This all happened a month ago, fyi. This is how good I am at updating!
For those of you who have not heard me talk about how excited I was, Osheaga is a two-day music festival in Montréal that I, needless to say, attended. Where to start? WHERE TO START? I think I will skip the whole weekend and go right to the very last set I attended, Lady Sovereign's, during which The SOV herself threw cans of beer into the audience and the guy standing next to me got one and shared it with me. Oh yeah, the guy standing next to me was ALEX CHOW FROM ISLANDS. GUYS! If you've been ignoring everything I talk/write about until now, Islands floats around in my top three favourite bands EVER. MY LIFE IS FANTASTIC.
This being a festival, I saw a lot of bands that were amazing and I can't do much other than gush about them, and I saw a lot of bands about which I have nothing to say. Also, I will be fangirling a lot because you would too if you shared a beer with a member of a band you love as much as I love Islands. Well, maybe not, but if you're as dorky as me you would. So, yeah, that's what this entry consists of! Onwards!
The Magic Numbers
Super band! It's one of those bands I've been meaning to check out for ages, and I was not disappointed by what I saw. CD, PLZ! It's really fun English pop, I suppose. The people in this band do not have very flattering hairstyles, though. Oh well.
Joseph Arthur
I do not know who this man is, but no one interesting was playing at the time and he was closest. He was stoned and boring and was all by himself with his acoustic guitar and a bad voice and his set was a boring one. Next!
World Party
I have no recollection of this set! I think they were old and not very entertaining, though. After consulting my photos, one guy had long, straight, white, greasy hair which I found a little bit gross, the younger members were kind of attractive, the one woman was not aging well and had bad fashion sense, and there were other members. (I promise I will get more enthusiastic and probably more interesting later).
Think About Life
HAHAHA, the vocalist (Martin?) was DRUNK. He was bouncing around in front of the stage with giant boogers coming out of his nose and unplugging necessary equipment and it was all very entertaining. I enjoyed the music, though I had a hard time telling what was and wasn't on the album because they kind of just make noise. Fun noise, though! The drummer was also funny, dressed in a pair of faded neon pink swimming trunks that looked like they came from the '80s and were too small for him. He also holds his face like Napoleon Dynamite does. I like this band.
The Stills
Not much to say. I like The Stills well enough, but I had a crappy spot and I don't think they put on their best show ever. I liked them a lot better at Bluesfest.
Malajube
I forced myself to dislike Dinosaur Jr so I could leave early and get a good spot for Malajube (apparently Dinosaur Jr really was bad, though). Anyway, Malajube is growing up so fast! Since I found out about them, they've gone from some crap tiny stage at Bluesfest to the main stage at Osheaga and being considered for the Polaris Music Prize. I'm so proud! They played a fantastic set, too. I liked listening to Julien talk mock the people waaay at the back who couldn't hear what he was saying--French really is sexy. Also, I can now officially say I've seen 'Montréal -40˚C' performed in Montréal. Neato!
PS: I found out they are opening for Islands when I see them in a few weeks! This is the best thing EVER. Their first Ottawa show after I discovered them I couldn't attend because Islands were playing the same night, so clearly the universe noticed its mistake and is balancing things out/making my life awesomer.
Metric
Since I couldn't bring myself to leave Malajube early, I got a really bad spot in the audience for Metric, and that cobined with other factors made for a not-very-good set. It was still Metric, though, and therefore still mostly good. I was very sad that they didn't play 'Combat Baby' since that's the song that made me like them in the first place, but I'll get over it because they played 'Monster Hospital' and 'Succexy' and other good songs, including a new one called 'Rock Me Now'. That one was actually a little strange, Emily Haines would recite the lyrics and one of the members (Josh Winstead, I think) would sing "Rock me now" every once in a while in a really high-pitched voice that only Greg Gilbert can pull off. I lied, it was not a good song. I fear for the new album, if there will be one (I haven't seen them perform a lot of new material, so I worry if they'll even put out another record). I think Metric's going to break up.
Wintersleep
I only saw three or four songs performed because of scheduling stupids, but this is an awesome band! I have nothing of worth to say, though. I missed K-OS for this, but that's not the most devastating thing ever. As with about half the bands I like, I discovered this one from that iTunes free song thing, and I didn't think it was very good--not annoying or bad, but not at all fun or interesting. Still, it left enough for me to want them to see them live, and I would have/did anyway since they were on before Metric at Bluesfest. Anyway, they were awesome then and they were awesome at Osheaga, too. I think it has something to do with the vocalist always wearing the same New York shirt whenever I see them. And, yeah. I bought their record on vinyl so I could have fun with my brand new turntable.
This guy reminds me of Wallace from Veronica Mars.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
I had only heard one CYHSY song before this ('The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth'), but they're always classified in the same genre as a lot of the bands I listen to, so I made sure to catch this set. Other than the DJ of the night, Amon Tobin, being moved up from after their set to before because of plane issues causing the band to be late (there were probably snakes), I was quite impressed. Actually, Amon Tobin was really good, but I was impatient for CYHSY. With good reason, as they are AWESOME! Need album. After that was Sonic Youth who I was curious about and would have stayed for, but my family wanted to go back to the hotel (huge mistake, taking them along--they brought lawn chairs, wtf). I would later be spazzed at by a certain member of Islands for this.
ISLANDS, HI.
In my rush to get there on time for Islands, we ended up arriving before the park opened for the day. After waiting in line for a while, I considered going to see Tam even though I know she's terrible, but then I noticed Islands sound checking. Needless to say, I watched, and was pleased. And then? And then. The show was amazing, and not just in an Islands-is-usually-my-second-favourite-band-ever sort of way, in a highly entertaining and musically enjoyable way. First off, at least half of the songs they played were new/not on Return to the Sea, so it was great to hear all that--if they don't start recording a new album soon, there is something wrong with their heads. It all sounds great! I recognized one non-album track, 'Life in Jail,' from last time I saw them, but they didn't even play the other two I remember ('Big Bluff,' which is the B-side on the 'Rough Gem' single, and the song about dogs that I heard them play last time), so that just goes to show how much new material they have. It's all upbeat and fun, so I can't tell you how impatient I am for the new record. The highly entertaining part comes in when some men who were backstage were invited onstage for a few songs to improv dance. Men wobbling around is funny enough, but they all wore hoodies pulled up above their faces and the hoods held mannequin heads in place atop their own heads. So, men trying to balance bearded mannequin heads on top of them while dancing, unable to see, on a very high-up stage. One of the guys would hug the members of the band who would come to rescue him whenever he got dangerously close to the edge of the stage. It was a very fat can of LOL. In a you-had-to-be-there kind of way.
At one point during the show, Nick Diamonds said "Thank you, God. You guys are God, right?" (after which he said "No hummus" and I stopped being able to make sense of what he was saying). I think we should be the ones asking him that question, because would you look at that? Sex time.
Chow down!
Patrick squared.
Tokyo Police Club
Their set was not only ridiculously short, but some of it took place during the Islands set which was allowed to go on longer than the scheduled time, so I only saw three or four songs performed. However, I liked what I saw and think the band is definitely worth checking out (I just bought their EP--more on that another time)! I was sad to miss Ben Lee during this, but Tokyo Police Club finished soon enough to give me a lot more time to go find a good spot for Wolf Parade.
Wolf Parade
I LOVE Wolf Parade! I'm so glad I finally got to see them! They came to Ottawa recently and I had a ticket, but then I noticed it was 19+ and had to return it, so I was glad they were at Osheaga. Also, Dan Boeckner doesn't look anything like an indie rocker should. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but his appearance was a little unexpected. I like his black cat tattoo. They are awesome live! And, yeah! I have nothing else to say.
That orange blur is some punk girl's head.
Final Fantasy
I missed the first bit because of Wolf Parade, but whatevs. Owen Pallett is, without a doubt, a genius. I don't listen to He Poos Clouds very often and don't yet own Has a Good Home (something I badly need to fix, regardless of what I'm about to say) because I don't enjoy listening to him on record as much as most other artists I like. That said, he puts on amazing live shows. AMAZING. I cannot emphasize this enough. He's toured with the Hidden Cameras and Arcade Fire, but the solo work he does is not something most people are capable of. He's not just a solo artist who gave himself his own band name, he truly is a one-man band. He plays strings and keyboard, does percussion and sings, with the help of a few pedals that loop what he plays enabling him to play other parts of the song. You kind of get to watch a song being built, so to speak--he'll drum a beat on his violin, loop it, play something halfway between percussion and a melody, loop that, and then alternate between keyboards and violin, all while singing. Also, he sounds like Wilson from House when he talks.
The Hidden Cameras
An emo band in disguise! Or perhaps a pop band in emo disguise, who the hell knows? I really enjoyed their set, their music sounds very pop-like. It almost sounds like the experimental style popularized by Arcade Fire with its violin, toy keyboards, xylophones and trumpet, but still retains a more common rock-like sound. It all sounded like fun, but then one of the bouncer/guard guys gave me a setlist and all their song names are about death and lies and stuff (along with one about lollipops), and then I bought a shirt without really looking at it, and it turned out to be covered in music notes with skulls instead of the circle-y things which have a name that I can't remember. It is also black, which breaks my always-buy-colourful-shirts rule, but it was all that was available. I also bought a double-disc EP thing on sky blue vinyl with white swirls, which was pretty exciting!
The Bell Orchestre
GUESS WHO DECIDED TO PERFORM WITH THEM. PATRICK GREGOIRE (I think I talk about him a lot, but just in case, he is the banjo/guitar/bass clarinet/sometimes backup vocalist for Islands). He clarinetted, still dressed in his Islands attire from that morning's performance. It was lovely. As was, y'know, the actual band. I love the Bell Orchestre. Crap, I stopped writing this halfway through the Hidden Cameras part and now it's almost a month after the fact and the details are all fuzzy in my head. This was an excellent show, but it was really overshadowed by their show in Ottawa later that week. Other than that, I have nothing to say except I really want to know the name of the song they always cover, the one by Aphex Twin. And that the piggy back ride that guy with the crazy Italian name I can't remember gave to Stephen the drummer was really cute. They usually hide little LED lights in their pockets when they perform, but none of them had them for this show. I wonder why that is.
You know what I recently found out? This guy, Richard Reed Parry, shows up on about half (maybe more) of my favourite albums of all time (that part I already knew), but I was reading an interview with him, it turns out he used to play for Fred Penner (you know, that children's singer guy?). It made me realize that I was a little bit of a music snob when I was a kid, too--I was all "FRED PENNER IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN RAFFI!" Haha, yeah. And I've been listening to Richard Reed Parry for almost my entire life, mostly by accident. CRAZY SHIT. Also, he went to Canterbury (an arts high school in Ottawa). EVEN CRAZIER SHIT.
MAKE WAY FOR THE S.O.V.! LADY SOVEREIGN!
I had a bit of an issue choosing who to see: the Flaming Lips, Holy Fuck and Lady Sovereign were all playing at the same time. After first eliminating Holy Fuck because I've already seen them twice (and it would break the accidental tradition I have of always seeing them open for Metric), I let Emily choose for me because I couldn't, and she chose the Flaming Lips. Lady Sovereign, however, was scheduled to perform on the stage I'd been at for two and a half sets already, and in that time I'd gotten myself one kickass spot and at the last minute I decided against going to see a really popular band that I have only a vague interest in and ending up at the back of a giant crowd, as I could see someone even better and be in the centre of the front row (though that also meant I'd have to miss Kid Koala who was performing on the main stage during the sound check Lady Sovereign didn't even participate in, which is unfortunate). I deem it a wise decision, as if I'd left, I just nearly would have missed that Violinist I Keep Talking About. We chatted about music, mostly, and Canadian cities, and why the hell Lady Sovereign was taking so long (Osheaga ran a very tight schedule, and a musician being late for the scheduled set was something I only saw with her). When she finally did go on, she put on an amazing show. The music, of course, was fantastic, as were the crazy antics she got up to onstage and the hilarious stories she told, illustrated by awesome facial expressions and drunken flailing and riddled with the word "fuck" spoken in her grungy Brit accent. Lady Sovereign was performing a metre away from me, and over top of her music I'd get earfuls of Alex Chow's expressions of pleasure when she exposed some belly/tit/ass, shouts of "SHE POINTED AT ME, SHE POINTED AT ME!" and groans when she poured vodka on us and some got in his eye. I think that sums up how great a night it was. I was kind of bad at talking after that, I was so excited. I left a voicemail on Glop's phone that probably started something like this, "GUESS. WHAT. K. K. K. ALEX CHOW? I MET HIM. AND HE SHARED BEER WITH ME." I distinctly remember not being able to stop saying "K." Aaand, yeah! That was a good weekend. I'm so going back next year.
PS: Osheaga's got this contest going on, where you send in three pictures taken there and if you win, you get a pass to the 2007 festival AND a photo pass. That not only means srsly amazing angles that you can't get in the regular audience area, but without a photo pass you can't bring any professional camera in the park, so I wouldn't be stuck with my lame-ass point-and-shoot. I don't actually have a nice camera yet, but I'm working on it. O rite, my point! I want to enter. I've decided on that one of Nick Diamonds, and then one of Bell Orchestre, one of Think About Life or one of Lady Sovereign because I had really good spots and lighting for those last three and therefore got several good* shots of those people. I've also got some potential Wintersleep and Clap Your Hands ones. SO, if any of you want me to zip all the photos I took of those and send them to you, I'd love it if you'd help me decide which ones to use. I'll even buy you candy if you help.
*"Good," taking into consideration my camera, among other interference.