Where You Can Find Me At Rifflandia 2012, the Saturday and Sunday Edition

SATURDAY

War Child Lounge (the Atrium building)

11:30 Current Swell – As much as the whole west coast folk rock scene isn’t really my thing, I just can’t hate Current Swell. Their last few singles have really grown on me and it will be great to see them in an intimate setting.
12:00 Rich Aucoin – I’m intrigued to see what Rich has planned for the setting of the Atrium building.
12:30 Sloan – After almost 20 years of being a fan, I finally get to see Sloan! I don’t know what has stopped me every single time I’ve had the chance to see them, but my plans were foiled every single time.

Royal Athletic Park

1:15 Zerbin – That song “New Earth” of his that I hear on the Zone all the time is darn catchy. I’m looking forward to hearing what else Zerbin has in his catalog.
4:15 The Jezabels – Quite a few people have recommended the Jezabels to me, so I’m planning on checking them out.
5:45 Dan Mangan – I’ve seen Dan Mangan quite a few times and I love his latest album Oh Fortune. The band that he’s been playing with lately is just fantastic.
6.45 Sloan – There are so many Sloan songs I need to hear live, there is absolutely no way I’d be able to hear them all in this short 45 minute set. As long as “Underwhelmed” makes an appearance, I’ll be happy.
7:30 Cake – If you knew how many hours of my life I’ve spent listening to Cake, you’d probably be embarrassed for me. I’m pretty excited to see them live again.

Night Stages

10:30 The Jezabels @ Alix Goolden – On the off chance I don’t make it to the early part of the Royal Athletic Park activities on Saturday, you might find me here.
10:30 The Ruffled Feathers @ Wood Hall – A band from Vancouver that features a trumpet. At times they remind me of Beirut with an infusion of pop.
11:30 Jordan Klassen @ Wood Hall – Jordan is one of the top 20 in the Peak Performance Project this year. I missed his set at Rock of the Woods the other month so it will be great to see him.
11:30 Chixdiggit! @ Victoria Events Centre – It was a pretty big bummer when Chixdiggit had to cancel their show back in March due to a family emergency. This is going to be a great show and I’m looking forward to reliving some songs from my teen years.
12:30 Carmanah @ Wood Hall – Carmanah is a local band I’ve been meaning to check out and still haven’t got around to seeing. Unfortunately I think the Antlers are going to win out in this time slot, but if that show is full I’ll end up here.
12:30 The Antlers @ Alix Goolden – I can’t believe this, but I totally forgot that the Antlers are playing Rifflandia this year. Their latest album is fantastic. The last time slot on Saturday at the Alix Goolden ended up being my favourite set at last year’s festival so I have high hopes for the final Saturday slot this year.

SUNDAY

War Child Lounge (the Atrium building)

11:30 Hey Ocean! – You know, I don’t think I’ve seen a full set from Hey Ocean yet. That’s a travesty. This is where my wrongs will be righted.
12:00 Mother Mother – I guess it’s not Rifflandia unless Mother Mother plays. The intimate setting of the Atrium sounds like it will be a great place to see them.

Royal Athletic Park

12:30 The Archers – If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s super talented kids who are way younger than me and way more famous than I’ll ever be. The Archers are those kids. You should check them out.
2:00 Grand Analog – Grand Analog played Rifflandia two years and put on a great show. I hope he breaks out the kazoo again.
2:45 Current Swell – Current Swell played a great set at Rock the Shores the other month. I’m looking forward to seeing them again.
5:00 Hey Ocean! – I really hope that it’s sunny this weekend because I can’t imagine listening to Hey Ocean! in anything other than sunny weather. Maybe they’ll bring summer back. Oh, and be sure to say hi to the flippy hair guitar player.
5:45 Reggie Watts – All you need to do to get excited to see Reggie Watts is watch his cover of Van Halen’s “Panama”. (You can find video of that here. Sorry for the stupid ad at the beginning of the video.)
7:30 Mother Mother – It will be pretty great to see Mother Mother close out the festival. Actually, I can’t think of an act that’s more perfect to have this time slot.

Steven Page at the Alix Goolden Hall, March 14th 2012

Mike Edel started off the night with a set that was stripped down compared to what I was used to seeing from him. The theme of the night seemed to be “keep it simple” and Edel was joined by only three other musicians covering guitar/banjo, violin, and percussion. The short set contained the staples of “Two Of Us”, “Bottom Floor Apartment”, and “The Country Where I Came From”. Edel and company were fantastic as always.

The Archers were up next. They had the most elaborate set up of the evening with piano, guitar, bass, ukulele, cajone, bells, and a tiny bit of trumpet. I saw this young group at Rifflandia back in September, and while they were great back then they acted like seasoned pros now. The standout song for me was the opener “The Sun Will Rise”. (The song can be heard/bought on the band’s Bandcamp page.)  You can catch the Archers with Fir Cone and Steph Macpherson when they play my hometown of Sidney BC on April 21st 2012.

I admit: I didn’t do my homework before this show. I had no idea what to expect from Steven Page this night. Would he play alone or with a band? Would he focus on his new solo material? Would he play the old BNL favourites? If past experience has taught me anything, it’s that this is exactly how I should go into a concert. Things always seem to turn out great when I do this. This show was no exception.

Page was joined by Craig Northey of the Odds with Page on acoustic guitar and Northey switching between acoustic and electric for the night. The set started with Northey alone on stage playing one of his songs with Page making his entrance on melodica halfway through the song. From there the duo launched into a version of “Alternative Girlfriend” that made its way through “Someone Who’s Cool” before closing out where they started. (Confession: as soon as I learned that Craig Northey was playing that night I wanted to request “Someone Who’s Cool”, it’s one of my all time favourite songs. I’m so glad they played it, and that it came so early in the set too so I didn’t have to be one of those jerks who shout requests for songs not written by the headlining artist.) The remainder of the evening weaved its way through old Barenaked Ladies songs, new songs from Page’s solo albums, and a couple of songs written by Northey and the Odds. The duo received a few standing ovations that night, one came right after doing a song without the use of microphones. That is always such an amazing thing to hear done at the Alix Goolden Hall. The night finished with another one of my all time favourites, “Brian Wilson”.

I think it’s pretty safe to say that this show will be one of the best I’ll see in 2012. If that prediction is wrong, I’m fine with that because it means I have an incredibly amazing year of music ahead of me. More pictures from the night are posted on the EhBSeasides Flickr page here.