2009 Rifflandia Music Festival
Where: Victoria, BC
When: September 24-27
Reviewed By: Amanda Waschuk (Vancouver)

I was always told Victoria is the most beautiful place in Canada, and now I know. The sold-out 2009 Rifflandia Music Festival finally gave me the excuse to check Victoria out and although it is a bit of a hefty trek from Vancouver, an amazing pod of orcas showing off their white bellies and the beautiful tree-blanketed islands made it worth it. Oh, and, of course, there was the music!

The mystical land of Rifflandia is comprised of marvelous music in various venues, deranged dancing, and belligerence-inducing beer (of which Rifflandia has its own brand).

Although the majority of venues had a line by the end of the evening (due, according to one festival goer, to the overselling of tickets), nothing compares to Market Square, an outdoor courtyard venue where the headliners met hoots and hollers.

Day One, I saw Champion and Canadian Hip-Hop artist Shad headline Market Square while Said The Whale crammed at least 300 people into Element Nightclub for an action-packed, confetti-cannoning ball of a time. Opening for them was Dan Mangan who had the entire crowd singing along, even after the music stopped and musicians had walked off stage.

Mother Mother was the draw for Friday night and perhaps for the whole weekend. After discovering how many people waited outside, they decided to add two more shows Sunday evening (competing only with DJ sets by K-OS and Brendan Canning).

Unfortunately, Fritz Helder & The Phantoms were cancelled but Slut Revolver still played and, sorry to say, but I wish it were the other way around. Slut Revolver are two local performing artists who started as a cabaret-style theatrical act only to become well-liked artists in the Victoria area and, well, I guess I'm not a Victorian.

Next was The Dudes - whom I have a bias for since I'm completely addicted to their newest album Bloods, Guts, Bruises, Cuts - were awesome! They played a lot of tracks off this addictive record and although lead man and co-founder Dan Vacon didn't talk as much between sets as usual, his wit still showed through his hilarious lyrics and the sly look in his eye.

Then, the stars of the evening: Vancouver-based, containg a brother-sister act, and who are popular in Victoria due to a particular cabbie, band Mother Mother. They have a fresh sound with two female keyboardist/vocalists and a lead man who has a voice unlike any other I've heard. Their song "Body of Years" was voted by iTunes as the #31 best song of any genre.

Saturday night featured local Victoria band Jon & Roy playing at Market Square at 9pm and at capacity venue by 8:30pm. Definitely some devoted fans here and they got to enjoy Jordan Klassen, Jets Overhead, Hey Rosetta!, and Buck 65 as the night continued.

Unable to acquire access to these shows, I broadened my musical horizons by watching Bogus Tokus, a thrasher metal band playing at Lucky Bar. With barely any lyrics, but an amazing drummer, these boys truly impressed me; as did the grown man, sporting a raccoon-shaped toque, head banging in the front row.

Sugar Club was next where I met, yet another long line-up. Luckily making my way in, Mexican Power Authority and Pink Mountaintops were quite the unexpected treat and I learned not to judge a book by its cover.

Mexican Power Authority had a nerdy-looking lead singer wearing Harry-Potteresque round glasses and a tacky yellow shirt while the guitarist was graying. But these boys could rock even after their 11 year hiatus. Expect a new album in 2010.

Sounding a bit like Sam Roberts, Pink Mountaintops is out and about supporting their third album Outside Love (and spending early November on tour in western Canada with Dinosaur Jr.). They cite their influences on this album from Pink Floyd's The Final Cut to the Bermuda Triangle to Christmas albums. If that doesn't intrigue you, their live show still comes highly recommended.

As I summed it up in the festival notes on my Blackberry, Rifflandia is the raddest place ever and I looked forward to next year!

Written by :

a.waschuk

 

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