Osheaga Festival – Day 1 | MuchMusic.com

Osheaga Festival – Day 1

September 11th, 2007

As a member of the Montreal podcasting community (A Good Day For Airplay), I was graciously invited by the festival organizers (as a media member, no less!) to this second edition of the hipster hootenanny that is Osheaga this past weekend, while the rest of you were enjoying Virgin Fest.

Mind you, I hate outdoor festivals with the white hot passion of a
thousand suns, only because I hate standing around for hours on end. Plus I’m super white and bake easily under a blazing sun and I tend to sweat buckets. Last time I attended one of these things was Edgefest ’98 and I only went as one of my fave bands, Foo Fighters, were the main attraction.

My day started with Toronto’s Apostle of Hustle which you all know his spearheaded by Andrew Whiteman, lead guitarist for Broken Social Scene. His taste in world music, Cuban-style guitars and Spanish lyrics is something unusual in “the scene” these days. Definitely a standout. Always wild about his guitar solos and he brought ‘em. Bonus: bongo solo! you can’t beat that!

Up next was Rahzel, the undisputed beatboxing champion of the world! It was just him and a DJ, which was kinda redundant, since the man in a one man band. The man likes to boast, being a braggart like most MCs are but in his case it’s well deserved. He did a few of his original creations but also whipped out a few covers of stuff by Justin Timberlake, Snoop, Kanye West and Aaliyah as well doing a mean guitar/bass line from White Stripes‘ Seven Nation Army. All in all, a fun diversion even though it was on the novelty side.

From that, I walked to the “Tree Stage” which was this beautiful half tent adorned with yellow/white stripes in the middle of the forest to catch Welsh band The Heights. First time in Canada promoting their debut album Toys & Kings. Crunchy guitars with melodies right out of the mid-90′s brit rock playbook with a mix of today’s bands like Bloc Party, Arctic Monkeys. It was good but not great. Stuff you’ve heard oh so many times before. I will admit that Bad News and For Real are catchy but that’s the extent of my love for The Heights.

Back to the “River Stage” to see Editors, who I’ve seen plenty of times before. I was hoping to hear songs from the new album but they stuck to the oldies. I did get to hear An End As A Start but no The Weight Of The World which left me sad and empty inside (not really). Maybe next time.

Up next was Blonde Redhead. Saw them earlier this year in a club setting for their new most excellent album 23. Now, I never was much of a fan before but with the almost shoegaze-ian turn they’ve done on this album, I became a lover of their music. I got to hear two of my faves back-to-back: 23 and Spring And By Summer Fall which sounded even better outside. Must be the mighty wind carrying those sweet spacey guitar licks all over the place.

From that high, went on to the MEG stage which is the Montreal Electronic Groove, the festival within this festival. They joined forces last year to give them bigger exposure and add some diversity to the Osheaga lineup which they brought in spades.

When the sun started to set, I went back again to the Tree Stage to catch Toronto hardcore punk band F**ked up. A very accurate name as rock band names go. Singer Father Damian told us that they flew 30 hours to England only to get there and play four songs before the club owner pulled the plug on them. Thankfully it didn’t happen here as they literally blasted our skulls the whole damn time they were on stage. We even witnessed Father Damian’s pasty white belly and man boobs jiggling about during the whole set. A truly disturbing image that will haunt my dreams forever. Also, smashing full beer cans on his head and knocking himself silly with his microphone seemed to be something he enjoyed. It was a truly entertaining thing to watch.

Night had set and up next for me was ohbijou. I have a soft spot for sweet orchestral pop and they do it very well. Singer Casey Mecija’s voice reminds me a lot of the Dupree sisters from Eisley. Only had a chance to catch two songs and went straight next door to catch Explosions In The Sky.

What a nice setting for them, near a beautiful river and surrounded by
giant trees in the background, they did what they do best, quiet-loud, thunderous and lovely. Big crescendos to quiet interludes, they got it down pat. They even performed my favourite track of theirs that made me a fan for life – Greet Death. It was a great way to end the night.

That is, if I didn’t go see the headliners of this day…

Smashing Pumpkins. Never been a big fan, sure I’ve enjoyed the ‘hits’ over the year but not enough for me to spend my hard earned money to see them live. I’ve heard the new album and I’ve already erased it from my memory. From what I was told, most of what they played was from their new opus – long, over-indulgent tracks, and one that lasted at least a good 15 minutes (I’m not too sure since I zoned out) but not enough of the songs that made them the 90′s indie rock darlings that they are that i would think most people wanted to hear.

I will say that hearing “Tonight” and Billy Corgan whipping out his acoustic guitar and strumming “1979″ all by is lonesome. Even if it felt like he was on auto-pilot.

Some kickass music and a wicked neck and face sunburn are what will be
etched in my memory forever of this day until I’m too old and senile
to care. Way to go Osehaga peeps.

Posted on Tuesday, September 11th, 2007 at 12:59 pm by Paul L. and is filed under Concerts & Events.