When planning a festival for the end of September organizers just pray that the weather isn’t too bad. Last year’s Rifflandia 3 saw a torrential downpour that thoroughly soaked festival-goers in lineups and in between venues, and the forecast indicated Rifflandia 4 would likely be the same. Luckily for us, the weather gods decided instead to bless audiences with one last summer experience (at least until the last day of the event).
Rifflandia 4 was logistically flawless. Royal Athletic Park, the new flagship venue for the festival, was perfectly laid out. There were no issues getting in or out of the park unless you tried to bring in an outside beverage container; there was an abundance of excellent eating from popular local restaurants; there was enough space that it never felt crowded unless you were in the beer garden.
Too bad that the lineup at the Royal Athletic Park was very homogenized. Aside from a few standout performances—Ra Ra Riot and Mother Mother absolutely killed their sets on Friday, Jets Overhead decided to play a host of new material on Saturday, and De La Soul closed the event with a bang—the park saw a number of really similar sounding acts on the stages. It makes sense, in a way: if you want the largest venue to appeal to the masses, you play the music that has the broadest appeal. Let’s just hope that next year boasts bigger headliners and more variety.
Thankfully, the night stages more than made up for the monotony of the day events.
Every night there seemed to be an “it” venue, a place packed to the rafters with an audience in a permanent booze-fuelled frenzy. On Friday night, it was Sugar, where Sage Francis—with his one-man show that was just him and his CD player—tore the house down. Though the Rhode Island rapper has slowed down these last few years, his intensity and intelligence still shine through his lyrics. A definite highlight.
Saturday saw the Philips Brewery fill to capacity early—and when capacity is 800, that’s no small feat. The best performance there wasn’t by musicians; it was the tireless bartenders who never stopped pouring their delicious brew. Anyone on the dance floor was inadvertently a part of the beer lineup as well, making the audience an endless sea of people surging back and forth between the stage and the bar. Oh, and The Knocks and Lyrics Born were awesome.
Rifflandia grew by leaps and bounds this year, and the popular music scene in Victoria is richer for it. Having the headliners all in one massive venue allowed participants to see them all instead of forcing hard choices like previous years, and fans of music outside the mainstream were able to hit up one of the eight night stages to catch shows more to their liking.
Rifflandia 4 was amazing. Cross your fingers that the people behind it can exceed the growing expectations for Riff 5.