All Photo Credit: Emma Sloan

Top 5 Artists at Rifflandia 2023 – The Park

Canadian Beats·September 19, 2023

Established in 2008, Vancouver Island’s annual Rifflandia Festival is one of the longest-running large-scale music and arts festivals in western Canada–and continues to wow audiences in 2023.

Now stretched over two dedicated weekends in September–the urban, decentralized DJ-centric Electric Avenue and the traditional grassy outdoor experience of The Park–Rifflandia hosts over 60,000 music lovers from around the world to enjoy a variety of international and national artists.

Here are just some of the highlights of the last weekend of the Capital’s festival staple:

Iggy Pop

Hailed by many as the “godfather of punk”, Iggy Pop upholds his title as one of the most dynamic stage performers of all time.

As the highly-anticipated closer of Friday’s Park lineup, Pop’s set combined the best of his classic self-titled debut, The Stooges, with sounds from iconic solo albums Lust For Life, Zombie Birdhouse, Brick By Brick, and more. Fans of all ages enjoyed a roaring act, with applause thundering long after the final encore.

Outside of performing, Pop continues to host his weekly radio show, “Iggy Confidential”, on BBC 6 Music to continue one of his life’s passions: introducing new music to fans worldwide.

Stephen Marley

While often first introduced as the son of Bob Marley, Stephen Marley is, first and foremost, a successful musician in his own right–touting eight Grammy Awards and a Jamaican-American flavour to his songs that are uniquely his own.

Marley’s prowess as a singer, songwriter, and producer shone through in his act, with the standout being his newly-dropped single, “Old Soul”. As the first work off of his new studio project–marking his first time back in-studio in five years– ”Old Soul” marks yet another change in sound to surprise and delight new and existing fans alike.

KALEO

As one of the weekend’s closers, Icelandic rockers KALEO–showcasing 4+ billion global streams, appearances at Coachella and Lollapalooza, and support slots for The Rolling Stones–arguably drew one of the biggest and most raucous crowds in Rifflandia’s storied history.

Blending new and old hits, KALEO powered through a variety of first-set technical concerns before delivering a show-stopping encore that had audiences buzzing long after they left the festival grounds.

Chet Faker

Wielding the dulcet tones that first catapulted him to fame with his beloved cover of BLACKstreet’s “No Diggity” in 2011, Chet Faker wowed Saturday evening crowds with energy previously unmatched on Rifflandia’s main stage.

Cameras and above-audience drones swept across enthralled music-goers, Chet Faker once again over-delivered with a set chock-full of top hits that fully showcased his prowess as a vocalist.

Diplo

Last but not least is Diplo, who single-handedly raked in the nighttime crowd on Saturday–converting the festival grounds into a whirlpool of glow sticks and eclectic rave wear.

His recently-released “Don’t Be Afraid” with Jungle and Damian Lazarus follows three US Dance #1s for Diplo and his label: the Grammy-nominated SIDEPIECE collaboration, “On My Mind”, “Looking For Me,” with Paul Wolford and Kareen Lomax, and “Turn Back Time” with Sonny Fodera were all featured alongside hits from Major Lazer.