Osheaga Opinions - A Festival Review

Every music festival has a question. Sometimes, it’s an obvious one that develops a theme for the fest – “When will it stop raining,” “Who’s going to play the Superjam,” “What’s the deal with those mascots,” or “How many artists will get stopped at the border?” Other times, it’s a total mystery – as was the case this weekend (Aug. 3-5) at Montreal’s seventh annual Osheaga Music Festival, when people were walking around and wondering aloud, “What do you think that giant crane is for?”

For three days, a huge, industrial crane stood directly behind the main stage, like an unfinished London Olympic venue waiting for the finishing touch, until it became a part of the background scenery of Jean Drapeau Park.

Until, that is, the BlackKeys put that question to rest.

Closing the festival on Sunday night, August 5, the Keys once again proved they can throw as good a party as any band. During their third-last song, Everlasting Light (which always features a special effect), the slumbering crane awoke into action and swung a platform over the crowd, from which a rain of purple, blue and white sparks showered down. It was the defining moment of the festival and, of course, the raucous crowd went even more nuts.

It was a fitting end to the biggest and best Osheaga yet. In the shadow of the geodesic dome built for the 1967 World’s Fair, the event drew a sellout crowd of 120,000 people and – trust me – it was obvious there were A LOT of people there. 

The only place that wasnt packed...

The only hiccups to the fest were logistical, not musical – the layout featured a long, winding path that funneled tens of thousands of inebriated concert-goers up a narrow staircase and walkway constructed over a road that remained open during the event, causing major backlogs and making it very difficult to hop from stage to stage. You basically had to pick a side and commit to it for a whole show. There were also huge lineups for concession stands, water stations and bathrooms, and not nearly enough beer tents for all the people, but that is all part of the festival experience.  

In terms of the music, I was extremely impressed. There were very few disappointments and several bands with whom I was pleasantly surprised. Some of my lesser highlights included GaryClark Jr., who absolutely shredded his guitar Friday afternoon and showed that the future of blues rock is in good hands; British DJ SBTRKT, whose mixture of classical, rock and electronic sounds was refreshingly groovy compared to some of the other DJs on the electronic stage (and his delightfully British quips to the crowd were quite charming); the Black Angels, who I didn’t know anything about but are really an explosion of hard rock and up-tempo rhythm; and Little Dragon, a Swedish electronic group that was much more funky and rockin’ than their description as “electronic” led me to believe. Great visuals, too.

The first day of the festival got off to a bit of a slow start as 80,000 people tried to figure out where all the stages and beer tents were, so many fans missed the first few hours of shows by bands like fun., Hey Ocean!, Yukon Blonde, Freelance Whales and the Bombay Bicycle Club. Folk-rock band Of Monsters and Men really kicked off the fest with the first huge crowd, turning up their rock-factor to get people moving. Their decision not to close their set with Little Talks, their biggest song, I thought was unusual, but allowed people to leave early to catch Franz Ferdinand. I decided to skip those quintessential indie-rockers in favour of Austin, Texas’ Gary Clark Jr., and was not disappointed. 

Florence & the Machine was the biggest act of opening night, though curiously they did not get the headlining spot, which went to Justice, one of the most self-serving and overblown electronic performances I’ve ever seen. The DJ spent at least five minutes of his show walking out from behind his turntables and holding his hand up for applause, in front of a giant light-up cross. Talk about ego.

Florence, for her part, sounded great after recovering from her vocal chord injury of a few weeks ago and had some good banter for the massive crowd that formed to watch her, at one point proclaiming, “We need human sacrifices! I want to see as many people on shoulders as possible.”

Later that night, MGMT took the stage and promptly blew me away. Ive seen the New York duo several times at festivals over the years, and always felt they were a little too electronic-disco for my tastes. This, I have since come to understand, is why so many people like them. However, tonight, they played a much more psychedelic, meandering, jammy set that was reminiscent of Pink Floyd, especially in their lighting and artwork, which was like an hour-long trip to the cover of Floyd’s More album. Their version of the Rolling Stones’ Angie was also really well done and perfect for the vibe of their set. “They can’t say we never tried to cover that song,” teased co-frontman Andrew VanWyngarden after strumming the last chords.

They were easily one of the highlights of my festival, though many people I talked to were disappointed it wasn’t more of a dance party. I’d say, if MGMT used to be a rebellious, end-of-the-year high-school party, now they’ve become a third-year college frat party.  

Saturday’s 35-degree heat (that’s about 95 for you Americans) was no deterrent for the Osheagans, as Canadian trio Plants and Animals took their self-described “post-rock” sound to the next level, making lots of new fans with an extremely soulful and resonant, but up-tempo set. They have a very “quarter-life-crisis” vibe to them, with existential yet down-to-earth, contemporary lyrics that seemed to click with many in that age group. During the song Good Friend, with the lyrics, “It takes a good friend to say you’ve got your head up your ass,” people were looking around at each other, nodding their heads and going, “That’s true,” and “Ya, for sure!” It was a fun moment in which the band really seemed to connect.

The water canons also came out for the first time during this set, and that’s when people really started having fun at Osheaga. There’s something about a sea of mud at a music fest that really turns things up a notch, Woodstock-style.

Young the Giant kept the ball rolling after Plants and Animals on the adjacent stage (the two big stages were set up side-by-side and alternated bands all weekend, while the three smaller stages were on the other side of the park over the staircase). After a more melodic, trippy My Morning Jacket-esque evening set at Ottawa Bluesfest a few weeks ago, this one was all energy and rockin’ in the sunshine, allowing the guys in this California outfit to really showcase the Wilco-style simplicity and catchiness of their music and focus less on their visuals.

Canadian rockers the Arkells were one of the highlights of the festival, making a ton of new fans with their easy-to-love rock and roll. After seeing these guys several times over the past few years they are definitely on the list of bands I’ll always see live, along with fellow Canadian artists Wintersleep, who performed on Friday, and the Sheepdogs.

Hilarious high five for the Arkells!

While Snoop Dogg (or Lion, pardon me) closed out the main stage Saturday night, the Sheepdogs, from rural Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, opened many peoples’ eyes. They are a revelation. They’re easily the best jam band to come out of Canada since the Guess Who (if you can even put them in that category), and at times on Saturday it felt like I was listening to the Allman Brothers. In fact, wearing one of my Grateful Dead t-shirts, someone came up to me during the show and asked if the set was giving me my “Dead fix,” which it definitely was. It actually sounded like they were teasing Jessica several times throughout the set, though it may have just been a similar riff. Either way, remember the Sheepdogs, and see them now while they’re still playing small stages. I’m excited these guys are Canadian.

I did manage to continue my ongoing dub-ducation at Osheaga, with SBTRKT, Little Dragon, Canadian duo Zeds Dead, Huoratron and the Zombie Disco Party. I’ve said it before and ill say it again: it’s not quite “music,” but there is something to dub-step I can get behind. It’s like a series of lights, sounds and noises that mimic the electrical impulses my brain sends to my muscles and forces them to juke and jive and dance and move in all directions. Just go with it.

See the Sheepdogs now, while they still cant afford a printer.

Which is exactly what most people did on Sunday, as the heat subsided and the skies opened up during the Shins fabulous afternoon set that had me thinking, “These guys sound like a young R.E.M. combined with that trippy, meandering Beatles-Revolver-era sound, like Tomorrow Never Knows.” Throw in a little Queen-style pop, to taste. I had a lot of fun watching the Shins, and was definitely glad I brought my poncho – “I’m almost as wet as you guys!” teased lead singer James Mercer. Note to the Osheaga organizers – you don’t need water canons after a torrential downpour. Just sayin’.

While City and Colour droned on and on, Bloc Party and the Black Angels brought the funk and the rock, respectively. Canadian favourite Metric, who were once based in Montreal and have a huge following there, continue to cement themselves as one of the most popular bands in the nation. They did a good job warming up the crowd for the Black Keys, who pulled out all the stops and left pretty much everyone hoarse and jello-legged from jumping up and down and belting out their highly sing-able tunes. They actually played 19 songs from their whole catalogue, old and new, and virtually everyone in the crowd heard the tune they wanted. 

I would be remiss if i did not mention the incredible showcase of Canadian talent displayed at Osheaga, and congratulate both the festival organizers for their faith in Can-con and the bands, for putting on such a great show. Metric, Feist (who put on a very bluesy and entertaining show, in which someone brought a palm tree that managed to crowd-surf all the way onto the stage beside her), City and Colour, The Weeknd, Plants and Animals, Zeds Dead, Radio Radio, the Sheepdogs, Classified, Down With Webster, the Arkells, Kathleen Edwards, Wintersleep, Yukon Blonde, Dan Mangan, Young Galaxy, and many more. The future of Canadian music is in good hands.   

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend of music and was extremely successful, to boot. There are a few things event organizers should take from this experience, and perhaps limit the tickets to 100,000 next year, while opening that road would do wonders. There could also be three or four times as many concession stands, beer tents and water stations. After all, you want all those out-of-towners to try poutine, right? But no cranes next year – give us a new question and keep the surprises coming.