The AFP crew was inspired and motivated for the road trip up to the great city of Montreal. By the time the Greenpoint (Haven) rooftop event was in the books, it was late Sunday afternoon and Friday morning gave us just enough time to rest up for the 3 day festival.  We mapped out the car ride and the artist performance schedule.  Our Day 1 (Friday) plan was to arrive at Parc Jean-Drapeau by 3:30pm to see Run the Jewels.  After a couple of snags we arrived a little later,  but we did make it on time to see one of our more anticipated performances- The Kills.

Sadly, the band had some technical issues on stage, but despite their frustrations they rocked on and ended with a killer rendition of No Wow.  Thirsty from the ride, we found ourselves guzzling Molson’s at a rather rapid pace as we strolled over to see Chet Faker on an adjacent stage.  He quickly went into his popular hits like Gold and 1998 with the electric soul vibe that we have been digging.  It was obvious that many festival goers were excited to see the Australian perform, and he didn’t disappoint.

As we made our way to the main stages (Riviere and Montagne), some of the original sculptures and art installations caught our attention. By the way, Osheaga is not just a music festival, but also an arts festival (heavy on the music).  Some of the work was highly creative (images below) and seriously involved. The participating artists for 2015 were Station 16 Gallery, animators from the NFB, graduates of UQÀM’s Design program, street artists WhatIsAdam from Montreal and Hot Tea from the US.

The sun was starting to set and we made our way over to see The Avett Brothers on the main stage.  I’ve always heard very good things about this band, but I wasn’t so familiar with their songs and style, but today was the day.  Let me start by first saying, folk and bluegrass is not even close to the top of my music likings, but these brothers were impressive in so many ways.  They have really great energy on stage and their tight, tight sound isn’t what you would first think.  I guess they can’t be described any better than how the San Francsico Chronicle describes them as “having heavy sadness of Townes Van Zandt, the light pop concision of Buddy Holly, the tuneful jangle of the Beatles, and the raw energy of the Ramones.  In other words, they take you around the music hemisphere and back.

Day 2

We arrived at Osheaga mid-afternoon excited to see St. Vincent perform on the main stage.  The Grammy winning artist drew a rather large crowd for an early set of her genre crossing songs.  One thing that was obvious right away was this girl can seriously shred on guitar and she’s not afraid to take chances with her music on stage. Her sense of style, performance and attitude put her toward the top of the list for best performances at Osheaga 2015.

With some time in between sets on the main stage, we headed over to the electronic stage where we heard a DJ spinning some classics. Although it was late afternoon, people were getting down as if it was peak club hour. We later learned, the DJ was actually Caribou, who is also known as Daphni when he spins.  As we headed back to the main area, we found a big tent featuring drinks made with Perrier. DJ’s were spinning music and some creative cocktails were flowing.

Back on the main stage Ben Harper was displaying his guitar prowess on the weissenborn. Harper’s ability to play a broad range of music helps him connect with fans of all ages, and Burn One Down is one of those songs you never get tired of hearing.  Next up on the Montagne Stage was NYC’s beloved Interpol. As the dark clouds rolled in, there was much anticipation for their set and as it began to rain, they played Evil which was ironically appropriate.  The bands set had its high points, but they seemed to be lacking the energy on stage that we were seeing from other acts. We found out later that this was the last date on their tour.

When Weezer took the stage and began an hour long set of popular hits, there certainly wasn’t a lack of energy from the crowd which sang along to just about every song including Beverly Hills, Hash Pipe and Buddy Holly.  And when a little girl appeared on stage playing a mini keyboard and a little boy playing an inflatable guitar, the band went from beloved to adored in a minute. There were dancing, smiling faces all around, but it wasn’t all smiles because the inevitable situation was now upon us. How can we see Kendrick Lemar, Caribou and Art Department who had overlapping set times, and were on opposite sides of the park? We decided to remain in the main area and check out Kendrick Lemar, who could just be the headliner of headliners for the festival.

With a full band and a bit of a rock edge, Kendrick Lemar came out blazing with “off the charts” energy and the crowd was in full party mode. He mentioned his past performance at Osheaga and his appreciation for the support he’s received. With this impressive performance and his thoughtful song writing skills, it’s easy to understand why Kendrick is at the top of his game and the reigning king of hip hop.

Day 3

It’s day 3 and the legs are getting a bit weary. After a lovely massage at the hotel, we headed over to Rosewood for brunch and made it over to the park just in time to catch Glass Animals performing on one of the smaller stages. The UK quartet started out with one of their popular hits which was enjoyable, but the Kanye West cover was a bit of a head scratcher. Where Glass Animals were the newbies, Gary Clark Jr. was giving, blues guitar lessons on the mountain stage for the young and old. For those that were looking for serious guitar driven, high octane music,  Gary was the man. On the other end of the spectrum of sound, Hot Chip was our next focus, but first Future Islands would take the stage.  The synth pop sounds of Future Islands were perfect for a sunny, summer afternoon in Montreal. They have a certain 80’s vibe going on which offered something different on day 3 at Osheaga.

When Hot Chip took the stage it was time to put your dancing shoes back on! It was an impressive performance as they re-arranged many of their hit songs and it took a minute to realize what they were doing. Improvisation and taking chances is so important with live performances. If you want to hear songs as they sound on a CD, then there’s really no point in going to see a band live.

In writing about impressive happenings at Osheaga, the one thing that will stand out is what happened during Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes performance.  There were a few crowd surfers on hand, but one particular crowd surfer caught the lead singer’s eye. A severely disabled young man in a wheel chair was being surfed toward the stage. The lead singer, Alex Ebert waived to the people to bring him up on stage and that’s what they did.  The man is a college student hanging out with his friends from school (see video below) who also joined him on stage for a few songs. As the band played their big hit Home, the crowd sang along in what was a true heartfelt moment which won’t be forgotten.

As day 3 continued into the night, we had just enough energy to check out one of the more anticipated bands for us personally and I’m sure many others.  Alt J took the stage around 8:30pm Sunday night and we were curious as to how their sound would translate live on the big stage. We immediately had that question answered, and the answer was more than BIG enough to get 20-30k people on their feet.  Joe Newman’s haunting vocals and Thom Green’s percussion kept the energy at high levels throughout and made it clear that this British quartet was here to stay.

On the other hand, our energy had run out and we did not stay for The Black Keys. Since we had seen them a couple years back in Quebec City, getting a solid meal and rest at this point took priority.

In closing, Osheaga’s 10th anniversary festival was very good if not great.  The diversity and quality of the music, the well behaved crowds and generally well managed event, was impressive and worth a visit to the lovely city of Montreal.