Festival Preview: Osheaga

Written by  Published in Festivals Wednesday, 27 June 2012 21:07

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Remember when Montreal seemed like a total breeding ground for great art and all your favorite indie bands back around the mid-2000s? Well, it still kind of is. From August 3-5, Osheaga Festival presents what's been dubbed as the largest festival of its kind in Canada, showcasing some of the best bands around, as well as art exhibits across several venues around the city. Some of those well-known Canadians like Metric and Feist will be performing this year, as well as plenty of up and comers from Canada’s epicenter of culture and beyond.

The Sheepdogs – without knowing anything about these guys, we could easily be persuaded that The Sheepdogs are a classic Americana band hailing from somewhere in the southern U.S, and may have shared the stage with Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers back in the day. Turns out they’re actually from Saskatoon, SK but they sure do know how to rock and rollick along.

Half Moon Run – One of Montreal’s own, this trio combines many different elements to create melodic and textured tunes. They come off as the kind of band that are great to see live, just because being able to see them create their sound layers would be like getting let in on their secrets.

Austra – We caught this dark-wave outfit lead by the classically trained Katie Stelmanis last summer, and seeing them live is still highly recommended.

Zeus – An extension of the aforementioned mid-2000s Canadian indie scene, Zeus is the backing band for Jason Collett of Broken Social Scene fame, and since the end of the last decade have been making their own jams, as well as each member looking a bit like different interpretations of Nick Offerman.

 

Poliça – formed by a couple of Gayngs members, this psych R&B group has been around barely a year yet have already been featured in Rolling Stone, and received lots of other buzz from finding a way to use auto-tone and have it actually sound experimental and interesting.

Scour the full lineup for yourself, check the festival’s bilingual status updates, and watch performance videos from years past to get psyched up.

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Last modified on Monday, 02 July 2012 10:44
Kelly Knapp

I grew up listening to the music my parents listened to. My mom gave me some of her “Golden Oldies” cassette tapes, and I could sit in my room for hours harmonizing with The Ronettes, and staring at Del Shannon, who I thought was a total stud in his tiny black and white photo on the glossy fold-out insert. I listened to Willie Nelson because my Dad admired him so much, and I wanted to understand what was so great about him too. My first concert wasn’t a huge life changer; I saw Inner Circle at a local Jambalaya festival in Central Florida. Their biggest hit was “Bad Boys,” the theme song to COPS. If anything, that concert should have traumatized me. But, at the time I had no comprehension of any crassness. I just remember the guitarist making eye contact with me and smiling, and feeling excitement over having a brief connection with someone who was making me dance.

It’s the same thing with listening to music with words in another language. It’s not necessary to understand words or literal meanings. It’s the way the melodies and rhythms evoke feeling. It’s like that saying about art, how you may not be able to explain it, but you know it when you see it. I can’t always describe music (although obviously, I sure as hell try to), but I know what I like when I feel it, and I think those who can evoke that feeling deserve to be acknowledged for it. That’s what I want to describe. That’s what I want to share.

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