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To a lifelong Albertan, it is extremely muggy in Montreal during August. Sweat simply beads all over your body as you walk along its streets, making you conscious of the fact that it is best to keep hydrated because you can physically feel water being expelled from yourself. Yes, I am weak. So, why was I in Montreal ? If you weren’t I will pretend you were so that I can get on with the story. I was simply enjoying myself at the Osheaga Music Festival.

Osheaga is two jam-packed days of extraordinary music acts ranging from the very popular (such as Coldplay) to the relatively unknown (like Canadian indie band Hey Rosetta!) held at Jean-Drapeau Park in the middle of a river in the centre of Montreal. I stumbled upon the festival by accident one day surfing online and felt it was a good excuse to see Montreal again. It has been twelve years since I was there last. It was the year of Grade Eight, and it was during a school field trip, so I was anticipating a somewhat different experience. Perhaps I would see one of those old French whores I’ve heard so much about. Months ago I bought my tickets, selected cheap flights and figured out where I would be staying for a few nights. As far as travel, everything went off without a hitch.

For the sake of brevity, instead of relating every band I went and saw, I will simply detail my perceived highlights from the two days. I think we should start off with an up-and-coming band called Hey Rosetta! whose album, Into Your Lungs, was recently shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize. While they were not playing on one of the main stages, they totally rocked out their small tent. Though they do have traditional rock instrumentation, they layer on a very different sound by adding a piano, a violin and a cello to the mix. Tim Baker, the lead vocalist, brings an incredible energy to the proceedings. It did not seem to matter where they were playing, they were there to put on one Hell of a show. Shouldn’t this be how it always is? I’ve had the song “Red Heart” in heavy rotation the last week, so I would definitely check out that song and if you like what you hear the rest of the album is just as good.

Another band that many may not have heard about is Yes Giantess. This band is so new that they don’t even have a CD yet. Well, they have a two song CD available to U.S. residents only, so that is basically the same thing for me. That is too bad because they were truly fantastic. This is another band with strange instrumentation. There are three keyboards and a drum set. That’s it. The enthusiasm and pure rock-and-rollness of it all, with a dash of pop, made it a groovy live show. The four young men from Boston should definitely be a group to look for in the coming years.

K’Naan also put on a good show. For those that do not know, K’Naan is a Somalian refugee who originally resided in the United States, but moved to Canada once Homeland Security came knocking on his door. His music is infused with his Somalian roots. The crowd that had assembled for the show were definitely into it, flashing hand signs when prompted and singing along when asked. It was hip hop, but did not degenerate into the Gangsta Rap genre that I find insufferable. Instead there was a real artistic musicality to it all.

For the headliners, The Roots put on one heck of a show. They should not be thought of as simply Jimmy Fallon’s house band (not that fans probably thought of them that way anyway). They do not stop. There is choreography, a sousaphone, and catchy music that does not become derivative. It was a long set but the intensity never ceased. That is rare for a live act. Usually there are hills and valleys to the music, when the performers decide to tone things down, before they ramp up again. In the case of The Roots, it was a long crescendo until they left the stage. Amazing.

For full disclosure purposes I have to admit to having a man-crush on Rufus Wainwright. His set proved to me that he is simply one of the best singer-songwriters of all time. He joked that he was there to cleanse the palette before people went off to see more hardcore rock acts, but that is exactly what was needed. His mother, Kate McGarrigle, came out and sang a couple of songs with her son. Their rendition of “Over the Rainbow” actually made the hairs on my arms stand up. To cap things off, Rufus sang an aria from the opera he recently wrote, Prima Donna, which was performed in France and will be coming to Toronto shortly. The whole performance was nothing short of magical and my love continues unabated.

That brings us to Coldplay. Even if you do not enjoy Coldplay’s music I would strongly encourage you to check out their live show. It is amazing! There was never a dull moment. To the pulsing lights to accentuate the music, to the balloons that fell and bounced around the audience to the confetti that rained down in glittering cascades making it seem as if you had been transported to a distant fantasy realm, everything was absolutely perfect. The highlights included “Yellow”, where the aforementioned balloons were bounced into the audience. It was fabulous. Near the end of the set, the band came out into the audience to play a few songs on a very small stage. Here they sang a rendition of “Billie Jean” which if I had died right there, I could have gone a happy man.

Osheaga was thoroughly enjoyable and I would not hesitate in going back again if there were the right mix of artists like there was this time. I do not have space to detail the other awesome bands I got to see which included: Vampire Weekend, Arctic Monkeys, The Decemberists, Josh Ritter, The Ting Tings and many more. The entire weekend was an experience I will not soon forget, even if I never got to see that old French whore.

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