Rifflandia Festival 2010
By Michael Skinnider
Last weekend, downtown Victoria was once again taken over by the third installment of annual independent music festival, Rifflandia. Boasting eleven venues in total, this year's schedule was the fullest yet.
Thursday, the first night of Rifflandia 3, was great for catching local talent, beginning with Mike Edelʼs set at the Event Centre. Singer-songwriters get a bad rap, but he was easily one of the most talented Iʼve heard. I left midway through the next actʼs set (Sound & Science) and managed to catch the last half of jazzy shoegazers, Brasstronaut, at Market Square. The nightʼs highlight was a toss-up between the more musically-gifted Brasstronaut and crowd-pleasers, Grand Analog. The hip-hop trioʼs set featured kazoos, breakdancing and a Van Halen remix. It would be a mistake though, to write off Victoria ensemble Forestryʼs impressive set at Metro Theatre, opening for Lee Ranaldo.
Friday night I only managed to catch the first half of openers, The Zolasʼ, set at Market Square before heading off to Metro Theatre – a regrettable decision, as it entailed sitting through three consecutive unremarkable folk singers (Genevieve Rainey, Steph Macpherson, and Mark Berube). It was almost worth it though, to have prime seats when Rifflandia ʼ09 alumnus Aidan Knight took to the stage at 10:30. He kept the crowd entertained with his witty, self-deprecating banter through several different interludes of guitar tuning. More to the point, his set was fantastic. Knitting Something Nice, which featured members of fellow Rifflandians We Are The City and Treelines in a massive percussion jam, was easily the most intense song of the festival. That nightʼs headliners were 1980s throwbacks Men Without Hats. Even with the Metroʼs weird vibe – the average age was around 40 – and the unenthusiastic crowd, the band played a surprisingly good set. When they played their one and only hit, The Safety Dance, as the last song before the encore, no one in the crowd remained seated.
Regardless of Mike Edelʼs repeat performance at the Metro Theatre, Market Square was unquestionably the place to be Saturday night, with local talent Hot Hot Heat headlining. Despite playing the first set of the night, it was the dance-pop stylings of Rich Aucoin that stood out among the opening acts; throwing glowsticks, balloons and confetti into the dancing crowd, spraying silly string, and crowding festival-goers under an elementary school-style parachute. He was on at 7:30, and playing to a crowd of maybe 80 people, but still put on a fantastically energetic show, had the whole of Market Square eagerly singing along, and ended up being my favorite act of the festival.
The next two openers were somewhat underwhelming. One was Australian folk-singer Kate Miller-Heidke, who had obvious vocal talent (see her operatic cover of Britney Spearsʼ Toxic) as well as playful lyrics, but the accompanying music was colorless and her songs lacked any emotional content. The third act of the night was Melissa Auf der Maur, ex-bassist of ʻ90s ensembles Smashing Pumpkins and Hole, who merges the sounds of the two in her solo work to uninspiring effect. The first headliner, Newfoundland indie rock sextet Hey Rosetta!, were plagued by sound problems, and what was supposed to be a ten minute sound check ended up pushing their set more than half an hour late. They finally got on just as they were supposed to be wrapping up their set, and played a mere four songs to a wildly enthusiastic crowd (perhaps remembering their superlative set at last yearʼs Rifflandia) before ceding the stage. But mainstage stars Hot Hot Heat were clearly the nightʼs fan favorite. Thanks in no small part to energetic frontman Steve Bays, they had the entire crowd moshing to their unique brand of dance-punk.
The conclusion? Between the abundance of undiscovered talent and internationally-famed headliners, thereʼs simply no reason for Victorians to miss Rifflandia IV: A New Hope when it comes to town next year!
3 October, 2010 - 18:08 — Michael Skinnider