Long Lake as a steady crowd slipped into the shade and sand at Folk on the Rocks’ Camp Radio Lakefront Stage. On one side, the festival’s main stage heaved with youthful energy as teen headbangers Cows Go Moo tore through towering covers. A few hundred metres away, FONTINE — the project of songwriter Fontine Beavis — held her own with a set of folk-tinged indie rock that asked listeners to lean in rather than shout along.

The sound carried across the site in waves: a distant snare crack from Metallica or Black Sabbath between songs, then the return to Beavis’s measured delivery. The bleed was noticeable, but it didn’t derail the quieter mood on the lakefront. Audience members perched on benches in the sand, a few stepped forward to sway, and someone drifted past on an inflatable hot dog, a small summertime diorama behind a log-cabin-like stage trimmed with crossed canoe paddles, a dart board and a lone pair of tighty-whities clipped to a line.

A voice built for clarity, not clutter

Beavis’s singing sat at the set’s centre — airy yet grounded, with a hint of R&B ease that never overwhelmed the stripped-down arrangements. The band — her jokingly dubbed crew of “hot boys” — kept time with an unfussy pulse that gave songs room to breathe. Listeners caught shades of Land of Talk and the earthier side of prairie indie, a line that traces back to her Winnipeg roots and to work with fellow Winnipeg songwriter Boy Golden, who co-produced last year’s Good Buddy.

With the set unfolding under a bright 4 p.m. sky, the pace felt unhurried. “Body Double” floated on a steady beat before pivoting into slowed-down passages that clipped any urge to two-step, a choice that guided the crowd away from full-on dancing toward quiet focus. In a different lane, the waltz-time lilt of “Home Right Here” drew the biggest hush, landing with the kind of refrain that fitted the shoreline and the moment.

“I wonder when I will be back again / I feel at home right here.”

Finding space in a festival’s bustle

It can be tricky to keep a gentle set intact when a neighbouring stage is flexing volume. Here, the contrast actually sharpened what Beavis does best. Between the main stage’s parade of hard-rock touchstones — Metallica, Black Sabbath and Guns N' Roses among them — the lakefront numbers arrived like postcards, compact and plain-spoken. The breaks between songs carried a blast from next door, then settled back into conversational stage banter and a tight rhythm section.

The scene felt distinctly northern: open lake, dry breeze, and that particular Yellowknife mix of families, festival diehards and visitors stretched across driftwood and blankets. The set rewarded patience, putting melody and words ahead of spectacle, and it met the summer afternoon where it stood — bright light, long shadows, and the choice to look outward rather than up at a bank of strobes.

What the audience took home

Those who edged close to the stage found a songwriter committed to clarity and craft. The songs didn’t chase an easy groove; they asked for attention and gave it back in verse turns and small dynamic shifts. For a city that prides itself on listening rooms and community stages, this was a reminder that Folk on the Rocks can still carve a quiet pocket in the rush of a festival day. Beavis kept the energy candid and lightly self-deprecating, introducing her group with a smile and letting the music take the lead.

If you listened past the rattle of a far-off snare fill, what remained was a set that felt hand-built — a bit of roots grit, a careful indie frame and a voice that carried cleanly over the water. It wasn’t a soundtrack for a mosh pit. It was a mid-summer reflection delivered without hurry, and, by the look of it, just what a corner of the Yellowknife crowd came for.

Set snapshots

• Lakefront intimacy offset a louder main-stage barrage, highlighting FONTINE’s restraint.
• “Body Double” shifted tempo, steering the crowd from dancing to close listening.
• “Home Right Here” landed as a gentle waltz, its refrain echoing the afternoon’s ease.

As the final notes faded and the next gust from the main stage rolled across the sand, the lakefront crowd drifted back toward the boardwalk and vendor tents, carrying the last line of the waltz like a souvenir — at ease, and home, right here.