Rifflandia Saturday: Going Strong! Part 1

After Friday’s solid performances in the park and elsewhere, Rifflandia’s Saturday lineup did a great job of following it up and really getting the energy up. Whether it was the unexpected sunshine, an abundance of cat related items, or just that people were getting into the groove of the festival, Saturday felt full of energy and was nonstop fun.

The Zolas

Though the Vancouver band seemed to be initially unsure of how well known they would be in the crowd, by the end of the first song it became clear that anyone who had not known them before was happy to be along for the ride. Their upbeat, rock oriented pop music had most of the crowd singing along by the second song and was the perfect way to get Saturday going.

Big Data

Described as “A paranoid electronic group formed over the internet with a general mistrust of the cloud”, Brooklyn’s Big Data lives up to the description. The set was frequently interspersed with samples of computerized voices describing in detail what they planned to do with the data they were collecting on the audience. Super fun, contemporary rock/dance that had plenty of people dancing like no one was looking.

Neon Indian

Back touring again for the first time in 3 years, the group’s synthy, funky, psych-dance-pop songs were a nice mix of old and new material. Lead vocalist Alan Palomo had a very confident vocal delivery and was giving off some serious Prince vibes for parts of the show. The band’s array of synthesizers was a joy to experience live.

Tokyo Police Club

It seems like almost everyone in the festival had some sentimental feelings for Tokyo Police Club, or at least they all knew the lyrics to the songs. Of all the bands that played they seemed the most at home playing in Victoria, which makes sense when you think about the generation of Canadians that have all listened to them through high school. Their comfortable and excited vibes made it feel like an old friend had come to town.

Kiesza

Up next was Kiesza, whose elaborate dance routines (with backup) put her past as a Jazz dancer center stage. Her seamless vocals and flawless dance routines left me wondering how she could even dance so vigorously while hitting all the notes that she did. I didn’t know what to expect from this show but was supremely impressed with her vocal delivery and awesome instrumentals. Highly recommended if she comes to town in the near future.

Modest Mouse

The mass bathroom exodus 30 minutes before Modest Mouse came onstage made it clear that this was who people were there to see. The amount of energy in the previous sets paled in comparison to the frantic energy that lead man Isaac Brock summoned from the crowd now that the sun was down. Despite the recent release of a new album, the 9-piece band (2 full drum sets + some) spent most of the set focusing on their classics: hits from Lonesome Crowded West, Good News, and more. I’m pretty sure screaming along to “Float On” live with the rest of the audience will be the highlight of Saturday for many, it definitely was for me.

Isaac Brock Doin’ the Cockroach yeah

The night stages were great, the highlight being a performance at Lucky by Mumdance who was an hour off a flight from the UK. This went with the theme this year of Lucky having some of the best shows of the night stages. For those that had night passes we’ll see you next year and those with the park passes have an awesome last day at Riff!