Photographer Asli Champion gives us his take on this year’s Rifffest at Belgrave Music Hall
It’s been a long while since I’ve been to Belgrave in the daylight hours! Downstairs was nice and busy but not overly so. Had some obligatory pizza from Dough Boys to give me a bit of sustenance for the long evening of excellent music ahead!
DIM IMAGERY • 16:00
Excellent, excellent vibe from frontman Matt Bond. Absolutely hilarious, got the crowd up and excited and it was a great way to start the day. Full of energy from somebody who let us in on the fact they had just done a 6 hour shift beforehand!
NEW MEDS • 17:00
Guitars were absolutely mental. Bassist’s first gig with this band and absolutely smashed it. Breakdowns and riffs had everyone headbanging. As a guitarist myself just blown away by the writing and playing. Bit of crowd surfing too and the crowd bloody loved it. Full of energy
FAUX PAS • 18:00
Unassuming entrance to the stage followed by a 30 minute onslaught of some of the chunkiest and heavy alt rock riffs with mellow ballad sections that were just great. From music to character they were very ‘punk’.
AVALANCHE PARTY • 19:00
Jarvis Cocker reincarnate meets Queens of the Stone Age. Also, somebody needs to tell me where he got that silk shirt. Epic set – what a performance.
WOOZE • 20:00
Balaclava’d up in bright yellow on bass and guitar like the Rubberbandits if they were a musical duo. If Wes Anderson directed a band this would be it. Korean British duo bringing a wonderful indie disco pop blend to the stage that I could listen to all day.
KID KAPICHI • 21:15
Super relatable bunch (not just ‘cos I feel right at home with a bunch of southerners). I’ve been playing their music on repeat since the other night and they give me a weird sense of calm amongst the loud fury and class-driven political commentary. They remind me a bit of Sleaford Mods with a ton of epic guitar thrown in. As if every single band so far hadn’t lived up to the title of the Festival! My word, these guys can play. They were having fun on stage; you can see they love performing and it makes for a great show.
All in all, Rifffest was one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to and I’m looking forward to its next instalment.
All photography by Asli Champion.
