This year’s festival set up is world dominating… if your world is Victoria, BC, that is. The word on the street is there isn’t a free hotel room in town, every restaurant downtown is full day and night and the weekend has turned thousands of us into serious music critics. Rifflandia 2016 has taken over.
Victoria appreciates great music and Rifflandia served this family up a dinner spread of fantastic acts. At The Royal Athletic Park yesterday, X Ambassadors had the packed crowd singing along with hands raised to radio favourite Renegades. We were honoured to have music legend Lee Scratch Perry here to woo the crowd with his enticing vibe. The music at the park today was phenomenal, but Michael Franti & Spearhead was the show to watch, bringing in a packed crowd and transcending performance with a vibe so upbeat it reached the heavens.
Festival-goer Erik Lyon says a standout performance for him was Colombia band, Bomba Estereo. “They went beyond traditional genre lines to produce a sound full of energy and excitement.” A favourite venue, Phillips Backyard is seeing great acts this year and quite the buzz over the Keys N’ Krates show. This is Vancouver Island and rain always looms above, although, not a deterrence for this crowd. With tasty craft beer in hand, die hard fans will pack the Backyard out each night.
… and it’s only just begun. See you in the pit.
