This past weekend Briggins of the Broken Speaker (TBS) and Sagar of Seaside Mic Check (SMC) took at trip from Halifax to Montreal to partake in Osheaga, a weekend arts and music festival featuring some of the biggest current bands in the indie/alternative music scene as well as some classic favourites. With water bottles, dusty feet, and notepads, the two of them took notes and mental notes of what went down and will now share it with you in the form of a few concert reviews.
Snoop Dogg
The top dogg of west coast rap was at a festival where he just did not fit in. But that did not stop Snoop to put on a really good set. He engaged the audience with his typical “where my ladies at”, and ” I need everybody to say helll yeah”. To be honest, his engaging the audience got a little bit repetitive at times but it was still fun to be a part of this trip back to the days when rap was still good. Snoop didn’t really promote any of his latest album, “Malice in Wonderland”. Instead, Snoop Dogg’s set was full of songs that shockingly, I knew the lyrics to. He opened the set with his version of the classic “Next Episode”. Even without Dr. Dre, it was incredible. Snoop continued to do songs in which he was featured like Akon’s “I Wanna Fuck You”. Two of the highlights include: his cover of House of Pain’s “Jump Around” and a two song tribute to Tupac. Snoop also dropped one of his own classics, “Gin and Juice”. He was just a gem on stage, he would put on a very serious face and then break through with a goofy smile at the end of every song. He was also full of typical Snoop Dogg quotes such as “Who here likes to smoke weed and get druuuunk?”. The favorite of quotes however was at the end of the set when he told Montreal “Take a good look at this face, because this won’t be the last time you see it. I’ll come back to Montreal, Canada anytime you motherfuckers want me”. Yes, only Snoop Dogg would be able to pay such a high compliment to you while at the same time calling you a “motherfucker”. The ever classy Top Dogg ended his set; which went twenty minutes overtime, by urging the Montreal crowd that his songs were about “Peace, Love and Soul”. Thank you Snoop for teaching me about these three things.
-SMC
Frank Turner
The British folk-punk musician took to the stage armed with just his guitar. He was playing on one of the smaller stages, making his performance more intimate. I had never heard of him before but his set was sweet. He had about a fifty minute set in which he let the audience in on some hilarious stories from his personal life, including him complaining about how he hated his manager. He sounded a bit like Glen Hansard from the movie “Once”. He had that angry, raspy voice at times but during other moments he proved to the audience he could sing really well. Turner’s songs were full of lyrics that just oozed teenage rebellion and non-conformity. For example “I won’t sit down, I won’t shut up, and most of all I will not grow up”. His songs had some more meaning to them than well, Snoop Dogg, that’s for sure. Turner’s set also included a joke song which he wrote in french, the Montreal audience absolutely loved it. He involved the audience by teaching us the chorus to his last song. He said that he enjoyed when we sang along because it would not only give him a little ego boost, it also gave him a sense of community. Turner said “when we all sing together, it becomes less about who’s on a stage, or who’s wearing a shiny {backstage} wristband, or who is playing the guitar. Instead it becomes more about a bunch of us just making music together.” It was cool to see an artist who is so real with his fans and not on a high horse at all. It didn’t feel like a concert, it felt like we were all out camping and sitting around a bon-fire just jamming.
-SMC
Ra Ra Riot
Right after Frank Turner, on the same stage the indie-chamber pop group from Syracuse, NY began setting up. Their set was full of songs from their first album “The Rhumb Line”. Despite the fact that they will be releasing their second album “The Orchard” on the 24th of August, they only played two tracks from it. The sound on the stage wasn’t the best, the vocals were a bit quiet, but not too quiet. It was still possible to hear Wes Miles impeccably hit those high notes. Instrumentally they were all together and created a great sound live, it was similar to how they sound on their album. It was great to see a band who is talented enough to play a live show that well. The group moved smoothly from one song to the next while keeping their musical excellence up. The New York group fused a modern indie rock style with some very choral influences to create a new, mellow yet still upbeat sound. The violinist, Rebecca Zeller, and cellist, Alexandra Lawn, contributed so well to the sound as they were featured on tracks like “Oh, La” and their new track “Dramatic” {I think it’s called}. Despite being a relatively recent addition to the band, Gabriel Duquette, pounded those drums with so much soul and with an incredible energy. Bassist, Mathieu Santos held the fort together with his smooth bass lines keeping the entire band on track. Guitarist Milo Bonacci showed so much energy as he would run back and forth on stage and interacting with lead singer, Wes Miles. The entire group contributed equally to create a sound to fit their lyrics. After the show I was fortunate enough to meet the entire group as they were signing autographs. Lead singer, Wes Miles handed me a setlist signed be everyone in the group. Even being from New York, they graced us with the type of charm and friendliness that you could only find in Halifax. The group was so humble and genuinely enjoyed talking to fans about the new album which, again is coming out on the 24th of August {review soon to follow!}. A great way for me to end the festival, a great band with a great sound.
-SMC
Metric
Festivals are always an interesting place to see an artist perform. Unless you are the headlining band, your set is usually very limited, anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. Some bands try to rush through all their hits as fast as possible playing abbreviated versions of the songs. Others take the opportunity to play all new songs and maybe throw in a favourite or two. Although Metric were not headlining, they did get bumped up in the lineup because deadmau5 had to pull out of the festival after health issues. Even though it was just a ten song set, Metric put everything they had into the performance. They didn’t cut out the banter or shorten the guitar solos. Instead they looked very comfortable on stage playing six songs off Fantasies, the new song Black Sheep, and a few of their classics. When playing Empty and Dead Disco, they didn’t just play the studio length versions. Instead during Empty, Emily extended the song singing the extra “you gotta fight, for your right, to party” bit that makes what already is an epic live song reach a whole new level of epicness. For Metric fans who have seen the band perform multiple times it was a nice treat to hear Black Sheep kick off the show. This song has been kicking around for a few years (originally called Freddie), it has just now become part of the band’s live set as it is featured in the upcoming Scott Pilgrim film. Before playing Gimme Sympathy, they played a snippet of Neil Young’s Hey Hey My My. Emily Haines talked about how in a world where so much is wrong, a festival like Osheaga shows what is right in the world. She touched on the notes of creativity of so many of the artists who were part of the festival as well as the sense of community with the concert goers. As one of the last acts playing at the festival, her talk, their performance, and the song all did an excellent job of capturing the overall feel of the show. Stadium Love closed off the main set, a song that is much more powerful live than on the album with everybody jumping around. Of course, with Emily Haines constantly dancing and moving, she has the ability to make any song amazing live. After some cheering, Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw came back out to perform an acoustic version of Combat Baby. Watching Jimmy and Emily smile to the crowd was the perfect ending to an almost perfect performance by the band. The only disappointment was that Jimmy Shaw was not wearing a t-shirt with the face of Torquil Campbell (Stars) on his shirt since Torq was wearing a Jimmy Shaw face shirt the day before at the festival.
-TBS
