It’s that time of year again where we all get that Rifflandia feeling. The first day of Victoria’s September Forever Festival went down and besides being a wet one, the day was full of hot acts that kept everyone dry (in theory). The day featured sets from a wide range of different artists and comedians, and included a headlining performance from EDM giant, REZZ. Each year, we are excited to participate in this iconic festival and always wondering what has changed from last year. With the main location change was on our minds prior to entering the festival, it still had all the elements of the festival we love. Let’s take a look at what each stage offered yesterday.
Let’s start with Lafflandia, Rifflandia’s Comedy Stage. Dan Duvall produced an incredible local lineup for first day. With 5 minute sets allotted to each comedian, it seems everyone brought their best work. The first comedian I managed to catch was Evan Mumford. Originally from Nova Scotia but now based out of Victoria, Evan’s energy was felt throughout the crowd. With no chance for the attendees to catch their breath from the last joke, Evan had already progressed his jokes even further which continued to make people chuckle until they couldn’t no more. A strong set from one of Victoria’s best. Then I had a chance to catch Max Bank-Jaffe during his 5 minute set. While Max is also based out of Victoria, he was originally from Ontario. Max made sure to highlight this during his set when talking about Victoria getting cold and how there’s always someone saying, “You think this is cold?”, which is usually an Albertan. Now this review might be bias since Max is my Roommate, but my top comedy set of the day has definitely gone to him. If you’re looking to laugh and rethink your life decisions, then see Max live.
Just outside the comedy stage was the Phillips stage, better known as the Dinosour World Stage. Dawning some really cool Dinosour branding, the stage saw a wide range of performances from Afrobeats, to Rock, to even dance music. The stage opened with Poncho, an Ghanian Afrobeats performer taking the local scene by storm. With a full band behind him, he brought good vibes and talent straight to the stage. Later in the evening, I managed to catch Born Ruffians. This group has always put on a great show and were a highlight for this stage. Very bouncy indie music in the rain never felt better. The band is joining Tokyo Police Club on their final tour, so make sure to check them out there or whenever they come to town next. Finally, C+C Music Factory closed out the stage with their dance party music. Besides their hit release, Gonna Make You Sweat, the duo set saw songs by other artists. It didn’t feel like a set by them, more so just them throwing a party. I’m not saying that it was a bad thing since everyone was feeling the groove, but it was odd to hear other songs during their set.
Walking down the ramp to the gravel pit, I was greeted by The Dome. The Dome was a major upgrade in size and I was in awe by just how big it was. Starting The Dome off was Club Loading & Co., Which was a b2b2b between Almost Magic, Jonas Robinson, and Anika. The residents of Club Loading gave a house masterclass to everyone who first entered The Dome. When I first heard of this booking, I was extremely thrilled because if there’s any local acts to be throwing down some house bangers, it’s this group of established DJs. The final set I managed to catch at The Dome was NOODLES, the San Francisco DJ best known for her well curated mixes and being Kehlani’s official DJ. You may recall that I said how big The Dome was. Well once NOODLES went on, the place packed instantly. I was so happy to see this big of a crowd for her as she has easily become one of my favourite DJs in the last decade. A very strong start to The Dome and can only imagine the hi-jinx that will go down there this weekend.
Finally it’s time for the stage of all stages, The Main Stage. The stage began with the pop queen herself, Slayyyter, who’s voice was nothing short of a miracle. During her set as the rain continued to fall, she let out these powerful notes which brought forward cheers from the crowd. She is definitely a top act who deserves your attention, but if you still aren’t convinced, be sure to read our interview with her coming real soon. Then it was time to have our heartstrings pulled as Tokyo Police Club made their way to a Victoria stage for the last time. While it was sad to hear some of our favourite songs for the last time live, it was great to see the group on stage give one last party to the people. Next up was a DJ set by Channel Tres. I have mixed feelings about this set as it sounds great at times but also lacked at other points. The transitions weren’t always there which I am not faulting him for, but what really took away from the set was the selection. There were songs played that I didn’t really expect him play including ABBA. Besides that, it was a pretty decent set for what it was. It was then time for New York to enter the building, as it was time for Ja Rule. Let’s get the negatives out of the way first. He arrived late on stage and because of that, his set was cut short and on top of that, it seemed like the music was clipping behind him. With the negatives to the side, this was still a really good set. Ja hopped on stage and began playing Livin’ it up which was the one song I hoped he was going to play. After all these years, he’s still got it and I think he’s worth checking out live if the few negatives are ironed out. Finally, REZZ made her way to the stage to close out day one of the festival, and the bass was truly felt throughout the festival grounds. Between the music and her visuals, it was a great way to end the day.
It was great to see big box EDM on display and based on the amount of LED Goggles I saw around the site, I think everyone else was happy to see it too.
What else is there to say? A rainy Friday turned out to be an incredibly fun day and it was all thanks to Rifflandia. We got two more days to go and While I need to rest my legs from all the walking I did today, I cannot wait to see what other acts bring to this years’ festival.
