OSHEAGA 2011: DAY 3 PHOTOS & REVIEW
The sixth edition of Montreal’s Osheaga festival definitely brought us to see and discover tons of talented people! It is now time to check out what happened during our coverage of the third, and last, day of this year’s festival!
The Sounds
Fronted by Maja Ivarsson and accompanied by four (male) musicians, The Sounds will definitely make you dance and make you feel like you’re in a different era. It will take a second for you to compare Maja’s look, sound and ways on stage to Blondie! Her sweet voice and her charismatic ways surely won the crowd! During the first song, you could see the crowd not really paying attention, not really caring for the Swedish band. However, it all changed during the second song: Maja posed for the photographers and for the fans, took time to look the fans in their eyes, making comments, “talking” (with gestures) to them! You could then see the crowd smiling and jumping all around to The Sounds music. It was definitely a great way to start the day for us.
Cypress Hill
Surprisingly enough, Cypress Hill got on stage pretty early that day! As they stepped on the stage around 4:30pm they immediately started to put on some heavy hip-hop rythmics and serious bass lines. Rocking some old badass leather jackets, one of the biggest band of the festival almost looked a little too old for what they were doing. Obviously, the crowd went nuts as much as they went… high! The smell of intense marijuana caught the attention of the musicians as they were asking if everybody was high… “And so are we!!” they happily expressed themselves! Cypress Hill did not forget to interact with the audience, even with the large amount of people sitting on the top of the hill (pun intended) of Parc Jean Drapeau. As the majority would think, and just like the crowd showed to Cypress Hill, the top two songs of their performance were Insane In The Brain and Rock Superstar!
Malajube
Right after Cypress Hill, the hip hop fans let the place for indie rockers to enjoy Montreal’s francophone band, Malajube. Playing mostly songs from their latest album, La caverne, they also made the fans sing-along to songs from critics’ and fans’ favorite, Trompe-l’oeil (2006). Malajube is known to do very intimate concerts with very dark lighting. However, as many were able to enjoy that day, something that we kept hearing especially within the photographers what that, finally, we could actually see the band members, since they performed during daylight!
If you would like to see Malajube perform, this next Thursday you’ll be able to catch them on MusiquePlus for the Artist of the Month event! It all starts at 9pm!
Beirut
It was now time for Beirut to take over the main stage at Osheaga. The american folk band started with a nice soft sound yet a very neat double-bass line. Despite a few technical difficulties, their lead singer managed to keep the crowd “alive” by switching his ukulele and going from one song to another. The whole crowd got into a few sing-alongs and the set got happier and happier.
City And Colour
The Osheaga festival was running out late that day and a band had to cut their set a little shorter. Making a lot of fans very sad and mad, this band was City And Colour. Dallas Green’s side project is pretty popular over the general audience, so when Dallas Green announced that the show will be done within 6 songs only, a general “booing” took place, even Green didn’t seem to happy about that decision. However, in 6 songs, City And Color managed to put on a great performance, even taking the time to invite Gord Downie from The Tragically Hip during the opening song, Sleeping Sickness.
The Tragically Hip
The Tragically Hip came on stage to the sound of thousands of fans waiting for them! From the beginning, Gordon Downie made sure to give a show to his fans. I mean, a real show, as in a “drunken-theatrical” way! He sang the songs as if he was living them at the same moment making something to see and enjoy for everyone! Some wondered if he was always like that, or just acting for this time, or not feeling too well… To be honest, I have never seen The Tragically Hip live and for any reason why he might have acted that way, all I can say is that he should keep it up! It was nice to see a band giving a real show and not only standing behind their mics!
Death Cab For Cutie
Death Cab For Cutie were one of the main acts that day at Osheaga. However, Ben Gibbard (vocals) started having problems with his guitars as soon as the second song started. And, by problems, we do mean they stopped working. In my opinion, Ben’s frustration towards these problems might have ruined the beginning of their show. He got really mad, throwing one of his guitars to a guitar tech, etc. However, he quickly let it all go by just taking his mic and singing to the fans, who couldn’t care less about having one less guitar on stage! Thumbs up to Gibbard for still giving out a good set despite all this!
The Flaming Lips
Well! What to say about this last show of the festival? The only word that comes to mind when we see The Flaming Lips is: PARTY! This band really knows how to entertain the crowd! Confetti, balloons, girls dressed as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, Wayne Coyne rolling/walking on the crowd in a giant balloon, etc. The Flaming Lips played their 1999 release The Soft Bulletin in its entirety that night and to make things even more spectacular, the band even married a couple on stage at the end of the night! Even though the band played during the first edition of the Osheaga festival, it was a great way to end it all!
PHOTOS OF THAT DAY CAN BE SEEN BY CLICKING BELOW!
- Text by Lauren Gouilloud & Nour Haik / Photos by Nour Haik -
Category: Photo Updates, Reviews
