Rifflandia! Bands I Wanted to See, but Didn't

This is the last Rifflandia post.  I promise.  It seems that making posts about Rifflandia is sort of like Crystal Meth or Cocaine - once you start, it's really hard to stop. 

*sniff*

Anyways.  Rifflandia was this huge festival, with something like a dozen venues and a good forty bands playing PER NIGHT.  This means that even the most dedicated concert goer is going to miss some pretty awesome bands.  This here is my short and dirty list of awesome bands that I missed - and should go see next year.

Aidan Knight:  I've seen Mr. Knight before, during one his first solo shows.  His music is of the sort of soft acoustic variety, with well-crafted songs that are definitely tranquil.  But what makes him worth watching is his sense of humour, self-deprecation, and his instant likeability.  Unfortunately, the rest of the people at his venue did not seem very interesting - although it would have been cool to watch the closing act that night, The Men Without Hats (yeah, those Men Without Hats). 

Kate Miller-Heidke:  My good friend Kittens pointed this girl out on her blog, and just amazingly awesome she happens to be.  Kittens called her "An Australian Regina Spektor", which didn't do much for me - I'm not a huge Spektor fan, I'm afraid.  But then I listened to Kate-Miller-Heidke's music, which is, um, cool?  Is that a good enough word?  Let's say it has an acoustic-y electric-y roll to it, coupled with quirky vocals.  Is that better?  Also, why do australians sing with an accent, but englishmen do not? 

Hey Rosetta!  I saw these guys last year, and they were a lot of fun.  A lot of nice stringed instruments, plus a piano and an electric guitar.  I mean, that's always a combo for good music, right?  Unfortunately, I saw these guys last year... which meant I wasn't going to see them again this year.  Plus, seeing Hey Rosetta would make seeing the Dodos really difficult.  And that would have been very, very, wrong.  I have a friend who loves these guys, and gave me grief for not seeing them this year. 

Jon And Roy:  I think a wrote a blog post about these guys, but I'm too lazy right now to dig for it.  Luckily, this blog has a search feature!  Anyways, Jon and Roy are a Canadian folk music duo who are pretty much the definition of laid back.  I saw them last year, and really enjoyed the way they set themselves apart from everyone else.  It was soft without being soft, if that makes any sense at all.  And yes, you have to check out the link to their music - they're covering one of the best Led Zeppelin acoustic songs ever made!  Really sucks that I'd miss that.

Chad VanGaalen:  This is another "band" that Kittens told me I had to see.  I've heard his music, and I really wanted to go.   But I really hate the band that was playing before Mr. VanGaalen, a local group by the name of Frog Eyes that is the musical equivalent of eating dog vomit.  Chad VanGaalen is much better than eating dog vomit, though.  In fact, he sort of reminds me of an indie Beck for the new generation. Only, his lyrics make sense. 

Bucan Bucan:  They were closing on a sunday night.  If I saw them, I was going to be late for work the next day.  But I still really wanted to see this local group (yet everyone thinks they're french!) that has something like twenty-eight members in the band.  Seriously, I think they qualify as a "small town" in demographic terms.  I wanted to see them knowing absolutely nothing about their music, except that it was kind of gypsy-inspired, and that the band looks like pirates.  This, of course, means that I have to see them one of these days.  Word of mouth sometimes works, I guess.