Rifflandia starts tomorrow

Rifflandia starts up tonight and I gotta be honest, I’m pretty stoked. The hard part is deciding what to go to once I get over to the Island city. There’s a plethora of good choices right off the bat but I’ve been trying to catch Final Fantasy for years now and I can’t pass up this chance. Seeing as it was just Polaris time right now, it goes without saying that it should be mentioned that Owen Pallett was the first recipient of the award. What Owen does in Final Fantasy is just amazing and I can’t wait for the live experience. He’s playing at the Alix Goolden Hall (907 Pandora Avenue) at 9:30pm. Thus, this show is my anchor of the night, so whatever I go to has to fit around that. Lucky for me, the line-up at the Alix Goolden Hall seems like it’s gonna add up to a great night all in one place. Before Final Fantasy is Vancouverite, Christopher Smith who is new to me but sounds like he’ll be good. Then we've got a Polaris longlister, Timber Timbre. These guys are going to be an excellent lead up to Final Fantasy.

If Final Fantasy wasn’t playing, it would have been a toss up between the Market Square or Element. Element has a real powerhouse of Vancouver line-up starting with the Analog Bell Service leading into Dan Mangan and ending with Said the Whale. But, the Market square has some great acts to get you dancing. Things start of with Creature to get the crowd moving and dancing, then into Rubik, a Finnish indie/pop band who'll be playing with Vancouver's Language-Arts this Monday at the Biltmore Cabaret. Afterwards are a couple of great local bands, the Raccoons to keep that crowd dancing and Bucan Bucan who are new to me but describe themselves as "your average, run-of-the-mill, 14 piece gypsy marching band." Finally comes the Old Prince himself, Shad, who really is someone you shouldn't miss and then DJ Champion & His G-Strings to squeeze that extra drop of seat out of everyone on that dance floor. I’m sure between Creature, Champion and everyone inbetween, the Market Square is going to be jumping and if you go, you're gonna get caught up in a dance party. I'm hoping to run over to see what I can catch after Final Fantasy.

Festivals are always hard because with so many people you want to see, you inevitably leave people out so if I could be in more places at once, I'd also definitely check out other great acts like Basia Bulat, Hannah Georgas and Fake Shark! Real Zombie! You really can’t go wrong tomorrow night so just get out there and have fun, the guys at Rifflandia have set up a festival that really shouldn’t be missed.

I hope you can make it!
- AlexOfAnders