RiFF RaFF
Support: Peter Jackson, KH of Mo$crill from Taylor Gang, Philly Moves, NRK, Badlook, Rodda
Date: Friday April 28th, 2017
Venue: the Phoenix in Toronto, Ontario
T-shirt worn: Final Fantasy XIII "Lightning"

I thought it was weird when I drove up to the parking lot across the street from the venue a half an hour after doors and it was almost empty. Usually I go into that parking lot then have to go find somewhere else to park because it’s packed. I didn't think anything of it until I went inside. I entered a nine hundred person capacity room with maybe fifteen people in it and found out that RiFF RaFF wasn't going on for almost four hours. But at least I got a good parking spot...

There were two MC's for the show but I never caught their names. They tried their best.

The first act was some guy from Barrie, Ontario called Rodda. He sounded like a little less dreamy BONES and since BONES will never play Toronto I'll take it. He was actually really good. But when I researched him a bit after the show and saw the way he structures his song titles…yeah, his a BONES wannabe.

Rodda
1. ?
2. DropOut
3. NoFeelings
4. XansOnFleek
5. ?

The next act Badlook went on like three minutes later. He was a bit more mainstream and not as much a downer (Roddas subject material was all drugs and death) with some pop-punk influences. He wasn't too bad either except for one point in the middle when the MCs joined him and it got pretty disorganized and terrible. He never mentioned any song titles but his first song may have been called "Badlook". But I liked him and her brought some needed energy to the very small crowd.

After maybe a fifteen-minute break NRK went on. He wasn't very good and most of his set was him bringing out friends of his that I've never heard of to do their thing. The only name of any of them I caught was Minty Burns.

The show was kind of dying by time the first touring act Philly Moves came out. Doors had been open for three hours and there were maybe a hundred people there. Remember, the Phoenix hold close to a thousand. Every song they had ended with the gino air-horn sound. They sucked so much and I was really bored by this point so I went to the bathroom.

The next guy was KH of Mo$crill from Taylor Gang and he didn’t sound too bad but I went to the back of the venue and completely zoned out.

The last support act was Peter Jackson and he was fine. His backing track was a little loud and I really don’t know if he was even doing anything live on stage.

After a long night RiFF RaFF finally came on stage. There were maybe two hundred people there and that’s being generous. I think that may have affected RiFF RaFFs performance because he just didn’t seem to want to be there. I was expecting some of that goofy, quirkiness between and during songs but he just went through his set and barely even said a word outside of them. He was at least performing live and the first half of the set had a lot of great songs that I really like. Up until Triple Beam Dream Team it was really good. But ultimately I was very disappointed by his performance and I think that’s because he feeds off the crowd and there was barely a crowd there tonight to speak of.

RiFF RaFF
1. ?
2. Back from the Dead
3. How to be the Man
4. ?
5. Wetter than Tsunami
6. Chris Paul
7. Only in America
8. Aquaberry Dolphin
9. 4 Million
10. Carlos Slim
11. [Triple Beam Dream Team?]
12. Prom Night w/Peter Jackson
13. Word Around Town
14. [new song]
15. My Ice
16. ?
17. ?
18. Red Carpet Kush
19. ?
20. Dolce & Gabbana
21. Tip Toe Wing in my Jawwwdinz

RiFF RaFF really disappointed me. And there wasn’t’ much for me to get excited about on the rest of the show. So yeah, this was one of the worst shows I’ve been to. Yes, it was not my normal scene. But I know a “flop” when I see one. And this show flopped. It was originally booked for a place called “the Great Hall”, which I’ve never been to but it looked like a small hall where you’d have a wedding or a bar mitzvah. The show should have stayed there. The place tonight was barely at a quarter capacity and earlier in the afternoon they we actually giving away VIP passes and offering 2-for-1 admission at the door.



RiFF RaFF