Rifflandia 2009 – Day One

So, after an extended bus & ferry ride we headed straight to the Rifflandia festival HQ in downtown Victoria. I was glad to see signs everywhere saying the festival has sold out, which is awesome but with the line-up of bands they've got, it’s no surprise. After signing in and getting a wristband, I picked up an official festival booklet and man, these things are pro-star, they’re nicer than most magazines. A lot of the write-ups and interviews are really good too, I hope they make them available online but I haven’t been able to find them yet. Actually, so far everything I’ve seen in terms of festival coordination and setup has really impressed me with how well these guys seem to be doing and they’re only on in their second year. Now, enough talk about festival logistics, let’s get to why you’re really reading this, the bands!
I mentioned here that my anchor of the night was Final Fantasy and true to my word, I showed up at the Alix Goolden Hall. Sadly, after the transit, getting settled in my lodgings and scaring up some food, I got there just after Christopher Smith had finished. I was looking forward to seeing what this guy was about since I hadn’t heard of him before but I guess it was not meant to be. Sorry Chris, some other time I guess. Still, at least I was in good time for Timber Timbre. I’d only heard a few of their songs on CBC Radio 3 and I liked what I'd heard. The recordings of these guys may be good, but it just doesn’t come close to capturing the live performance. There’s the sense of depth and richness that come off their instruments, it really grabs you. Their songs feel like they have this depressed, almost lonely feel in both the melody and the lyrics, it made me think of country soul for a neo-cowboy who’s down on his luck. It really pulled at my heartstrings and was a wholly absorbing experience. Especially when Taylor Kirk brought out a myriad of noise making things from flutes, bird calls and what seemed to be a screw squeaking into something, to create a background of forest sounds by looping each sound to build upon every sound, really cool use of a looping pedal. Also, I really must say, the Alix Goolden Hall makes for a magnificent venue and the acoustics were amazing. Especially when the lit the organ pipes behind the band, talk about giving a sense of grandeur. For how great it is, the only thing it’s really missing is beer…wait, is it sacrilegious to drink in a church?

Sadly, after Timber Timbre finished up we were greeted by a Rifflandia producer who informed us that Owen Pallet was too ill to play. Now, I wouldn’t want him playing sick so I understand but still disappointing and it effectively left me anchorless. I hope he’s well enough to play his Vancouver show tonight but for now, he’ll remain one of my unicorn bands (unicorn as in the term of something you want to catch, but somehow never manage to). Luckily, backup plans had already been thought of, I knew that there was a great showcase going on at the Market Square. The stage was an awesome setup at the square, big stage surrounded by second story walkways with a large dance area in front and a beer garden in the back.
I made it in time for most of The Racoons set, it was already pretty packed in there but I found a sweet spot right in front to the left of the stage that was still open. The Racoons really feel like a band that’s just waiting to explode and have everyone bopping and dancing across the country and even into those foreign areas that aren’t Canada. The crowd was just eating up what The Racoons were dishing out and they thrived off the energy the crowd was giving them. They’re electrifying pop-rock tunes make you want to get up and move, these guys are ones to look out for.

After the Racoons finished up, there was a short moment of silence. I spotted the Old Price himself on side stage but then in the middle of the crowd came a cacophony of eastern European sounding music. It almost looked like a crazed gypsy umpa band had pushed their way into the crowd to hijack the showcase but then I realized it was Victoria band Bucan Bucan. Decked out in hilariously hyperbolic attire that suited their sound and a megaphone they proceed to play and try to get the crowd to jump, clap and dance with them. People seemed just awestruck at first, like they didn’t know what to make of it but then slowly, some people started getting into it. I was definitely one of those people, these guys are doing something I’ve never seen before and I wanted more. I kept hoping they’d get to go up on stage for at least a song but it seems like they were billed as something of a tweener between the Racoons and Shad. There’s always a special place in my heart for a band that has a real sense of showmanship and made me think that they’d go great on a bill with Hank Pine & Lily Fawn. That's why I took video instead of a picture, words just don't do these guys justice. Hopefully, we'll see these guys out more.
Now we come to the man himself, Shad, and my first hip-hop show. It’s true, I’ve never been out to a hip-hip show before, I’m admitting it, and I can’t think of anyone better to see. Shad’s raps just flow great, are smart, witty and often throw down hilarious references like name-dropping George Lucas. You can tell that Shad’s no slouch when it comes to lyrics and his back up is just as strong. DJ Tito treating the crowd to one solo song in the middle of the set with his scribble DJing style. If anyone was going to sell me on hip-hop, Shad and his crew would be the ones. Feel free to correct me if I got his DJs name wrong or anything, I'm going off what I heard on stage as I can't find him online. If you have any info on him, I'd love to have it!
At this point, I’d been up for a really long time so a ditched the crowd for DJ Champion and his G-Strings and watched on from the sidelines. For anyone who like myself, has not had the pleasure of seeing these DJ Champion, his G-Strings consist of 5 guitarists and Champion on his laptop orchestrating the guitars. It’s really a sight to behold, Champion waving his hands at the guitars like a conductor as he dances and produces his beats. The crowd just went nuts for it, arms were in the air, person after person popped up onto the sea of hands and Champion just kept stirring them up into a bigger and bigger frenzy. This has to have been the biggest and sweatiest dance party the Market Square has ever seen. Being in that crowd must have be a blast, but even if the mind was willing, my body was just done for the night and needed some sleep. All in all, this was one hell of a good night and I can’t wait for tonight.

As for what to see tonight you ask? The Market Square again has a pretty awesome line-up, I’m unfamiliar with Our Book & The Authors and Brandi Disterheft but it ends with The Dudes and Mother Mother. They're are going to knock the socks off that square tonight, wonder if they'll give DJ Champion's crowd a run for their money. It’s a real shame that Fritz Helder and the Phantoms aren’t playing anymore as I would have loved to catch them, I’ve been really addicted to Punch Me in the Neck lately. Still, there’s Aidan Knight and Tegan & Sara at the Alix Goolden Hall and right beside it at the same time is Woodpigeon in the Metro Theatre. Still, I think I’m gonna situate myself in Sugar Nightclub for what was a quadrapack of Canadian indie rock with The Library Voices, Zeus, Cuff The Duke and The Most Serene Republic. Turns out Cuff the Duke has moved to the Market Square to take the place of Fritz Helder and the Phantoms. I think I’m still going to stick with Sugar as I want catch Zeus but the show starts at 9:30p so I’ll be able to catch someone beforehand, possible Aidan Knight but maybe I’ll try Vince Vaccaro and the Victoria band Maurice. We’ll see what happens tonight!

Hope I see you out there and have fun.
- AlexOfAnders