There’s a certain magic which floats through the air of Victoria every year during the third week of September. It unites us all. It brings together old friends and new alike. We huddle together on cool, damp evenings and dance like no one is watching to warm ourselves up. We aren’t afraid to chat up our neighbours in the beer lines about who we are excited to see and where we should head to next. We cheer on fellow weary music fans as we pass each other on the street late at night. This is that Rifflandia Feeling!
The first day of Rifflandia is always notably quieter than the rest of the weekend of festivities. This year, maybe it was the threat of rain or the fact that everyone had school and work in the morning, but the super venue Electric Avenue felt like a ghost town early in the evening. The Phillips Backyard eventually filled up with a decent crowd ready to party for headliners Adventure Club, while raging millennial rapper Cotis literally screamed “pay attention to me!” on the Phillips Front Yard stage.
Older audiences packed into the Vinyl Envy, the Rubber Boot Club, The Duke Saloon, The Hop, and Capital Ballroom in search of warm and dry surroundings and for more guitar driven music.
A sea of familiar faces filled the Rubber Boot Club for ex-pat Mike Edel’s return to the Garden City. Over the past few years, Mike has called Seattle home, and his trips back to Victoria have become few and far between.
The high-end energy of Toronto indie rockers Tough Age was a welcome reprieve from the electronic and DJ sets that often fill Thursday nights of Rifflandia. Capital Ballroom’s floors will be bouncing for the entirety of the festival with a mix of indie rock, garage, punk, hardcore, emo, and straight up rock and roll each night. Let’s hope the mosh pit doesn’t get too out of hand.
We hope the slower and lighter crowds aren’t an indication of what’s to come this weekend at Rifflandia. For now, we’re going to just blame it on the rain, yeah yeah.
