So, after a good night's sleep following some deeply awesome goat cheese balls at Sala Rosa's, and some time spent at the wheel of Ian Stewart's Super Off-Road, we emerged from our 2 star accommodations and very slowly made our way to the island. Getting down there is sweet – just a quick ride under water on the Metro et voila, you're there (better than the debacle that is getting to and from Toronto island on the ferry).
DAY 1
As we get there, having arrived late and missing Plants and Animals (one of the buzz bands of the moment), I found myself looking at the under-whelming schedule and daydreaming about Osheaga 2006. Among others, there was: The Flaming Lips, Sonic Youth, Wolf Parade, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, Metric, Kid Koala, Tokyo Police Club, Think About Life, Bell Orchestre, Final Fantasy, Patrick Watson and my head is spinning because there were others, but I can't remember right now, and it was really awesome. But that was then, and this is now, and damn it let's enjoy and have an open mind.
Spiritualized
It was cool to see this entity return (I hesitate to call it a band, as it's Jason Pierce's working brainchild). If you're a fan, you'd have loved it. Epic, feedback drenched Floydesque overtures were the order of the day, and for a minute it felt like 1997 again. The first 10 minutes of "Come Together was pretty cool.
Metric
My inner music snob wants to not like Metric, but they're a bit of a guilty pleasure, and they're damn good live. The audience vibe during their set was warm, and E. Haines and crew were trying to inspire whatever enthusiasm they could out of the mellow crowd, but from where I was standing, I felt kind of bad for them. They were very professional and went through the motions sincerely enough. Emily Haines is a bona fide indie heroine now, I'd say, and I'm always surprised at how well they pull off their brand of synth pop rock, however, with due respect, “Live It Out” is not an anthem (as they were claiming it was becoming) – but the audience politely and awkwardly sung along just like they were asked to.
Cat Power
This sounded pretty cool, and it was a good soundtrack for sitting on the damp lawn and just taking in the cool experience that this festival really is. But one of the great things about the festival is that there's always a chance that something cool is going on at one of the side stages, and Cat Power's warm, vintage sounding set mellowed us out enough to leave mid-set so we could wander over to the small side stages.
The MEG Stage: Devotchka
The MEG stage is now officially the place where I've seen the most surprisingly cool stuff ever. It's tucked away in the woods (there is still a beer vendor in there, though), and some legendary (to me) performances have happened there. In 2006, Bell Orchestre, Think About Life, Final Fantasy, and Holy Fuck astounded all who were in attendance. This year's first treat was Devotchka. This band was responsible for the Original Score of Little Miss Sunshine. Wikipedia has them classified as Gypsy Punk, which isn't fully accurate (especially once you've seen THE gypsy punks Gogol Bordello). There certainly is a Balkan flavour to their music, so it's easy enough to classify them that way. And they have a sousaphone, which is pretty cool. The thing is, almost each of the songs they played was completely different, and each one had a joyous beauty, with some nice pop hooks sprinkled in at all the right places. This set was a treat, and a seriously unlikely segway to the next thing we checked out.
Iggy and The Stooges
The original punks? Maybe. That's a long and different discussion. First off, it's always pretty cool to see a living legend, for whatever that's worth. My appreciation of seeing the real Stooges in person is more magnified having read Please Kill Me, an absolute must read for anyone the least bit interested in punk, if not music culture in general. Okay, these guys delivered the goods. Mike Watt is the perfect bass player to stand in with them. He looked just as legitimate an aging punk as the rest of them. And he rocked in a way that held everything together, while still pushing things right to the edge. I see him as being a key to them pulling this off. Iggy gave everything that everyone there was hoping for, even if you couldn't help feeling like his spastic routine was a bit choreographed, and it was kind of ironic sounding when he was spitting out some trademark surly punk lines like “I fucking hate music festivals” “this is fucked” “fuck you” and so on, when it was really a love in. There is one part of the show where he invites all the members of the audience to jump onstage and join them. It's really quite a site, and everyone just has the biggest smiles on their faces, which is definitely a bit ironic if not surreal considering where this music and general ethos came from. Either way, the Stooges fully rocked, and played all the classics, without dipping into any of Iggy's solo repertoire (I was relieved not to hear “Lust For Life”). They played Fun House in it's entirety, I think, which was a treat – especially with the sax player joining them for those songs. Wicked set. And it seemed like all the 20 and 30 somethings in the crowd really did appreciate what they were seeing, which is cool when you think about how hard it was for these guys way back when they first started it all......a well deserved pay day.
The National Parcs
So, it seems that either I don't pay attention to detail in press clippings, or the clippings themselves omit some crucial facts. Having read a bunch of stuff about these guys, you know, “sampling the Canadian wilderness into heady electronic tracks”, I thought it would be pretty cool. Especially after watching them set their stuff up for over a half hour, cool video screen and all, the anticipation was building. I didn't totally get into this, but maybe the wicked visuals and crisp sonic textures made me long for melancholy cinematic sounscapes instead of the party they came to bring. Definitely something to check out if you're into fun, structually complex hip hop.
Some random notes
- when going to Montreal, remember, everyone there is cooler than you are. Especially if you're from Toronto (which I wouldn't suggest openly admitting).
- tattoo artists are doing brisk business. I know, I don't get out much, but I noticed a lot of people with some serious-ass expensive tattoos. Some of them looked really cool. I should have taken pictures of all the sleeves I saw. Guess it might have been a bit creepy if I did, so good thing I didn't.
- I am the greatest Ian Stewart's Super Off-Road player this side of the St. Lawrence.
- Oh and Montreal also serves some damn fine cuisine.
DAY 2
I'm not going to write about a lot of the bands we saw, because frankly, most of them were boring and kind of sounded the same. I think the organizers had Jack Johnson on conference call when they were figuring out the line-up for Monday. But I will talk about some of the stuff that was cool:
The Weakerthans
I loved them more for being properly uncool than anything else. It was nice to see that there was still a good audience for them, perhaps holdovers from the heyday of this ultra literate Canadian college radio act. I have a couple of friends that are very loyal fans, and you know that any time The Lowest of The Low decide to do yet another comeback tour, there will always be an appropriate accomplice in The Weakerthans. Good show from the cerebral indie rock vets.
The Black Keys
I was kind of excited to see them, because they are one of the few bands on the bill that I came in already a fan of. And yeah, they rocked. They didn't play very many songs off their most recent effort Attack and Release. The song selection instead featured tunes that the guitar/drum duo could pull off with the most ferocity possible. Dan Auerbach (guitar) is a proper new old school rocker. His guitar playing is deft, and the sound is huge, with Patrick Carney's caveman drum poundings keeping things real. Great live set from a band that is expanding their sound on record, but still knows it's own boundaries live, and as a result has no trepidation when unleashing their powerful version of the blues.
Gogol Bordello
Where to start. First of all, the $500 or so that it cost to be in Montreal for this (tickets, gas, accommodations, beer etc.), was worth spending just to witness the mayhem that is Gogol Bordello. I haven't seen that many people smiling and dancing at a concert since the last time I saw The Flaming Lips. I'll say it, the Lips might have competition when it comes to must see festival acts. These guys have guaranteed themselves some very busy months for many summers to come. Even if you never buy one of their albums, don't not miss an opportunity to see them live if you get a chance.
I don't think I was the only one whose weekend was made on this show alone (even Jack Johnson fans should concede this). Within an hour of their set being over, the place was flooded with people wearing Gogol Bordello t-shirts. Those guys must have made a mint on swag. And good for them. With any luck, they will be festival mainstays for many years to come.
Rock Plaza Central
Unluckily for these guys, they were on at the exact same time as the Go! Team, and right after Gogol Bordello (even though they were on a side stage, it's still a cruel fate). And if the constellations weren't already fully aligned against them, the sound was kind of bad, which totally isn't their fault. So, all that being said, they built some good will with the people that did see them, and their generally good people playing good music vibe translated no matter what. Can't wait to see them when they come to Toronto, cause I know this wasn't perfectly representative. By the way, Rock Plaza Central had the highest wicker hat to band member ratio – 4:6. That's pretty high, believe me. And, I think their drummer ran onstage during Broken Social Scene's set in an attempt to sabotage Kevin Drew. But don't hold me to that. That's what it looked like from where I was standing.
The Go! Team
After some time spent sorting out sound problems,The Go! Team finally hit the stage. I was really looking forward to this, even if they did go on after Gogol Bordello. And over-all it was pretty good. Pretty energetic, and hits-a-plenty. Their first album is a favourite of mine, while the follow-up is a bit of a re-tread. But still a great live act...if they weren’t going on after you know who.
Broken Social Scene
I've had plenty of time to accumulate cynicism regarding this band over the last few years. First, I want to say that I think You Forgot It In People is one of the best albums of the 2000's, and maybe one of the best Canadian albums of all-time. Part of me feels a bit dissappointed about everything they've done since. But still, it was a pretty good show. And it's always surprising how cohesive they can manage to make it sound with the 4 or 5 guitarists or whatever that they have. The horns always work really well too. And the set list was really good until they tried to pass off “It's All Gonna Break” as worthy of being their big encore finale. It's an okay song, but where was “Lover's Spit” or “Almost Crimes”? I'm saying this out of love, not criticism.
