The Rifflandia Music Festival has always been a festival about discovery. It’s always a fun experience point yourself in a direction and let the music guide you, but sometimes a compass is handy.
Have no fear, intrepid explorers! Rocktographers not only brought the compass, map, and hookshot for your journey, but some orange slices to prevent scurvy.
Hey Ocean!
4:15PM, Friday 14th
Royal Athletic Park – Main Stage
Like Princess Celestia’s pet phoenix, Hey Ocean! have risen from the ashes to make their return to Rifflandia. Canadian indie-rock darlings and Vanhoover natives, Hey Ocean! return from a three-year hiatus with new music and a renewed passion. Rain(bow) or shine, make sure you dash to the front of the crowd to ensure you get a good seat for what will surely be a set that sparkles. Like friendship, a live Hey Ocean! set is magic. You can check out Hey Ocean! when they hit the mane stage on Friday afternoon.
(Author’s note: all jokes were approved by my 7-year-old daughter)
Blitzen Trapper
5:00PM, Friday 14th
Royal Athletic Park – Rifftop Tent
On September 14th Portland’s Blitzen Trapper is releasing a deluxe edition of their breakthrough 2008 album, Furr. They’re also kicking off a tour to celebrate its 10th anniversary . . . right here at Rifflandia. Furr is arguably one of the most seminal indie folk albums from that era, and it helped cement the growing legacy of Sub Pop’s indie cred. Heck, it even ranked #13 on Rolling Stone’s Top Albums of the Year in 2008. Their long overdue return to Victoria isn’t to be missed.
The Sorority
11:00PM, Friday 14th
Phillips Backyard
Toronto-based, all-female hip-hop group The Sorority returns to Victoria after their scene-stealing show at the Phillips Backyard Weekender this past July. Touting a classic hip-hop style with a reverence for the past and an eye to the future, The Sorority are bona fide stars on the rise and a force to be reckoned with. If you missed them the first time, now’s your chance to re-enroll. Class is in session on Friday at the Phillips Backyard stage.
Bad Hoo
11:30PM, Friday 14th
Capital Ballroom
For those of us looking to put the riffs back in Rifflandia need look no further than Capital Ballroom on Friday night. What more could you ask for than a stacked bill featuring a plethora of local rockers opening for Fucked Up? Over the past few months, Bad Hoo has been holed up, working on new material and/or working on getting at least one PhD. We’re sure they’re ready to cut loose after spending a summer indoors and looking to celebrate singer David Oswald’s new doctorate.
Kirsten Ludwig
11:30PM, Friday 14th
The Hop
11:00PM, Sunday 16th
MusiCounts TD Lounge – The Atrium
With rich dreamy vocals that instill a longing melancholy, singer-songwriter Kirsten Ludwig creates a sound as comforting and enveloping as a lush west coast fog. Often touching on the topic of past relationships, her songs leave you with that sad-but-in-a-good-way feeling. Her latest single There You Are released last month shows an evolution and maturity to her aesthetic and has garnered attention from the likes of Paste magazine and various Spotify playlist taste-makers. Kirsten’s new album We Get It Now is due out October 5th on Oscar St Records, but you can hear her Friday at The Hop at 11:30pm.
Milk & Bone
3:10PM, Saturday 15th
Royal Athletic Park – Main Stage
12:00PM, Sunday 16th
MusiCounts TD Lounge – The Atrium
In 2015, francophone electropop duo Milk & Bone landed on the Polaris Music Prize longlist nominations. Since then, Laurence Lafond-Beaulne and Camille Poliquin have been on everyone’s radar. Whether it’s in the Atrium for their intimate MusiCounts session or on The Zone’s Main Stage at the park, their brand of dreamy electronic music will be the perfect fit to start your day.
Metz
5:00PM, Saturday 15th
Royal Athletic Park – Rifftop Tent
Do you remember that year Oak Bay had a bunch of noise complaints about Rifflandia? It might happen again this year when Toronto based punk rockers Metz take the stage. The tinnitus-inducing trio will be certainly be a shift in the afternoon’s music schedule at Royal Athletic Park, but that’s half the fun of eclectic nature of Rifflandia.
Fun Fact: Drummer Hayden Menzies does all of the band’s artwork.
(Author’s note: our fearless leader, Tyson Elder won’t shut up about how much he loves this band. He’s even vowed to ditch his camera gear to enjoy the mosh pit.)
Mix Master Mike
11:00PM, Saturday 15th
Phillips Backyard
Island vibes meet West Coast beats. Legendary DJ Mix Master Mike brings his signature award-winning, bass-heavy, beat-breaking turntables to his very first Riff. M-cubed (I made that up, but feel free to use it) is best known as resident DJ for The Beastie Boys, inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the only turntablist to ever perform for a president at the Kennedy Center. What? You think you’re better than the President of the United States? (you are, by the way. We all are).
Chad Vangaalen
3:05PM, Sunday 16th
Royal Athletic Park – Main Stage
Chad Vangaalen has always been an enigmatic figure of the Canadian music scene. When he isn’t busy making records, he’s designing album artwork, animating, scoring television shows, creating puppets, and making music videos for the likes of Shabazz Palaces, Metz, and Dan Deacon. He even animates his own music videos. Vangaalen likes to keep it weird, and that’s why we love him.
Lights
5:35PM, Sunday 16th
Royal Athletic Park – Main Stage
Lights is no ordinary musician. Oozing talent out of every pore and putting the rest of us to shame, she combined her love of music and songwriting with her passion for comics and art to create the world of Skin and Earth: a companion comic series and concept album. With a phenomenal live show drawing from all eras of her music and the presence of an absolute fireball on stage, Lights’ Main Stage set on Sunday evening is not to be missed.