That Rifflandia feeling has returned, for round two! Day one of weekend two took place at Royal Athletic Park and featured an assortment of artists. Unlike Electric Avenue, it will be easier to catch everything at The Park Main Stage and Rifftop Tent. With vendors, non-alcoholic beer fountains, and some great music, I was ready to begin for a second time!
Starting off the day was Victoria’s very own, The Poor Choices. The punk outfit joined us at The Park Main Stage and threw down an intense set. Being from Victoria, the crowd was filled with friends and family enjoying the sounds. The band had a crucial job to get the feelings of Rifflandia going, and I believe they did a pretty good job creating that for us. If local punk jams are your thing, then look no further to some Poor Choices, which are actually good choices.
U.S. Girls were next at the Rifftop Tent. I didn’t get a chance to listen to them before the festival, but I will say that I will be having them in heavy rotation after that set. Their music shines 80s influence and reminded me a little bit of Wham!, especially Everything She Want with its synth based sound. Unfortunately, their sound cut all of a sudden and lasted five minutes. However, the musicianship of them was incredible as they continued to since without power. It takes a lot to stick with a set after technical issues, but U.S. Girls did an amazing job at keeping the crowd going.
English alternative rockers, Sports Team were the next act to take The Park Main Stage. The group’s music had Rifflandians dancing and jumping as they played some well polished tracks. This was not the band’s first time in Victoria as earlier this year, they visited the island for a show at Wicket Hall. However, if I learned anything from this set it’s this: If Sports Team is in town, clear your calendar and go see them. The chemistry of the band is amazing and they are an experience you will not want to miss.
The time had come for legendary skate thrash punks, Suicidal Tendencies to take over the Rifftop Tent. 40 years ago saw the release of their self-titled full length, and it looks like there has been no slowing down since. Mike Muir still had so much energy even after running back and forth on the stage multiple times. His bandmates matched his energy with high jumps and crazy riffs. In between songs, Mike would speak to the crowd about a bunch of different topics and during this time, Mike mentioned that he didn’t know about our city but knew he had to come over here when he realized it existed. Mosh pits were a must from the crowd and to finish their set, they had a bunch of fans join them on stage. It was truly a sight to see.
The loop daddy himself, Marc Rebillet had officially joined us at the Main Stage for what might have been, the set Victoria did not know it needed. The presence of Marc is unmatched and the crowd was in love with him. That is not an understatement; the crowd was literally in love with him as bras and underwear found its way to the stage with numbers inside of them. In loop daddy fashion, he decided to wear what was thrown up on stage. Speaking of fashion, Marc had donned a very special Rifflandia robe and underwear that were created by Rifflandia team member, Kayla Quan. Rebillet’s improvisation was unmatched as he created some of the best beats at a moments notice. Amazing beats aside, I’m sure Rebillet’s Rifflandia Performance will go down as the funniest set of the weekend.
Wrapping up the Rifftop Tent for day one, was Two Feet. Powerful guitar chords mixed with intense percussion found its way to the stage. The stage was beyond bright but the crowd felt the music that was being laid down in front of them. Based on my previous research of the group, it seemed that their drummer was missing. The track behind them did the job but what really carried it through was the percussion and drum controller. A great way to end the night at the side stage.
To finish the night all together, we were joined by punk icon Iggy Pop. According to wikipedia, Iggy is 76 years old. Don’t let that number fool you though, Iggy still has it after all these years. With a full backing band of horns, guitars, bass, and drums, the lead singer of the Stooges gave Victoria a timeless performance. Listening to songs like Search & Destroy felt nostalgic and the crowd would agree. I never like to think of the negative, but I am very thankful to have been able to witness a legend like Iggy because who knows how much longer they will want to perform. Regardless of how much longer they are willing to perform, their catalog will remain as a classic to the future of punk music.
With that, the first day concluded. As a side note, this was the moment it finally kicked in that the event was two weekends because after The Park performances, there was no Electric Avenue after like previous years. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it was a feeling that finally set in and I needed to figure out what to do next. The obvious answer would be sleep but with that much energy? No way I could sleep after that. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some rest before the weekend continues!
