A small crowd gathered to watch Dinosaur Bones soundcheck, they're THAT good.

The first band I caught however was Dinosaur Bones on the Main Stage. I saw these guys play at NxNE a few months ago, and loved it but for some reason never bought a cd. First thing on my To-Do list when I get home this go around, lemme tell ya. Because I was busy doing volunteer things, I didn’t get to see Dino Bones’ entire set.

Dino Bones on the main stage

What I did see/hear, blew me away, yet again. Add getting their cd to your musical to do list ASAP. (And find it here.)

Mike Edel was next to hit the side stage, and I managed to catch a song or two which was lovely. And featured familiar face Shaun Huberts from Rococode!

Ra Ra Riot on the main stage brought some strings and beautiful melodies to RAP on a hotter than hot afternoon.

By the time Besnard Lakes hit the side stage, I had met up with the darling Laura Smith and catching up with old friends took to the fore front rather than intently watching a band play. We did see a bit of them, but they were playing later in the night with Rococode, The Coppertone and Malajube at Metro Theatre so I figured I’d see them later anyways. And didn’t even take a picture. Oops?

Mother Mother from Side Stage

And then one of the acts I was most excited to see - Mother Mother. They played a solid mix of songs from Oh My Heart and Eureka, including my favorite The Stand.

They hit everything straight on and had the audience dancing and clapping for the hour+ that they were on stage.

MM is such a strong band, I don’t think one review can’t really differ from another.

Another act on the ‘excited to see’ list closed out the night on the main stage, in their second to last Canadian show before indefinite hiatus. Broken Social Scene. SO GOOD.

Broken Social Scene - Side stage

After Royal Athletic Park it was off to the Metro Theatre to see ROCOCODE!!

The Roco-crew played to a packed house, with people standing in the entrance hallway and sitting on the floor in front of the stage for the duration of their set.

The way Laura and Andrew’s vocals mesh is slightly mesmerizing; Johnny’s an incredible drummer; and Shaun held it down on bass. I’m can’t wait to see what these guys come up with next!

We stuck around Metro for The Coppertone, aptly named after the lead singer’s ginger frock no doubt. The venue was a little off putting for this band. I think I would have enjoyed it more in a bigger space to match how big their sound is. None the less, a band worth looking into if you have never heard of them.

The Coppertone

After debating whether or not to stay at Metro for Malajube or head to the Victoria Events Centre for Library Voices, LV won out. Again, the venue was a little off putting for this band but they made it work, had everyone up out of their seats dancing. Every time the sax got thrown in the air I couldn’t help but hold my breath and cringe a little bit with fear — It was never dropped though, thankfully! I was intrigued to hear how many links to Newfoundland Library Voices have, and I’m hoping they make it to the island to play soon!

Drinks were poured, musical tetris was played while packing a tour van, and much needed sleep was had shortly thereafter!

Day 2 of the Rifflandia festival started off early by checking out Treelines at the Victoria Events Centre. Their new EP Young Man received some heavy play on my stereo this summer, so this was one of the sets I was most looking forward to at Rifflandia. The first song I caught from them, Summer Song, had just that morning been awarded the title of the CBC Radio 3 Song of Summer for 2010. The fool that I am, I showed up a few minutes into the set and ended up missing my favourite song, Ghost Towns. That’s just one more reason for Treelines to make a quick return to Victoria I guess. This was actually the first show I had been to at the Victoria Events Centre, and let me just say that this venue has really got some potential. It was a pretty good space to see music, with some good sightlines, and it had a bar even though it was an all ages venue (a double win!). Back to the music though. Treelines put on one rocking set chock-full of energy. I think the almost full venue of people would have agreed with me on that. The band did not disappoint my high expectations for this show; I can’t wait to see Treelines again.

Treelines at the Victoria Events Centre

Up next at the Victoria Events Centre was a local band, The Wicks, who played some laid back country. It was nice to hear a local band I hadn’t heard before, but after that rocking set by Treelines I couldn’t sit down and give the Wicks the attention they deserved so I decided to move on. I did pick up their EP before I left though, so I’m looking forward to giving it a listen through.

The Wicks at the Victoria Events Centre

At this point I moved over to see another local band, Maurice, at Market Square. This was clearly where the party was going on, with the beer garden lineup growing by the second. The whole set culminated with one unforgettable moment of the festival in which the bass player Mark leaped off a stack of speakers. The next day it was revealed that he sprained his ankle – ouch! As proof, the band posted some photos up on their Facebook page of a pretty bruised and swollen foot.

Yukon Blonde were up next at Market Square and to put it bluntly, they rocked the joint. I was impressed that the band’s great harmonies transferred so well from the album to the stage. At this point Market Square was almost at capacity, and everyone seemed really into the show. I would not be surprised if Yukon Blonde walked away with more than a few new fans that night. Near the end of the set Aidan Knight and the boys of We Are the City joined the band on stage for a song.

Yukon Blonde at Market Square

At this point the night was in full swing and I went from one capacity crowd to another to see Aidan Knight at the Metro. Even with my media pass I got stuck waiting out in the hall for this massively popular show. Luckily I was able to make it in partway through first song so all worked out. For this set Aidan and his band played a mix of  old songs, new songs, and songs from his most recent release Versicolour. After catching him a few times this summer with the Malahat Revue it was nice to see him play such a well rounded collection of material. Partway through the set Aidan asked how many of us saw him at last year’s Rifflandia festival. Considering this was such a breakout performance for him, I was surprised that the answering applause was so quiet. I guess this just goes to show how the love for Aidan Knight has spread so much in the past year. This evening Aidan was joined by a five piece band which was a nice expansion from his solo set at last year’s Rifflandia festival. The band grew even more for the song Knitting Something Nice For You when they were joined by the boys of We Are The City and by Matt Kelly of Treelines. The crowd leaped to their feet for this number, and they even got the clapping part of the song down without any prompting. To finish off the night Aidan asked the crowd to have a seat, at which point he expressed how genuinely happy he is to just be playing music. He also gave the Rifflandia organizers a heartfelt thanks for bringing something so great to our city, and mentioned some of the amazing shows he had seen so far. The band finished the night off with Jasper, and though the crowd started off sitting it didn’t last long. By the end of the song everyone was on their feet singing along, and Aidan finished the whole thing off from somewhere in the middle of the crowd.

Aidan Knight at the Metro

When I left the Metro there was a long line to see Men Without Hats. I grossly underestimated how popular that show would be and I’m quite interested to hear how that it went. Since I was in the area I decided to make a quick stop at the Alix Goolden Hall for Great Lake Swimmers. There was a long, long lineup to get in. Before the show the crowd was a little on the rowdy, restless side which made me think this show would be a disaster, but everyone quieted down as soon as the band took the stage. Unfortunately, things were running about 15 minutes late so I decided to only stay for two songs: She Comes To Me In Dreams and Everything Is Moving So Fast. If I had to hear only two songs from the Great Lake Swimmers, those are two pretty good choices.

Great Lake Swimmers at the Alix Goolden

To finish off the night I headed over to Sugar to catch the last half of Shout Out Out Out Out’s set. Once I got inside the club I was greeted with one sweaty dance party that was well underway. The whole crowd was basically jumping up and down for the entire show. Somehow or another I managed to navigate through the mass of people to get up to the front row where my friends were camped out. This was such a great way to wrap up the evening and get out all my extra energy from seeing so many hours of amazing music this weekend. Shout Out Out Out Out’s show was another one of my most anticipated sets of the festival and with two drummers and three bass players (insert double rainbow joke here), you can surely imagine that they did not let me down. In fact, the band said that it was probably their best show in Victoria so far. The crowd was so riled up by the end when they demanded an encore that the band decided to play Forever Indebted, a song that they claimed to have not played in a long time. This is one of my favourites from them, and it was such a great way to end the night.

Shout Out Out Out Out at Sugar

Now, I know this is supposed to be a music review, but after the show we wandered down to West Coast Waffles on Broad Street. I only found out that weekend that they have late night hours. They served up some amazing after show food that was such a nice change from the old standby of pizza, and they even had a mix CD of Rifflandia artists on the stereo! En route to West Coast Waffles my group ran into Zach from the Zolas and members of Treelines. I must say, it’s been a real treat so have so many musicians in town, and to have them hang around after their shows are over without needing to rush for the ferry, giving us the chance to chat with them while wandering the streets. Also spotted throughout the weekend were members of We Are the City and Aidan Knight.

Shout Out Out Out Out at Sugar

Up next in Day 3: Rich Aucoin, Diamond Rings, (a failed attempt to see) Times Neue Roman, Michael Bernard Fitzgerald, Hey Rosetta, The Dodos.