Rifflandia Recap: The weekend that was, wasn't, then was again

As you probably already know last weekend was the Rifflandia Music Festival. I had the pleasure of attending that festival along with my fellow bloggers Brenda Lee and AlexofAnders (who were much more punctual with their posts). But don't give up on me yet internet world as I still have a story to tell.

I started the festival on thursday night at element nightclub just in time to catch Said the Whale. They put on a fantastic show to a capacity crowd and played a whole bunch of new songs. From the sound of them their new album is gonna be an ear pleaser, and I can't wait till it comes out. After an encore filled with more new goodies the band left us with the timeless advice of "Now go see Shad!" I quickly heeded that advice and made for Market Square to catch Shad's set. As you may have heard from Alexofanders Shad did not disappoint either. I was especially happy to hear Rock to It and I Get Down; gotta love the hip-hop with the acoustic guitar in hand. After Shad Champion took the stage and I gotta say I've never seen a crowd so alive. With his G-Strings backing him up including Pilou Côté doing an amazing, amazing job on vocals the crowd was a writhing, sweaty, collective of very satisfied people.


Friday night for me was supposed to start with In Flight Safety but because of some delays, I ended up catching the Library Voices instead. Its a good thing I had my extra beer and missed that bus because the Library Voices were something awesome. Their high energy show had the whole everyone going, no small feat to the mostly sober 9:30 crowd. The lead singer was everywhere, standing on the barrier on the stage, jumping into the crowd, climbing the speakers, and all while still singing. The base player was no slouch either, enjoying himself just as much and giving the crowd a great show. The whole band blew me away and I picked up their EP and a t-shirt to thank them for such a great performance. After that show I'd been hoping to catch the Dudes and Mother Mother in Market Square but upon arriving a line-up half a block in length greeted me. Somewhat disappointed but not overtly so as I'd seen both bands before I headed back to Sugar nightclub for Zeus and the Most Serene Republic. Zeus put on a great show and I was glad I did get to catch this much hyped band(hype well earned as it turns out) but it seemed as though by the time MSR started the sound guy had fallen asleep as there was nary a lyric to be heard over whatever noise the speakers were spitting out. Most Serene Republic did not let this deter them however and still put on an excellent show. I hope they're able to track down their gear in Vancouver.


Saturday night was the night I was most looking forward to. I was really looking forward to seeing Jon and Roy, Jets Overhead, Hey Rosetta!, and Buck 65, and really really looking forward to Hey Rosetta! I made the effort to get downtown early that night as they were all playing in Market Square and I wanted to avoid the line up. No luck. My heart sank when I saw the massive line up confronting me. My girlfriend and I waited for a bit but as the security guards wandered up and down the block shouting that the venue was at capacity and no one could get in until someone got out I realized it was a lost cause. I knew what bands were playing and I knew no one would be crazy enough to miss out on them. So after much ranting and moaning about why they shouldn't have put all their headliners in one venue, and how there was only two all age venues open that night with Market Square being the most popular, we made our way over to Sugar once more in the hopes that the sound guy had woken up. As it turned out the sound guy was awake; he would have been hard pressed to sleep through the head bangin Pack A.D. set we saw. Man those two rocked and Maya Miller even kept us entertained between songs with her witty banter and insistance that it was Friday. Once the Pack finished up we decided we'd head over to Rooftop to catch the Holy Fuck DJ set. It was one of the shows that had been added to make up for the Market Square line up the previous night, and, I assume to relieve pressure on Market Square that night. I'd missed out on Holy Fuck's show earlier in the night and I figured this would kinda make up for it. Alas my hopes were once again dashed when no member of Holy Fuck was to be found at the Rooftop. A bartender confirmed our fears when she said that the bar was closing in 15 minutes. Needless to say Saturday night was quite disappointing and I voiced my concerns on the Rifflandia facebook group.


Sunday came with some renewed optimism. Brendan Canning was supposed to do a DJ set that night and I thought I might as well catch one more act. And then I got a facebook message from the Rifflandia group alerting me to two Mother Mother shows for those who missed out on friday. With hopes buoyed once more I made my way downtown for the earlier all ages show. A friend of mine had even picked up passes at the Rifflandia HQ that guaranteed us entry, and enter we did. Mother Mother played an excellent show and the crowd ate it up. You could tell every person there was there just to see Mother Mother as in between songs you could hear a pin drop. I was impressed that Mother Mother was able to make it back and do two more shows on such short notice, and the fans didn't seem to mind either. After that show I was too rocked out to catch Mr. Canning's DJ set so I headed on home.


So over all Rifflandia was a pretty rockin time. Yes there were some disappointments, but for a festival only in its second year I would say they did pretty good. The organizers made a solid effort to make up for missed shows with last minute additions. Admittedly this didn't always work out (the Holy Fuck DJ set for example) they didn't give up, and voila they somehow pulled two Mother Mother shows out of their hat. I even got a personal facebook message from one the festival people saying that one of those guaranteed entry tickets would be held for me. Despite my earlier reservations I was impressed with how much the organizers wanted to satisfy the fans, and this is one fan they did satisfy. I'll be back next year Rifflandia!

Rifflandia Recap in Pictures : Thursday Night

This blog post is brought to you by Rifflandia Music Festival and beautiful, sunny Victoria, BC.

To follow NxEW-ers Brenda (myself ) and Alex (OfAnders)'s exploits this weekend at Rifflandia, you can follow our tweets. (You don't even need Twitter.)

Hannah Georgas

Timber Timbre

The Racoons

Shad

DJ Champion & His G-Strings

For the complete set, visit my Flickr!

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

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

Rifflandia Music Fest Earlybird Wristbands and Lineup Announced!

So last year Victoria got a new music festival, it went by the name of Rifflandia and it rocked. I unfortunately did not get to go as I decided to enjoy the Yukon for a few extra days before it was back to school. This year however I fully intend on enjoying what will no doubt be a stellar festival full of fantastic talent. The festival will run September 24 - 27th and will feature the mad skillz of Tegan & Sara, Holy Fuck, Buck 65, Mother Mother, Champion, Final Fantasy, Beach House, Shad, Pink Mountaintops, and Mt. Saint Helens Vietnam Band(I hope all those links work, they took way too long to do) with more names to be announced on July 15th. Right now a limited quantity of earlybird wristbands have been released and will be available till July 14th. Wristbands will run you about 50 bucks including fees and are totally worth it. They'll get you into every venue as well as some bonus perks. Also Rifflandabrau will be brewed once again for your enjoyment and some special "twists" like the Rifflandia Drama Club and as well as an official festival magazine/guide book to be released in mid August.

And that's not all, Rifflandia is being held as a sister event to Transmission, an international music conference for all the movers and shakers of the industry. It looks to be pretty interesting and hopefully I'll be able to grab an invite for that so I can let you know what its all about.

All in all it looks like a pretty darn exciting weekend in Victoria. For more info you can check out the Rifflandia site here and the Transmission site here.

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

I (Heart) Music talks about Polaris possibilities.

the Born Ruffians are studio blogging.

Sadie May Crash looks back on NXNE

Herohill likes Erin Costello

Sadly for Brent Randall and His Pinecones who made personal song and video to try to win him over, Paul McCartney has chosen Joel Plaskett to open for him on July 11 at the Halifax Commons.

Shad has a new blog if you'd like a list of some of the blogs by musicians that we know about look over here.

Shad, Brasstronaut & Twin Crystals play Kids Benefit in Van.

One June 6th at the Astoria in downtown Vancouver Shad, Brasstronaut and Twin Crystals and DJ Expendable Youth will be playing a benefit show for Rock and Roll is Good for Kids. RRFFK is "a non-profit group committed to supporting after school programs for children in Vancouver's Downtown East Side"

I know what you're thinking. The B.C. and/or Federal Government should be paying for this, after school programs may be expensive but they are less expensive than either prison or rehab. But until governments learn to do math, it's up to the community.

For more information on this event check out rockandrollisgoodforkids.com and/or check out the Facebook Event Page

Shad - Brother (Watching)

Grand Analog - Metropolis is Burning comes May 26

Via Urbnet.com comes word that Grand Alalog is set to release Metropolis is Burning on May 26. Originally from Winnipeg (now based out of Toronto - I think?) Grand Analog brings hip hop sensibilities to a jambalaya of jazz, soul, raggae, funk and dub. Guests on Metropolis is Burning include Shad, Cadence Weapon and saxophone specialist Martin Perna (Antibalas, TV On The Radio, Ocote Soul Sounds).

The track list looks like this:

01 I PLAY MY KAZOO
02 TAKE IT SLOW (SPACES & PLACES)
03 I’M ON FIRE (feat. Maiko Watson & Len Bowen)
04 MAGNIFICO
05 STIR CRAZY (feat. Maiko Watson & Martin Perna)
06 HER DADDY (DON’T LIKE ME)
07 ELECTRIC CITY (feat. Shad)
08 NOT ENOUGH MONDAYS / CRUNCH (feat. Len Bowen & Nestor Wynrush)
09 VIDEOGAMES
10 EVERYDAY ALWAYS
11 BROTHERS GOTTA EAT
12 LIGHT SO BRIGHT (feat. Cadence Weapon)

Grand Analog - Touch Your Toes

Free MP3 From Grand Analog and Shad

Odario Williams's father "Big John" is a Dub and Ragae DJ in Winnipeg and it shows in the music of Grand Analog where you can hear bits of reggae, ska, funk, soul and jazz melted together and forged into hip hop. For example:



Polaris nominated Shad should need no introduction at all. But if you add the music of Grand Analog with this



you get Electric City (w/ Shad) which you can download for free here:

Download It Here

it does ask you to sign up for Grand Analog's mailing list to get the file, but that's not much to ask and you can always change your mind and unsubscribe.

It sounds like this: