Monday, August 13, 2012

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Ok, I know the trend for my blog is for the title to represent my current location in the world. Unfortunately, I was consistently on the go the entire time I was in Montreal and had no chance to give you an update till now. 

Now, the weekend in Montreal was a decision that Christina and I made back in April when we discovered that Florence and the Machine would be playing. We had been searching for one of their tour stops that we could plan a summer trip around. Then a music festival, Osheaga, announced its lineup we knew where we'd be going. We had simply been hoping to see Florence and the Machine, and with Osheaga we could also see about another 100 bands. 

After a red-eye flight from Edmonton, a few hours of being stranded without a place to sleep, we headed down to Parc Jean-Drapeau. The park was an island in the middle of the St Lawrence River which made logistics a bit tricky as everyone needed to take the Metro to get in and out. With attendance topping out at 40,000 everyday it proved to be a challenge. 

None-the-less, we made it to the festival just fine and immediately began exploring the 5 stages to see as many bands as we could handle. The first day turned out to be the best in terms of weather despite the humidex approaching 40 degrees. Our first day lineup included Bombay Bicycle Club, The Jezabels, Of Monster and Men, Amadou & Miriam, Franz Ferdinand, The Weeknd, Florence + The Machine, and Sigur Ros. Our strategy for the day was really to see as much as we could before trying to get as close as possible for Florence. That plan worked to be perfection as we were within 15 people of the mainstage in a sea of 30,000 people. This made for an amazing show that literally made it hard for me breathe or sing. I managed to capture a few videos of the show on my phone. The last video includes a moment where the crowd was directed to stand still until notified and then jump up and down for as long as possible. I joined in with the crowd which causes the 'Blair Witch' style video but the bedlam still gives me goosebumps when I watch it.

Florence and the Machine - Lay Me Down


Florence and the Machine - Shake It Out


Florence and the Machine - Dog Days Are Over


On day two we got a very late start to the day (probably because we didn't sleep the day before) and because the lineup was admittedly the weakest of any day. Plus the weather looked like it was going to be the hottest day by far. Temperatures topped out at 33 in nothing but sunshine (mixed in with high humidity). Our strategy for day two was a little more simple, stay in the shade and stay hydrated. We found a nice little spot under a tree on the mainstages and just rested there for a few hours. Eventually we wandered out to the side stages to catch a few other random acts. One of which was the Arkells who I had heard from multiple sources put on a great live show. And they absolutely did not disappoint. They were the surprise of the weekend for me. Not only were they great, but apparently the word had gotten around because the small Tree Stage they played was jam packed full of people. The rest of our lineup for the day included Calexico, Young the Giant, Plants and Animals Young Galaxy,  SBTRKT, Garbage and Feist. This list should have included Snoop Dogg who was the headliner on the Saturday, but after he was 30 minutes late and knowing the disaster the Metro would be afterwards we instead got an early start on the rest of our night. (The strategy worked, caught the first train out with no delay).

Day three had a great lineup of bands, but immediately we were wondering whether we'd be able to enjoy it. After seeing news of the evacuation of Lollapalooza the day before in Chicago, and knowing the forecast was for the same storms to hit Montreal, we knew it would be an interesting day. We came prepared with full rain (jackets, umbrella, numerous ziplock bags). Despite the 4-5 rainstorms that hit we saw everyone we had hoped to. We did get obliterated by rain a couple of times though. The first videos I have from the day are from Dan Mangan who has yet to disappoint with his live performances. The next set is from The Shins, which in the middle of their song Australia came the worst of the rain/wind storms. Somewhere in between, we even squeezed in a few songs from Bloc Party, where the crowd was completely nuts. And the night/weekend concluded (as all weekends should) with the Black Keys. The rest of day included Aloe Blacc, Passion Pit, Austra, James Vincent McMorrow, Tame Impala, Bloc Party, and Metric.

Dan Mangan - Sold


Dan Mangan - Row of Houses


Dan Mangan - Robots


The Shins - Caring is Creepy


The Shins - Australia


Bloc Party - Banquet


The Black Keys - Lonely Boy

So that summarizes the weekend. The last day we managed to get out an about in Montreal for some walking, shopping and (more) poutine. I've got plenty of photos as well, which you can see in this gallery.  That's it for the trip. Hoped you enjoy the videos.