Rifflandia 2012

Rifflandia is running this weekend, definitely a hilight-to & mark of the end of summer.

There were approx. 117 bands playing so I didn’t see them all, and since we were out until 4am on Thursday we sort of failed miserably Friday – got home by 8:45pm. We suck at binge partying.

Er, and then Saturday night we ended up going home early as well, because… we suck at partying.

But here’s a list of my favourite performances!

Thursday Night: Austra

Austra played at the Alix Goolden hall, which is an old church from the 1890′s that has since been converted to a music venue. It was perfect for Austra’s style. Anyway, they were rad, and you should listen to their music.

(Photo cred: @actualpain)

My favourite part was their last song before the encore (song below) – the stage was fairly low to the ground & the two female backup singers pulled everyone up onto it to dance while they performed. Definitely the coolest musical moment I’ve ever been involved in.

Some other really awesome Austra songs: Spellwork and Darken her Horse (this song takes patience, but you just have to listen to the whole thing. The first 2 minutes are build-up to when they finally drop some sick beats.)

Friday: Band of Skulls

I love Band of Skulls (they’re in my top 3) and they killed it on Friday. I saw them a couple years ago and they’ve only gotten better since.

The worst was when Rich Aucoin, who was cool and got the crowd going like a pro, kept referring to Band of Skulls as Band of Horses “up next”. I cringed every time.

BUT: Band of Skulls rocked. I think my favourite song of the night was Patterns – Emma ripped it up. They sound way better live than they do on their album, and I think that’s all I have to say about that.

Saturday: The Dudes

I could also say Cake here I guess, and maybe I should, since they are a bigger deal, but I think I preferred The Dudes. Maybe not talent-wise (although they do have some fun songs), but the crowd just had a lot of energy for them, more so than for any other artist that day.