You can’t do ’em all, so here are our Top 10 festival acts

More than 150 acts will appear on stages around Victoria this year for the ninth annual Rifflandia festival. There’s no way even the most ardent musical adventurer can take it all in, so here’s a shortlist of the must-see music on tap over the weekend

1. DE LA SOUL Thursday, 11 p.m., Phillips Backyard.

Hip-hop legends De La Soul are the act to beat on opening night, which should have Phillips Brewery running at full clip immediately after the gates open. The New York trio will undoubtedly play material from their new album, And The Anonymous Nobody, but fans should also prepare to shake their rumps to a barrage of songs that put De La Soul at the forefront of rap music in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

2. BOMBA ESTEREO Friday, 4:15 p.m., Royal Athletic Park; Friday, 10 p.m., Phillips Backyard.

Colombian dance duo Bomba Estereo will bring some multicultural heat to the Royal Athletic Park main stage shortly after the park gates open on Friday. As a bonus, the group will perform hours later at the Phillips Backyard; both slots are can’t-fail bookings, as Bomba Estereo specializes in the type of dance music that pays immediate dividends. One listen and your feet will be in motion.

3. X-AMBASSADORS Friday, 5:45 p.m., Royal Athletic Park.

The misconception about this New York quartet is that their catalogue begins and ends with a Jeep commercial. True, the group did score big with said Jeep song, Renegades, but the album that spawned it also includes three other hits — the biggest of which, Unsteady, has more than 22 million views on YouTube. For the pop-music fan at Rifflandia this year, there will no bigger highlight than X-Ambassadors.

4. LEE (SCRATCH) PERRY Friday, 6:45 p.m., Royal Athletic Park.

Iconic producer and dub reggae pioneer Lee (Scratch)

Perry has a colourful track record when it comes to Victoria; his performance in 1999 at what is now Distrikt nightclub was as bizarre as they come. Though he hasn’t played the city since 2008, his legend continues to grow. The 80-year-old has recorded in recent years with the Orb and appeared as a DJ in the video game Grand Theft Auto V. The Beastie Boys were clearly ahead of the curve when they namechecked the reggae giant in their 1994 hit Sure Shot.

5. GOLDFISH Friday, 10 p.m., Capital Iron.

Electric Avenue — the four-block area near Store Street that includes Capital Iron, Anian Yard and the Phillips Backyard — will be alive with energy through the weekend. The neighborhood will be Ground Zero for party music at Rifflandia, with sets by everyone from Can-pop dance duo Prozzäk (Friday, Capital Iron) to local rockers Dope Soda (Saturday, Anian Yard). Despite the competition, don’t sleep on Goldfish, the electro dance group from Cape Town, South Africa. The band is expected to be one of the under-the-radar highlights at this year’s festival.

6. SHANE KOYCZAN AND THE SHORT STORY LONG Friday, 10:30 p.m., Alix Goolden Performance Hall; Sunday, 4:55 p.m., Royal Athletic Park.

Shane Koyczan fans will have two opportunities to see this acclaimed spoken-word poet and author work his magic at Rifflandia. Astute festivalgoers should make an effort to catch both sets, but the intimate Alix Goolden performance is by far the better bet. With Koyczan backed by his group, the Short Story Long, magic will be in the air Friday night. Koyczan is a powerful performer, and radical enough to steal the thunder from those placed much higher up on the Rifflandia marquee.

7. JESSE ROPER Saturday, 11:30 a.m., MusiCounts TD Lounge.

One of Rifflandia’s best-kept secrets is the MusiCounts TD Lounge in the Atrium (800 Yates St.), a great venue that is often packed early. The natural sound of the room lends itself to acoustic shows, a bonus for this

year’s roster of local acts (Jesse Roper, Vince Vaccaro, Band of Rascals, Fox Glove and Fintan O’Brien.) Roper — who will also do a full-band set Sunday at Royal Athletic Park — is a natural performer and strong acoustic guitarist, so he’s not to be missed.

8. BAND OF SKULLS Saturday, 6 p.m., Royal Athletic Park.

Rifflandia has plenty to offer in 2016, but loud rock ‘n’ roll is one of the more under-represented genres on the roster. Band of Skulls — from Southampton, England — fills that void and then some. The group hit its commercial peak in 2012, but that doesn’t signify a step down artistically; the band has turned the corner and become one of the more dependable festival draws in recent memory. Band of Skulls wields a mighty sword in concert, and should make for tough competition on the Royal Athletic Park main stage Saturday.

9. JURASSIC 5 Saturday, 7:45 p.m., Royal Athletic Park.

A reunited J5 generated big buzz when Rifflandia announced its roster, and for good reason: The group has performed just once in Victoria, a so-so 2006 gig that came shortly before the band’s dissolution. Following a seven-year hiatus, the original lineup has been back on the road and entertaining audiences with its serve-and-volley brand of oldschool hip-hop. J5 anchor Chali 2na has played Rifflandia as a solo artist and brought down the house. Expect more of the same Saturday night.

10. OPERATORS Saturday, 11:30 p.m., Alix Goolden Performance Hall.

Indie-rock fans are suitably excited

for a reunited Wolf Parade, which is set to close out the festival at Royal Athletic Park on Sunday night. One of two singers in the group, Shawnigan Lake’s Dan Boeckner, will also perform Saturday night with his other band, Operators, whose self-titled debut is a riveting piece of electro-punk that mixes the melody of Modern English with the gloom and doom of Joy Division. Don’t miss them. — Mike Devlin