This past weekend I had the chance to attend the inaugural Osheaga Music Festival at Parc Jean Drapeau in Montreal. For those unaware, Osheaga brought together fifty acts across four stages Saturday and Sunday. Today begins a two-part feature where I'''ll be giving you my impressions of the festival.
Given the nature of the event, it was impossible to catch every noteworthy act, so don'''t expect an all-encompassing report. Also, I wont bore you with any kind deep analysis, or exhaustive setlist summaries. What you will get is a quick '''n''' dirty summary of my thoughts on the acts that I did catch and''just because arbitrary quantification of art is fun AND informative''I'''ll grade each performance on the Prefix scale. You can also expect a bunch of pictures, and maybe a few other little goodies. Enjoy!
The day started off on a disappointing note, since there was a mix-up with my press credentials. I wasn'''t given an all-access pass, so there were no inner-barrier photo ops for me. I had to fight through mobs of people to take pictures, so there'''s a definite lack of quality, and for some bands, I couldn'''t get close enough to shoot them at all. Don'''t worry though, that wrong was righted for day two.
HushPuppies: MEG Stage (2:00-2:40)

I'''m not gonna lie, I never heard of these guys, and only showed up to their set so that I'''d be front and center for Think About Life who were due on next. So, I was pleasantly surprised when these guys put on a pretty entertaining set. Really high energy garagey, art rock sorta sound. They'''re basically France'''s answer to The Hives in both look and sound. They made the forty-minute wait a lot better than it could have been.
Score: 3/5
Think About Life: MEG Stage (3:10-3:40)


If you'''ve read my review of their debut album, then you know I think these guys have a ton of potential, and put on a fun show. Once again they didn'''t disappoint, even though the separation from the crowd didn'''t play to their strengths. Frontman Martin Cesar tried to fix that by jumping into the crowd, but security yanked his ass off the barrier with the quickness. They eventually got the plug pulled on them when they tried to go over their time slot. Too bad really, the crowd was really hot for them.
Download Their Performance
Score: 3.5/5
After Think About Life'''s performance, I consulted my festival guide to try and decide what I wanted to catch before Dinosaur Jr. Much to my horror, the only noteworthy act playing at that time was The Stills. God I hate The Stills. Still, I had a job to do, so I resigned myself to my fate, and trudged over to the River Stage for their performance.
The Stills: River Stage (4:00-4:45)

Pretty much everyone at the festival was jammed in front of the stage to see these trend jumpers in action. I wondered to myself whether they'''d break out any of their old skool ska jams. That would have been great. Between the band'''s bland performance of tracks off their wildly divergent albums, the teenage girls screaming like they were watching the Fab Four at Shea Stadium, and the Stills''' posse of hangers-on standing at the side of the stage smiling with smug satisfaction, I was almost sick. I made it through about five songs before I decided my time would be better spent relieving myself, and securing a good spot for Dinosaur Jr.
Score: 2/5
Dinosaur Jr: Mountain Stage: (4:45-5:30)
Holy Shit, this was the performance of the day (sorry to ruin the ending.) Kinda funny to see J Mascis totally grey, but the man can still thrash like none other. Absolutely no stage banter, and I don'''t think Mascis and Barlow so much as looked at one another throughout the whole set (nice to see they'''ve patched things up) but they ripped through a tight set of the classics. Lot'''s of kids in the audience who were probably in diapers when the band broke up, and I mean the 1994, this hasn'''t been a band for years breakup. Some five-foot-nothing girl got crushed by a crowd surfer right next to me. I felt bad for her. Almost.
Download Their Performance
Score: 4.5/5
We Are Wolves: MEG Stage (6:30-7:15)

Really fun set. Goofy looking costumes were a nice touch. Blistering hot electro-punk is the soundtrack to a good time, and the rule held here. The hometown trio played a bunch of new material, and it pretty much slayed. Bodes well for their next album. Crowd was loving it. So much so, that a fan managed to sneak onstage through the back, and rocked out with the band for a hot minute or two before security dragged him off. ''"Little Bird''" was extra fiery. Best wolf band in Montreal? It'''s getting close, I'''m telling you''¦
Score: 4/5
Amon Tobin: Tower between River and Mountain stages (8:15-8:45)

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! were supposed to be on at this point, but apparently they hadn'''t arrived yet (!) so Amon Tobin goes on early. In one of the most holy shit moments of the festival, Tobin spun records on a tower that was built up between the two main stages, and was plugged in to BOTH of their sound systems. The bass felt like it was going to rip right through you. Half an hour of deep, heavy drum'''n'''bass left me with loose fillings. Also, he mixed in Slayer. *swoons*
Score: 4/5
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!: Mountain Stage (8:45ish 9:45)

So the guys finally showed up. Apparently there were flight problems. Seriously though, what the hell were these guys doing with such a sweet spot on the bill when bands like Dinosaur Jr, Islands and Wolf Parade were wallowing in afternoon slots? Anyways, one of the most disappointing performances of the festival. They were really sloppy, and if you think Alec Ounsworth'''s voice is grating on record, you should hear him live. Dude even talk funny, it'''s a problem. At least they pulled it together for ''"My Yellow Country Teeth.''" Underwhelming overall though. Crowd still loved it though. Sigh''¦
Score: 2.5/5
Sonic Youth: River Stage (9:45-11:00)

I'''d never had the chance to see Sonic Youth before, so I had high hopes. No letdown here. They were melodic, they were chaotic, they were everything I was hoping and more. Thurston and Lee Ranaldo delivered a sonic assault onstage. Kim Gordon might be older than my mom, but my mom can'''t rock out like that. Perfect ending to the evening, especially after that Clap Your Hands mess.
Download their performance (Courtesy of Cloudscapes)
Score: 4.5/5
Tomorrow: Osheaga Day 2 Report