FME Recap 1: Avalanche Kaito, Balaklava Blues, and Medicine Singers

by Stephan Boissonneault

Avalanche Kaito

This started off with three musicians playing some very strange, instrumental prog and world music passages. After 10 or so minutes of this, a man emerged from the crowd, shout-singing in West African griot. Everyone had no idea if it was part of the act or an unruly music lover from Rouyn-Noranda. Turns out it was part of the act and the man was the frontman of Avalanche Kaito, a multi-talented noise punk meets African storytelling group out of Brussels, Belgium.

The frontman whipped out a flute at times and would not take non-moving bodies on the dance floor. So much so that he once jumped off the stage and began pulling in the crowd to start dancing.

This grooving and progressive rock concoction was imaginative and highly compelling. The perfect way to start off FME.

Balaklava Blues

After Avalanche Kaito, a woman in a white hoodie, with what looked like tribal tattoos on each sleeve, took the stage. As she played down some synth and keyboard lines, two men in balaclavas began pounding on various types of drums. The woman’s name is Marichka Marczyk, a Ukrainian singer-songwriter with powerful pipes, who fronts the guerrilla-folk/ EDM trio, Balaklava Blues.

Balaklava Blues combines house, trap, and party punk styles to create an insular experience. Most of the songs are inspired by the plight of the Ukrainian people from the current invasion from Russia. There was also a multimedia aspect to the performance, which felt psychedelic but poignant due to the recovered footage of the Ukrainian frontline. It was a very powerful performance and a few of the crowd members were in tears, especially during one of the last songs “Night.” Near the end, the words “Stop Putin” were pasted on the backdrop.

Medicine Singers

This collaboration between guitar wizard, Yonatan Gat, a few members from Swans, and the Eastern Medicine Singers Powwow group, was one of the main events of Thursday evening. The group recently released their self-titled debut album and live, they were a marvel to behold.

The performance felt like one drawn-out jam, including the reimagining of Link Wray’s “Rumble.” The vocals of traditional Algonquin cut through the instrumental chaos and at one point featured the wondrous flute work of one Elizabete Balcus. Fans looking to distinguish which songs the Medicine Singers play will probably have a rough time trying to decipher, but the performance in itself is a spectacle that pulls in even the most oblivious listener. However, some were lost after 45 minutes, and the crowd slowly dissipated.

FME Recap 1: Avalanche Kaito, Balaklava Blues, Medicine Singers

by Stephan Boissonneault

Avalanche Kaito

The frontman whipped out a flute at times and would not take non-moving bodies on the dance floor. So much so that he once jumped off the stage and began pulling in the crowd to start dancing.

This grooving and progressive rock concoction were imaginative and highly compelling. The perfect way to start off FME.

Balaklava Blues

Medicine Singers

The performance felt like one drawn-out jam, including the reimagining of Link Wray’s “Rumble.” The vocals of traditional Algonquin cut through the instrumental chaos and at one point featured the wondrous flute work of one Elizabete Balčus. Fans looking to distinguish which songs the Medicine Singers play will probably have a rough time trying to decipher, but the performance in itself is a spectacle that pulls in even the most oblivious listener. However, some were lost after 45 minutes, and the crowd slowly dissipated.

FME Recap 2: Grim Streaker and Gustaf

by Stephan Boissonneault

Grim Streaker

The furious art/post-punk of New York/Canada’s Grim Streaker is captivating and terrifying at the same time. Front woman, Amelia Bushell’s, stage presence is deadpan and piercing, and with her twisting eyes, and a chaotic pout, you can’t tell if she’s stimulated or possessed while singing these songs on the latest EP, Mind.

As she rocked a pinstripe suit, it felt like a deranged banker was leading us through snapshots of a depraved life. And many in the crowd loved every minute of it. The noisy melodic guitar, drums, and bass made dancing encouraged, and at Bushell’s behest, we would probably have done anything. There were some funny moments, like when Grim Streaker began handing out chips to everyone, feeding off the energy of the wildness.

Gustaf

Another art-punk group from New York, Gustaf, was the perfect band to play after Grim Streaker for, yes, their similarities but also differences. Gustaf’s stage mania is like nothing you’ve witnessed. It’s a different breed that feels like it was pulled out of the dadaist performance art movement. It’s frenetic self-satire with elements of the unknown.

I was half-expecting the members to start wrecking their instruments as the front singer, Lydia, began smacking her face over and over again to literally hammer home a point. It felt like the therapy session of a speed addict. The music and distorted, deep vocals are uncanny if not a little off-putting. But this band has gotten accolades from the uncanny king himself, Beck. So see this band live if you get the chance.

Electro-Pop / Synth-Pop

SMERZ: the ‘slacker’ duo the electronic music industry deserves

by Stephan Boissonneault

After a bizarre MUTEK performance featuring vegetable synths and snacking on said vegetables from locals, Mue & Katherine Melancon, another female DJ duo took the stage. They are called SMERZ, from Norway, and they’re about to unleash some chill beat, slacker, synth-pop.

It’s impossible to not talk about the stage presence of these friends Catharina Stoltenberg and Henriette Motzfeldt. They both looked like they just rolled out of bed, with messy tied-back hair and long dark t-shirts. One is wearing Crocs and the other is wearing winter boots. Basically, they look like they don’t care; like they forgot they had to play a show and put no plan into what they were wearing. And maybe that’s the point? There is too much seriousness in the electronic world and SMERZ is the antithesis. They’re almost anti-serious.

But as they harmonize with hazy vocals and some polyphonic drums kick in, you realize they are professionals and the lack of flashy costumes and visuals has to be on purpose. The visuals look like high school photos of friends but also feature random looped clips of people walking or even playing with their hair. It’s hypnotic, but there is no context to the song or if there is, we’re all missing it. I get the sense these videos are random as they feel like flipping through a stranger’s phone you found in the middle of the street and it adds to the indifferent atmosphere of the music.

It was an overall enjoyable show and the closest act that made you want to get up and dance in a euphoric and smoky daze.

Photos by Bruno Destombes for MUTEK

A bit of Montréal magic

by Frédéric Cardin

You had to be in the know. A Facebook post, maybe a couple of others on competing networks, that’s about all a small magical concert got to announce its presence. Or maybe you just had to pass by on Duluth Street East in Montreal to get an idea that it was coming and notice the handwriting on the wood border surrounding Stromboli Square, announcing the show of a band called Kolonien, identified as doing Swedish folk-pop. In short, you had to be lucky, or almost. I was, and what chance!

First of all, let’s introduce the protagonists: Kolonien, a Swedish folk-pop quartet (yes, we said it). A family affair, two brothers, a cousin, and a childhood friend who lived in the same hippie commune near Stockholm (in fact, he and one of the brothers mixed blood as Vikings do in movies when they were kids; so they are now eternally related, really). The organizer: Jacob Edgar, founder and committed head of the Cumbancha label, a favourite of any self-respecting world music lover. Jacob, now a Canadian citizen living in Montreal, wanted his band (their album Till Skogen was just released on his label) to come to the metropolis, even though it had not been planned. Ottawa and Sherbrooke were all that was in the cards. Not Montreal? Jacob wrote to the agent and remedied the situation some two weeks before, knowing that the band’s vibe, on such a beautiful and mellow evening, would curl up like a silk glove on the Montreal audience, especially the one on the Plateau. And oh, how right he was!

The band’s unpretentious repertoire, largely taken from Till Skogen and played with precision and musicality, immediately seduced the multicultural ears of the crowd (a given in this city) that quickly gathered around the small square recently set up as an outdoor stage, animated every Saturday and Sunday evening in the summer (did you know that? I didn’t!). The band members (Anna Möller, new mother, was replaced by the exuberant Thea Åslund… another cousin!) clearly enjoyed the intimate and spontaneous atmosphere of the Montreal street and they showed it. They generously played for over an hour, moving from upbeat, folkish-sounding dances to moments of introspective, even contemplative sweetness, where the four artists performed in rustic, but utterly charming vocal harmonies. They have fallen in love with Montreal it seems. Jacob told me so. No doubt about it, the feeling was mutual!

Montreal is thirsty for world music, not only from elsewhere but also from within, thanks to its own numerous artists, and the arrival of Jacob Edgar, an immigrant already well rooted in the spirit of this city, is a good omen. Till Skogen, which came out last April, was in my (stratospheric) pile of albums to listen to and review. Lacking time, I eventually forgot about it. Well, yesterday’s inspiring encounter forces me to come back to it. In a few days, I’ll come back to you with a text on the album in question. Better late than never, as the saying goes. So stay tuned. And above all: take a trip to Duluth East, right next to Mollie, a Portuguese resto-bar, on the remaining Saturday and Sunday evenings of the summer: moments of pure magic await you.

What I saw and heard at Osheaga on Sunday

by Alain Brunet

Coco & Clair Clair

Coco & Clair Clair is a pop duo from Atlanta, Georgia. The two young women are said to be pioneers of “demon glam rock” a label that doesn’t seem to fit them at first. Their work is best described as an invigorating blend of bedroom pop and hip hop. Their biographical profile states that they met on Twitter in 2012 and were soon recording songs together. Awful Records has framed this inter-racial team of songwriters, super cool for all the young globalists in the American Deep South, whose indolent phrasing and steamy melodies lend a unique flavor. Very nice stuff.

Zach Zoya

Quebec’s Zach Zoya, one of the most prominent rappers in Quebec in recent years, and turns a corner with the micro album “No Love is Even Wasted.” We got the live version with DJs, instrumentalists, and guests including the talented producer Benny Adam who also has a career as a performer. It’s an interesting risk because no artist focusing on soul pop mixed with hip hop has yet reached great notoriety in Montreal. It will happen soon and Zach Zoya could be the first to make his mark.

Mahalia

A native of Leicestershire and a proud representative of the diversity in the UK (Jamaican and Irish origins), Mahalia was making contact with the Osheaga crowd. She is neither the first nor the last to blend neo soul, hip hop soul and a barely perceptible Afro-British sensibility in this case. Mahalia’s obvious goal is to conquer the pop market of her generation, with melodic hooks that carry her reflections on her own existence as a young mixed-race girl in the West. Recording artist since 2016, the now 24-year-old singer has already released two studio albums, “Love and compromise” (2019) and “Diary of Me” (2016), followed by the recently released micro album “Letter to Ur Ex”.

Inhaler

Any connoisseur of popular music knows that the “sons of” take great risks in pursuing the same profession as their famous parents. How about one more? Since 2020, Bono’s son has been trying his luck with the band Inhaler, whose first appearance was at Osheaga. Elijah Hewson is, for the moment at least, a pale copy of his father. The voice, the melodies, the rock grooves, the guitar riffs… A few small details can’t confirm the singularity, it’s definitely under the U2 umbrella.

Ashnikko

Ashton Nicole Casey, better known as Ashnikko, has a good mix of punk attitude, rock attitude, electro attitude, and hip hop sensibilities. And it’s infectious pop. The creative universe of this 26-year-old American is rich because it puts forward a successful crossing of genres that are not easily reconcilable from the start. Direct, stubborn, abracadabrant, very funny but also dramatic and abrasive, this young woman is a real firework. Her flames can certainly amaze and entertain but also cause some burns if you cross her zone of influence.

Safia Nolin

Let’s leave aside any hint of her run-ins with social media losers, reported and commented on regularly by the media of reference, let’s try to forget about Maripier Morin the repentant and let’s focus on Safia Nolin’s real artistic gifts, of which the last creative chapter is clearly the most accomplished. The magnificent “sunset” versions of her album “Seum” were favored at Osheaga with guitars, bass, shoegaze distortion and rock rhythms of exemplary binarity. Safia’s solo voice and the harmonized voices of her band contrasted nicely with the corrosion of the instrumentation and the pain of the lyrics. This artist certainly grows in adversity, talent and light eventually prevail over suffering. (Alain Brunet)

Cordae

Before the excellent group, Idles came along, we could discover the rapper Cordae, a half-breed from North Carolina. Listen to his albums “The Lost Boy” (2019) and “From a Birds Eye View” (2022) and you’ll see that this guy is not a hip hop tourist. Gunna, Lil Wayne, H.E.R., Lil Durk, Freddie Gibbs, Stevie Wonder (on chromatic harmonica !), Eminem and Roddy Ricch do not appear by coincidence. His presence on stage, his very solid flow, the ambitious playing of his musicians (instrumentalists and DJ/producer), the intelligent and sensitive content of his rhymes, are all elements that define an artist who will last.

Dua Lipa

Amongst the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Doja Cat, Billie Eilish and other Camilla Cabello, the British Dua Lipa is one of the new conquerors of the pop world. Main headliner at Osheaga, she promotes a disco-electro-pop as predictable as spectacular but… it’s good! Why stifle our pleasure? The scenography, the projections, the lighting and the choreography are the result of a colossal budget, the hits (including the “Coldheart” mashup with Elton John), the glitter and the tight costumes, in short the showbiz as we imagine it in 2022. Dua Lipa is an authentic Western-style performer. Her Bosnian, Albanian and Kosovar origins, her sincere sympathy for the LGBTQ community and her assumed feminism make her a public figure both glamorous and progressive. An interesting paradox…

Afro-Electro / Afrobeat / Alt Folk / Avant-Garde / EDM / Experimental Folk / Folktronica / Hip Hop / Indie Rock / indietronica / Noise / Post-Punk / Rock

Osheaga 2022: The Good, The Bad, and The Gleaming

by Stephan Boissonneault

Parc Jean-Drapeau was transformed into a music fan’s paradise last weekend during the 15th anniversary of the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival. Depending on your musical tastes, the lineup for Osheaga 2022 was a mixed bag, featuring a lineup of yes, touring international artists like Idles, Dua Lipa, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and hometown heroes Arcade Fire, but it also featured a few artists who have found fame on Tik Tok like Tai Verdes, Pink Pantheress, 100 gecs, Crawlers, etc.

This seems to be a new trend for festivals; having artists that go viral on Tik Tok for one song that is shared millions of times and landing a spot on an international festival, so I can’t fault Osheaga for jumping on the aforementioned bandwagon.

Sometimes these new musicians can surprise you, like Crawlers who put on an interesting show, and sometimes the lack of live experience can bite back, as with PinkPantheress’ set, which ended early because of technical difficulties and her lack of voice. She was quite timid and needs more stage presence practice.

Either way, the weekend was enjoyable with a melting pot of great music and the weather was thankfully, not sweltering. So without further ado, here is PAN M 360’s day-by-day coverage of Osheaga 2022.

Day 1

The day for me started with some brief 90s shoegaze meets coldwave Americana, brought by Liverpool’s two-piece King Hannah. Their set was brief for me at the Sirius XM Tree Stage as I had to make my way to grab a spot for Charli XCX on the main stage, but the live renditions of their 2021 album I’m Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me were sublime. There is a special magic to the two-piece, backed up by a drummer, and their chemistry on stage was pretty mesmerizing.

I arrived late for Charli XCX to check out Parcels, an Australian indie pop band at Verte Stage. They were fine, but I feel like I’ve heard many bands with the same disco indie vibe and style. The crowd was also clearly waiting for Turnstile at the adjacent stage.

Charli XCX was already in full swing on main stage, scantily clad in a red crop top and tight yoga pants, singing and dancing to her heavy hyper pop production songs on Crash. I’m not a huge pop music fan, at least not this generation of pop, but Charli XCX is a pro. She knew how to get the crowd to jump, sing a long, and cast a pretty intense spell over them for an hour. I left early to go check out Turnstile, another sensation, this time in the punk/hardcore realm.

Turnstile was tight with the instrumentation and had a good energy to them, but I expected them to be heavier and more hardcore, especially since the guitarist had a Jackson metal guitar and looked like he was in a speed metal group. Maybe it’s the Jane’s Addiction-esque vocals that threw me off, although it was good to see a genuine mosh pit be created. And Turnstile clearly had fans at the stage, as much of the crowd knew their lyrics right down to a tee. Still, for me, it seemed more pop punk/alt-rock than hardcore punk.

Next was Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who frankly killed it on main stage. They’re old hats at festivals and know how to use a bit of pageantry and dance-punk and pop to get a crowd going. Lead singer Karen O came out bedazzled in a spiked old-school biker’s helmet and dressed in a colourful one-piece jumpsuit that looked like a Jackson Pollock painting. There were colourful, fringed streamers attached to her shoulders and mic as well.

It was hard to control the excitement from her outfit alone. The rest of the band looked too cool for school and let Karen O lead every song. They played lots of old material including the hits, especially “Heads Will Roll” to finish their set. It was going to be hard to top. But next was our hometown legends, Arcade Fire, fresh off the release of their We album.

Arcade Fire played close to 20 songs during a two-hour set and I was surprised to hear a few songs from Funeral, my personal favourite album from them. It’s insane to me how big this band is now. They used to play tiny clubs and now they tour with a giant disco ball that overhung from the rafters of the main stage and had a psychedelic light show, ala Pink Floyd.

At one point during “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains),” which always sounded like a Blondie cover to me, singer and keyboardist/keytarist Régine Chassagne had lights reflecting off her shining belt buckle. I guess you can expect that from a band with an album called Reflektor. I will say that when they played the older songs, they felt as present and current as they did when they came out. Though Arcade Fire is a band built on nostalgia for a simpler time, they’re fantastic musicians, so good on Osheaga for giving them a headlining spot after Foo Fighters had to cancel.

Day 2

The second day at Osheaga seemed to be more hip-hop focused with Freddie Gibbs, Skiifall, Slowthai—who inadvertently offended a bunch of people after they mistook his “Destroy” swastika symbol shirt as a hate crime (more on that below)—Burna Boy, and Future, after replacing ASAP Rocky’s spot, who apparently originally replaced Kendrick Lamar’s.

Shemar Mckie, who goes by Skiifall, is a St. Vincent-born local performer and he and his DJ were excellent. Skiifall is also hilarious as he called out the crowd for being terrible at cheering and helping him with his new song “Pistol Whip.”

“You guys are terrible I’ll have to do it on my own,” he laughed.

At one point he asked a fan in the crowd to get up on stage and rap with him and he did OK, but Skiifall had to stop the song after he rapped over him.

“You’re killing me bruh,” he laughed. I’m not sure why they put him at the smaller Sirius XM Tree Stage, because he easily could have opened for Freddie Gibbs, but hey, I’m not a festival programmer.

Another local act, Men I Trust (who we interviewed here) was also playing at the same time. Their easy laid back jazz indie rock/pop was the perfect accompaniment to an overcast afternoon.

Tai Verdes took the stage next and I just couldn’t get into his mesh of pop rock and hip hop. At times it sounded like a dad rock cover band and it didn’t stick. I wanted to see some weird artsy post-punk pop from another local artist, Bonsound’s, Sophia Bel, but there seemed to be some technical difficulties with her sound and she had to go on late, cutting her set in half I’m sure. She was dressed in a tutu like a manic pixie dream girl and I’m sure the set was great (and I’ll make sure to catch her live set in Montreal), but I had to get a spot for Freddie Gibbs—his collab album with The Alchemist, Alfredo is one of my favourite hip hop albums of the last five years.

Freddie Gibbs was one of my top performers at Osheaga, even though at times, the mix and his vocals seemed to be quieter than usual. His quickfire verses and lyrical precision are right up there with the greats for me. He also got the crowd to chant “Fuck POlice,” quite a few times in order to keep the set fresh and humorous. As he pulled out “Scottie Beam,” the weed smoke consumed the crowd and there was even a mosh pit.

“Shit, these guys up here are moshing. I love that shit right here,” he chimed in. “Let’s give them a heavier beat,” as the MC put on the beat for “Crime Pays.”

Freddie also had a two-person crew who just stood on stage looking cool and it looked like one of their jobs was to be his own personal blunt roller. Just straight gangster.

July 30, 2022 – Montreal – Freddie Gibbs performs during Montreal’s Osheaga Music and Arts festival on Parc Jean Drapeau TIM SNOW/OSHEAGA

After Freddie Gibb’s set was slowthai, an angry Brit rapper who loves controversy and rose to prominence for his politically-charged lyrics in Nothing Great About Britain around the time Brexit was popping off. His music is abrasive and loud, kind of using aspects of grime and dirty trap music. Not really my cup of tea and his violence all seems like an act. He seemed to want to get a rise out of people. He also came out wearing that shirt with a swastika on it and the festival had to formally apologize for it a day after his set.

“Anyone who disagrees with you will end up in a body bag,” slowthai shouted over the mic as he took off the shirt to reveal a canvas of tattoos. I’m sure slowthai is actually a quiet British boy in person, but who knows? He also got a fan from the crowd to rap with him on the track “Inglorious,” and she did pretty well. I can’t imagine the rush you get from something like that.

I was excited for Khruangbin, a psychedelic rock three-piece that has served as my background writing music since I discovered them during the first lockdown of 2020. Osheaga put them on main stage which seemed like a weird move considering they’re mostly a trippy instrumental band and for some reason, no one was dancing. The music was great, the sound pristine, but maybe people wanted more hip hop. I however loved every minute of it. The visuals on the big screen, featuring the members of the band shifting, phasing out, and melting were a nice touch and I could listen to Laura Lee on bass and Mark Speer on guitar jamming for hours. At one point they played a medley of covers, some that made sense like “Miserlou” and others that made no sense like Elron John’s “Bennie and the Jets.”

After Khruangbin, I checked out 100 gecs, and I still don’t really know what I witnessed. One guy is dressed as an anime character and the girl is screaming garbage into an auto-tuned mic. Maybe it’s my age catching up to me but I don’t get the hype with this internet-famous band. I personally can’t stand auto tune and 100 gecs is all about that, fusing hyper pop (but not the same way as Charli XCX, which I would call, well, music) and production of god knows what else. I guess I’m not young enough to understand or care about 100 gecs, but to me, this was horrid

I needed a pallet-cleanse and that came with Polo & Pan, an electronic dup from France who are whiz masters at creating calming dance pop. The visuals on the stage reminded me of when I went to electronic festivals many years ago.

I caught a bit of Burna Boy and I’ll probably have to check him out now when I want music for madness. He had a 15-piece band and looks like a Nigerian prince on stage. His blend of dancehall and reggae rap was off-putting at first, but I can say that I was pretty hooked by his showmanship.

I didn’t really care about Future and never have so I went for a bit of Caribou which really surprised me. I expected a backing track and DJ, but he had a full band and blew me away with his mix of folktronica and soft dance. My only gripe was with the crowd who was looking for mayhem, I guess I would too if I was at the same EDM stage consuming drugs for eight hours.

Day 3

I came later on day three burnt out. I heard the heavy riff tunes of Royal Blood as I biked through a sunny backwoods path in Parc Jean-Drapeau. I saw a tail end of their set many years ago when they opened for Queens of the Stone Age and they seem to be doing well.

I caught a few minutes of girl in red, who sounds as if Billie Eilish fronted Blur, and wish I saw more. At only 23 years old I expect great things from this Norwegian singer-songwriter.

Lucy Dacus was playing a quiet set at the same time and the crowd was tiny. It’s a shame because her Montreal show was packed and the sound was a million times better. Still, she killed her set and ended it with the indie rock fav “Night Shift,” having even the older crowd singing along. I would recommend checking her out next time she comes. She’s a more personal Phoebe Bridgers in my opinion and you can’t judge an artist based on a festival set.

My serotonin was depleted by the time Glass Animals were on so I caught one or two songs that were great, but again, I was devoid of energy. I needed to find a pick-me-up for Wet Leg. It turns out that pick me up was a bit of weed, a few Coors Banquets, and Wet Leg themselves playing their Canada debut at Osheaga. This young band that gained virality with their quick-wit post-punk and indie rock on songs like “Chaise Lounge,” was a marvel live. Their stage banter was hilarious and you could tell they were having the best times of their life. I’ve never seen so many smiles from a band. One of the tops of my Osheaga, easy.

I couldn’t give two shits about Machine Gun Kelly. All I know is he’s dating Megan Fox and plays some form of pop punk and hip hop. He came out looking like an ad for Pepto Bismol and man is his music just awful. I hate really hate how influencers are faking their way into playing live music. Again it could just be age, but I don’t get it.

Luckily I left early to get a good spot for Idles, the post-punk stooges from Bristol who sound like a rock n’ roll curb stomp on record. I work out to their music all the time and their debut LP, Brutalism is still one of my favourite albums. They unleashed an onslaught of songs before saying “Hello” to the crowd and I craved more. And more I got as their guitarist Mark Bowen ran around like a madman in a flower dress during “I’m Scum.” Bravado, intensity, satire, these lads have it all.

“Who here is scum bag?” asked vocalist Joe Talbot. The crowd screamed and the band played on. At one point, and I’m still not sure if this was for theatrics, it seemed like someone in the crowd wanted to fight Talbot and tried to keep getting him to come and confront him in the crowd.

“Everyone shut up. This guy has something important to say,” Talbot said. “No mate, I’m not coming into the crowd ‘cause I like it up here.”

They launched into “The Wheel” off the latest album Crawler. This song sounded so good live with its chimerical chord structure and Talbot’s off-the-cuff lyricism. He’s an angry pacifist on the mic and it’s a splendor to witness. They closed with the pro-immigrant song “Danny Nedelko” and that was that. Nothing would really top my night.

July 31, 2022 – Montreal – IDLES perform during Montreal’s Osheaga Music and Arts festival on Parc Jean Drapeau TIM SNOW/OSHEAGA

Although as I walked to the VIP area to drink the night away, I caught a few songs by Dua Lipa, who is basically this generation’s … Madonna I guess? She had more than 10 backup dancers and her disco pop was quite enjoyable. She also has a terrific voice and only uses a few vocal tricks here and there. When I listen to modern pop music, it’s hard to know what’s genuine anymore. Dua Lipa is a genuine megastar.

And with that, my first Osheaga was over. Who knows what’s in store next year.

Photos courtesy of Osheaga Festival