Rifflandia 2024 is just days away.
With an all-female set of headliners, quite a bit of nostalgia and everything happening all in one weekend at the Mattulia lands at Rock Bay, the festival will have quite a different vibe this year. TLC, Feist and REZZ will be talked about heavily through the weekend. Other noteworthy acts include Ja Rule, Maestro Fresh Wes, The Beaches, Broken Social Scene and Tokyo Police Club on their farewell tour.
Historically, we have concentrated our festival preview on local Victoria artists with a little bit of the rest of Vancouver Island sprinkled in. This year though, there just isn’t very much island talent in this year’s lineup. So, to make sure we put a spotlight on more of the undercard, we’re expanding our preview to the rest of the province.
Want to know what to expect to see and hear from talent from our province? Here is your Rifflandia 2024 BC Artist Preview.
Rifflandia 2024 takes place Friday September 13 to Sunday September 15, 2024. Passes are available at rifflandia.com
The Choirs YYJ – Main Stage – Friday at 5:20pm | Saturday at 3:15pm | Sunday at 3pm
What’s a Rifflandia without The Choirs YYJ? The non-audition community choirs have been singing original arrangements of indie, folk and pop music at the start of each day at Rifflandia since 2014. They will open the main stage as is tradition this year.
Friday
BC Fiddle Orchestra – Phillips Stage – 5:30pm
The BC Fiddle Orchestra began in the early 1990s with a small group of talented and enthusiastic young violinists from Daniel Lapp’s studio. The orchestra’s first show as the 1994 Commonwealth games in Victoria. The BC Fiddle Orchestra features young fiddle players taking lessons at the Victoria Conservatory of Music
Club Loading & Co. – The Dome – 5:30pm
Club Loading is a Victoria event based pop-up series that was established in 2022. If you’ve ever walked down Johnson Street and wondered why booming bass was coming from the building that once housed Tomley Market, it was probably a Club Loading party. They’ll be tasked with getting the dance party started in The Dome for the first two hours of day 1 of the festival. Club Loading was founded by Jonas Robinson and Joshua Franklin.
Poncho – Phillips Stage – 6:15pm
Poncho is a Ghanaian singer/songwriter who recently moved to Victoria. It’s his goal that when he’s on stage, everyone will be dancing
Garret T. Willie – Phillips Stage – 7:55pm
Garret T. Willie first nations guitarist and rock n’ roll musician from Kingcome Inlet. His music is described as a contemporary take on hardscrabble blues and the purest and rawest rock ‘n’ roll to follow its teachings thereafter.
SkiiTour – The Dome – 9:30pm
SkiiTour are fun-loving DJ/production duo from Whistler known for their upbeat “feel-good house music that keeps the vibe groovy.” The duo have performed at numerous festivals including Shambhala and even Rock The Shores in 2018.
Nostalgix – The Dome – 9:45pm
Hailing from Iran with deep roots in the Canadian dance music scene, Vancouver’s Nostalgix has captivated audiences worldwide with her presence and triple-threat talent as a producer, writer and rapper. She has performed on huge festival stages including EDC Las Vegas, Tomorrowland, Ultra Music Festival, HARD Summer, and Red Rocks.
Saturday
Hal9000 – Phillips Stage – 3:45pm
Hal9000 is a BC based rapper. Unfortunately, we were unable to find a more in-depth bio for Hal9000, but here’s his most recent single on Spotify.
shmani – The Dome – 3:50pm
shmani is a Vancouver-based electronic producer and vocalist who experiments with the borders between dubstep, future bass, and trap styles in her music. shmani’s vocals integrate a punk style to her otherwise bass heavy electronic drops.
Honeybear, the Band – Main Stage – 4pm
Honeybear, the Band is a soul, funk, blues & roots quartet, taking you on an old school road trip through the dusty back roads of American music. Keyboard player Mike Kenney is also the organ player for the Vancouver Canucks.
Lowkita – Phillips – 4:15pm
Lowkita is a Calgary-born artist now based in Vancouver. She blends soulful vocals and infectious melodies, weaving R&B, Hip Hop, electronic, and dancehall into a distinct contemporary sound.
Black Pontiac – Main Stage – 4:50pm
Black Pontiac are an independent band from Vancouver who are defined by youthful exuberance, a “DIY or die” ethos and a “Cage the Elephant meets The Clash” inspired sound combining pop songwriting with melodic indie and garage rock flavors. We last covered Black Pontiac at a packed Little Fernwood stage at FernFest 2023. We’re not sure if we’ve ever seen so many young women participate in a mosh pit.
Dakota Bear – Phillips Stage – 5:25pm
Dakota Bear is a Saskatoon-born, Vancouver-based Indigenous hip-hop artist and activist. His melodic rhymes carry stories of Indigenous peoples across Canada leaving listeners enlightened and inspired.
Lazy Syrup Orchestra – The Dome – 7pm –
Galiano Island’s Duncan Smith, who is one half of The Funk Hunters, started Lazy Syrup as a way to do “a mellow, early-morning down-tempo set” that would set the tone for the day during Bass Fest. It’s not uncommon for the band to pull people up, unrehearsed, for random onstage collaborations. Hey Ocean! lead singer Ashleigh Ball has been known to make guest appearances.
Rascalz – Phillips Stage – 7:30pm
Rascalz are a two-time Juno award winning rap quintet from Vancouver made up of MC’s Red 1 and Misfit, DJ Kemo, who is also an accomplished graffiti artist, and breakers Zebroc and Dedos. Many will know their 1998 hit ‘Northern Touch’ that featured guest rapppers Checkmate, Kardinal Offishall, Thrust and Choclair
Sunday
SHARON – Phillips Stage – 2:45pm Sunday –
SHARON is described as an “absurdist” rock trio from Victoria With their jazz background, the trio performs in strange time signatures with disdainful and cynical lyrical content.
Sport Mode – The Dome Sunday – 3pm
Sport Mode is the house DJ stage name of Victoria musician Claire Butterfield. She is one third of Victoria folk trio Fox Glove and one of the leader of The Village Choir. She’s most recently performed DJ set at Laketown Shakedown and The Village Block Party.
Loose Bones – Phillips Stage – 3:30pm
Loose Bones is the new project of Victoria-born guitarist Darren Glover and drummer Tyler Jackson Piercy. Inspired by the tall trees and salty shores of the West Coast, Loose Bones fuses mellow rock, smooth guitar, and laid-back melodies that explore love, connection, and the pursuit of chill.
Mr. Stee – Phillips Stage – 4pm
Mr. Stee is a Vancouver DJ/Producer/instrumentalist. His music is a layered mosaic of sound and texture brought together with smooth guitars, unique samples, hard hitting drums and retro synths.
Janky Bungag – Phillips Sunday – 4:15
Janky Bungag is a Vancouver Filipino-Canadian cowpunk artist who draws inspiration from outlaw legends like Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, and Johnny Cash to bring a high-energy blend of country and bluegrass.
Wooden Horsemen – Phillips Stage – 5pm
Wooden Horsemen is a Vancouver based Neo Swamp Rock 6 piece featuring blues driven vocals & electrified dance grooves. They’ve built a reputation as a must see live act and have become a staple in Western Canada’s festival circuit.
ATYYA – The Dome – 5pm
ATYYA [pronounced ah-tie-ah] is the music project of Vernon music producer Tyy Clark. ATYYA’s sound features dark baselines, mesmerising percussive grooves, and other worldly atmospheres. Tyy started producing music in 2006 and launcehd ATYYA in 2012.
No Thanks – The Dome – 7pm
No Thanks are a Vancouver high-energy house duo with a combined production experience of more than 15 years. Giuliano Rascan and Dejan Zoric’s collaboration has been captivating audiences at renowned festivals such as Beyond Wonderland, Fvded In The Park, and EDC Las Vegas.
Bob Moses (Club Set) – Phillips Stage – 9pm –
Bob Moses are Vancouver’s Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance. The band formed in the Brooklyn underground scene in 2012 and their career really broke out when they released their 2016 single ‘Tearing Me Up’ earning a Grammy nomination. Their Rifflandia performance will be a ‘Club Set’. From video we’ve found online, it’ll be a DJ set with some live vocals from Tom Howie.
