Osheaga Festival 2024▪

Osheaga Festival returned to Parc Jean-Drapeau for the first weekend in August, and it was a scorcher! Montreal Rocks was there to witness another stellar three days of music.

FRIDAY

Billianne

Billianne kicks off my Osheaga adventure and I’ve been really looking forward to seeing her live. I’ve enjoyed her tiktok journey (like everyone it seems) and it’s just fun to kick off a big event with such disparate variety with a nice mellow trip through affirming happy songs. Being edgy is cool, but Billianne is cooler.

First song up and Billianne references the Tragically Hip classic Wheat Kings in the solid set opener ‘No Wonder’ and that’s just awesome to see this girl’s roots showing. Canadian roots that is.

It’s really fun to watch the crowd get bigger. The looks on people’s faces hearing her and deciding that’s where they are going to settle and take in their first bit of the festival. And it makes me feel good about the whole thing honestly. There are a lot of people at these kinds of festivals but Osheaga has a great emotional temperature. It’s very loving, caring, polite and clean. Billianne embodies that.

‘Daydreaming’ is next, yacht rock with a vocal like a mix of Corinne Bailey Rae, Carlie Simon and Adele. Speaking of Adele, Billianne shows off some real Adele power later.

Her look reminds me of my living room. I’m going to try and find a guitar strap like hers. It’s got one of those Mayan sun logos embroidered on it.

‘Wish List’ is a fun rocker about her old label but it seems to be more about knowing your own value. Which I hope she does…

I recorded ‘Simply The Best’ for my 6-year-old Clementine. I loved her reaction to it, and I enjoy watching the accidental fan reactions. Even late into the set, people were still wandering in and falling in awe of her voice’s unique blend of sensitivity and power.

‘Crush’ is the new single, and it’s great! She adds some new fancy elements but stays rooted to her folk-pop style.

And she ends her set with the plaintive ‘Enough.’ But is it? Not nearly. Enjoy Billianne, she’ll be around a while.

Cam Kahin

His band is alt-punk but imagine your guitarist looks like Dax Shepard with sideburns in the minus playing a beautiful sounding télé thinline and polka punk kicking out the riffs with a huge hungry hungry hippo toothed smile.

Cam didn’t say the names of his songs save In and Around but it doesn’t matter. I will know all his lyrics within the next month. The thrashy indie is so sticky and feels good even with the dark themes.

I like that they play little snippets of things in between songs. The hot and humid day is probably wreaking havoc on all the equipment, there is a lot of tuning up and retuning going on so it was smart and added to the vibe.

Overall Cam and his band are a pretty cool bunch of guys. As the set closes I’ve lost a bit of interest. I don’t know how much they are going to really infiltrate my listening habits but they sure have a good chunk of dedicated listeners already just in this crowd. And that’s a great sign.

Fcukers

Devil’s haircut cover by the girl at scene right as Cam Kahil ended. Find it! – This was the nonsensical sentence that evolved into a review. These Fcukers were not on my schedule but I have to say something because they are seriously so cool.

With so many ridiculous elements like rave, DNB soul, and garage all smashing together with thick basslines on a Fender P and a cool little modded keyboard setup.

Drums, bass and vocals that’s it, well not all it, you’ve got drums triggering samples of stern nuclear reactor works asking you soul-probing questions like “but sir, do you know house music?”

You’ve got a bass player that’s more of a lead guitar, not in the play a million notes like Eddie Van Halen, but in the suck up a whole huge chunk of the audience’s attention and playing sick melodic lines and muting his bass to thicken the drummer’s kick. It’s technically great without being greatly technical. MmmmmMoi chef’s kiss.

You got a sweet whisper singer plucked right out of a 90s girl band but with waaaaay too much edge and style to stay in that box so she transforms her stage moves into a vibing spinning hush siren calling out your name. Your ship will be on the rocks in no time.

For the last song, she flings her in-ears out and sings and spins and vibes free of whatever annoying technical issue she was championing through.

Awesome. I can’t wait to crank them in the car. Probably not good if I don’t want speeding tickets.

The Japanese House.

The festival feels official now to me now. The crowd sizes have become crazy and the singalongs are in full swing.

‘Sad to Breathe’ opens the set and it’s so pretty. It could be them miming to the record version. It sounds so perfect. LIkewise, ‘Something Has to Change’ finds them in fantastic voice. In a lot of settings, even Tiny Desk the mixing wasn’t this good. Good job Osheaga audio crew!

They are surprised at how many people are here. I’m not at all. They are a lefty playing a righty guitar. I never noticed that before, yet another wrinkle in how cool Japanese House is.

Backing vocals and pads are ethereal and confident. All the musicians in the band are in top form and enjoying themselves.

The band and the backdrop video is full color while the side address video screens are black and white and it pulls your visual focus into them. I notice no phones, at least for the moment. It’s pretty special. I should get off my phone and smell some roses actually.

The heat gets to someone in the audience, they stop the show, the person is tended to so quickly it’s resumed and we’re all reminded to be careful.

Cecily plays a mean smooth saxophone. She gets the majority of the screen time on the video wall somehow too. I want to know more about her.

By the time we get to ‘Friends’ we’re all pretty chill and happy. This is not a stressful vibe to be inside.

‘Touching Yourself’ gets an immediate audible pleasure yell from the audience recognizing the snare hit. And that lady spoke for all of us.

‘Smiley Face’ or (: is my current favourite of their songs. And live it’s so great. It has an arpeggiated guitar part that’s a little different for them and I was interested in who in the band would play it and turns out it was Japanese House themself. And at this point I’ve decided this is the first act that has really jumped from an average to a special set.

And of course they will end with the 2nd favourite song (only 2nd because I wore out ‘Sunshine Baby’ last year from multiple daily plays). It’s glorious.

Thank You to Japanese House for welcoming us into their Japanese Home (I think I’m going to be sent to dork jail for some of these puns)

Skepta

Skepta won an award in which he was competing with David Bowie. That was the only true contextual grounding a ding dong like myself could glean from the British Grime MCs Wikipedia.

I’ve wondered about Grime for a long time but I respect music and I need to be serious when I challenge myself with it. I recently found out I have a close friend who is versed. So perfect! Skepta will be the first toe dip. And then I have a good guide into the larger world. All that said this review will be honest for sure, probably contradictory at parts as I learn, most likely with important details missing. But it should be interesting. Just pretend you’re watching a Christopher Nolan film with your mom. And trust me, no matter what happens, I want to like it.

Here we go!

From the opening bell folks are excited! This man is confident! And the beats are thick and punchy. The pyro is on fire. It’s literally fire, that’s what pyro is. How do I describe fire? It’s awesome, don’t get me twisted, the pyro is really great.

Skepta really wants us to match his energy. He wants to play one of his favourites and he’s asked us to make some noise, which is appropriate, he’s giving his all. He splits the crowd down the middle and gets us to make noise. We are failing. He’s being fully awesome. At this point in his set Skepta amusingly “pulls up” in a variety of places and “it’s murder”. I don’t care if a few in the crowd are lame Skepta has got me. He’s funny, he’s smart, he’s got charisma for days and when he growls he’s got a growl that sounds like a Siberian tiger with a sandpaper tongue. I’m fully in on this guy. But Skepta and I are losing patience with this crowd. I will not curse at them but I agree with everything he says when he scolds them for the lack of energy.

I think I get it now, if this flow is what Grime is I really like it. It’s aggressive and intelligent and the point of view is clear. I’ll need to listen to it more with headphones and thought but I’m actually interested and going to do that because it’s actually interesting as music and message.

Ok so live-wise, what are we talking about? We’re talking about an MC and a DJ. And honestly Skepta talks to us and raps to us with the power and gravitas of a Shakespearean actor holding a skull and saying something profound. I don’t really understand the words of Shakespeare either. But not having live instruments onstage can hamper artists with less charisma.

Hold up, I’m so late for Noah Kahan! At this point I need to think about which artist that overlaps I’m going to miss a bit of.

There are three guys beside me loving this so much, I don’t include them in my review of the crowd. In fact, as I look around people are generally more upbeat and engaged. I don’t know what took so long.

Some of the girls are leaving, no doubt to watch Noah Kahan. I don’t think I want to leave Skepta for Noah Kahan. I’m not that into folkbore anyway. Folkbore, I mean folkbore. Why does my autocorrect keep turning folkbore into folkbore? It’s easy folk and core, folk core, folkbore, dangit!!!! Nah I’m staying here with Skepta, this is too fun.

I apologize I don’t have a lot of the setlist. I just don’t know the songs by name yet. I’m confident I will. Just trust me, when Skepta comes back he puts on an incredible show.

I haven’t touched on the art. The video wall technology is always incredible at these shows but this is actual thoughtful art, at one point there are two eyes and a nose in between each feature inside a box and they would swap at random intervals while muted 70s orange, yellow and brown gradients affected Skepta’s silhouette on the side screens. Even with the 70s-associated colour scheme on the side screens, there’s an extra filter I don’t know how to describe, except for the word grime. Ugh I hate myself for that even more than you do. But it modernizes the visuals, grounding the music while focusing the vitality of the message for today.

Shutdown is an awesome song! I feel from the crowd it’s either a classic or a highlight they were waiting for. I think I’ll listen to that one first when I get home. Oh! That’s it! It’s over. The whole thing’s done? What? I want more.

Luckily Skepta says he is coming back when his new record is finished. I’m going to try and be there. He’s a beast.

Mike Rogers

SATURDAY

I survived Osheaga Saturday. Would I do it again? Absolutely.

Did I drink my body weight in water? More than likely.

How many steps did I do? 16,178 (not counting those I did after midnight).

Obviously, Saturday was another scorcher for the sold-out annual event. Droves of music lovers would not be deterred from seeing their favourite bands while adding new discoveries to their playlists. It is clear that Osheaga is back in full force and better than ever.

If anything, Saturday was an ode the counterculture of punk and alternative, with enough variety to keep any music fan happy.

A big win from Nick Farkas and his team last fall, was booking a then emerging artist Chappell Roan for an early afternoon main stage performance. Since then, Chappell Roan’s popularity rose to levels similar to the blazing temperature we experienced this week-end.

Osheaga is a choose-your-musical adventure, so follow my musical journey.

New West

A musical collective out of Toronto and winners of the Breakthrough Group of the Year at the 2024 Juno Awards, New West started the main stage event.

Songs like “Cold Tea” refreshed the crowd as water cannons tried to alleviate the sweltering heat.

A smart move by organizers was security passing out cold water bottles to fans in the audience, surely lowering the risk of dehydration for many.

“Homecoming” was dedicated to Montreal, and judging from the audience response, a great start to Saturday.

The Linda Lindas

There was a humorous moment when, from the audience was heard, in a loud Québequois accent: “Hey! Les Linda Lindas!”

L.A. based The Linda Lindas reminded me of youthful energy, exploding off a stage to a quickly gathering appreciative crowd.

Embedded with the heart and soul of the Ramones and Bikini Kill energy, this band was my favourite discovery of the day.

Sometimes melodic, sometimes hard and fast, the band revved up the crowd as they had the time of their life on stage.

We were even graced with the presence of Nino, fearsome hunter of mice, for its own cat song. The band even threw in a Talking Heads cover.

Chappell Roan

The Femininomenon of Chappell Roan was clearly the reason Saturday afternoon was packed with fans sporting pink cowboy hats.

Chappell owned the stage, with the moves and visuals of a seasoned veteran, while fans sang along at the top of their lungs.

“HOT TO GO!” had everyone doing the YMCA-like hand gestures.

Sporting a set of butterfly wings, I couldn’t help but think of the Muhammad Ali quote: Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”

Clearly, a sea of fans were stung by this performance, which will be remembered by them for a long time.

This was not a POP adventure for me, so I headed to the SiriusXM stage. I did see enough to see that for many, this was the headlining act today.

DVTR

It was nice to find shade in the SiriusXM tent, but it soon became a Bikram Hot Punk set.

Headed by bouncy Demi Lune and Jean Divorce, DVTR quickly gathered a crowd to experience their fury of fast French punk, with clever songs like “Les Olympiques.”

You never know what you will get with DVTR, but if there is a stack of speakers around, you bet Demi Lune will climb it.

If the crowd is having fun, the duo will join them in the mayhem.

DVTR is a defibrillator of live music.

If you are not having fun at a DVTR show, call 911 because you might be dead inside.

Rancid

The Chappell Roan crowd had dispersed, replaced by a crowd who fondly remember Rancid in the days before streaming and playlists.

If you wanted to hear “Roots Radical”, you had to buy the “…and out comes the wolves” CD, which would have also given you 9 more gems that were played during their set.

There was even a time where Billie Joe Armstrong was invited to join the band. He declined which turned out great for Billie Joe who stayed with Green Day, and Lars Frederiksen who took the spot.

The second song of the set “Radio” was co-written by Billie Joe.

A circle pit was encouraged, and many, like me, preferred not getting soaked by another’s sweat. I have enough of my own, thank you.

We sang along to “Olympia, WA”, and the last two bangers “Time Bomb” and “Ruby Soho.”

The band thanked us for “the last 33 years of our lives.” They also stated that from the start, they have always been inclusive of everyone.

One song was very special to a very young fan whose family took her to see her favorite band, all the way from Orlando Florida.

She has made a small sign that read: “Tim. If you fall down. I’m going pick you back up again.”

Tim, not able to read the sign, asked to see it and gave this young fan both the setlist (complete with boot prints)and a pick.

Brittany Howard

How I wished I took the trek to see Brittany Howard.

Steve Gerrard (Editor of Montreal Rocks & Photographer) was there. Let him fill you in.

“Brittany Howard’s set at Osheaga felt less like a festival performance and more like a sermon from the church of soul. With the sun setting behind her, Howard commanded the stage, mixing the grit of Alabama Shakes with the eclecticism of her solo work. Her voice—somewhere between a whiskey-soaked sermon and a volcanic eruption—cut through the Montreal humidity, wrapping the crowd in a warm embrace.

The band was tight, the groove was undeniable, but there were moments where the set leaned heavily on her past success, slightly dampening the freshness of her new material. Still, Howard’s charisma and vocal prowess more than made up for it, leaving the audience both satisfied and hungry for what she’ll do next.”

One of the improvements the Osheaga teams did this year was remove the bottleneck of the stairs to go over the road. Getting to the Green Stage was much easier, but the heat took a wallop on my energy level, and I opted for a Smoked Meat Poutine (so Montreal!) and a seat instead.

It did give me a chance to see a sea of people jumping to Denzel Curry and glimpses of Reneé Rapp who had many fans singing along.

The Smashing Pumpkins

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was a two CD-Set where one was entitled Dawn to Dusk, and the other Twilight to Starlight.

It was fitting then that The Smashing Pumpkins took the stage while it was still daylight and took us past dusk into twilight.

Their set was somewhat similar in how they brought in songs that ranged from Siamese Dream to Zeitgeist, yet not their latest Aghori Mhori Mei released just the day before.

Newest guitarist Kiki Wong fit right in added to the band’s energy.

The band wisely chose to play hits like “Tonight, Tonight,” “Disarm,” “Bullet With Butterfly Wings,” “1979,” and the closer “Cherub Rock.”

This allowed many non-fans to appreciate those classics, while allowing them to headline their own shows, which they can curate their playlist to satisfy deep cuts and newer songs.

It really was a nostalgia trip that allowed us all to enjoy those songs that made SP such an amazing band along the years.

The Osheaga and Lollapalooza Connection

Osheaga owes quite a lot to Lollapalooza in terms of crafting an experience that was outside of the mainstream. Sure, Osheaga have the big names of the day, but it’s days like today that shows that they also cater to bands they want to see play live.

Perry Farrell originally said NO to have this young band called Green Day play the biggest festival of the day: Lollapalooza 1994. He eventually relented and Green Day, first time slot, stole the show, just like Chappell Roan did today.

Interestingly enough, Smashing Pumpkins would also perform that same year, reversed in the order of headliners.

Green Day

The P.A. blasted “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen and all of Osheaga sang along to the WHOLE song.

The Green Day Pink drunk bunny next came to get us singing to the Ramones “Blitzkrieg Pop.”

This was followed by a medley of Darth Vader’s theme, We Will Rock You, I Love Rock and Roll.

Some brave soul filmed the whole Green Day set!

Thanks to the brave soul who filmed the whole set.

Fans welcomed the band with loud cheers, and Tres Cool got to play in front of his hometown crowd once again.

The band kicked things off with one of the new songs “The American Dream Is Killing Me.”

They didn’t waste any time taking us back 30 years to Dookie by playing “Basket Case” as the crowd jumped in appreciation.

It was next, during “Longview” that Billie Joe dissed Coors, one of the VIP area sponsors next to the stage.

Hit after hit was played from Dookie, American Idiot and a few from the latest release Saviors.

It’s not a Green Day concert without a whole lot of “Ayyyy-Ohhh” chants and audience participation.

Sandrine Touzin from Portneuf took a ladder up to the stage and was able to sing along to “Do You Know Your Enemy?” to the satisfaction of the crowd. What a memory for that fan!

You can take an Olympian and get them to try to emulate the energy of Billie Joe on stage for 2 hours, and I would bet many would collapse.

This was the 20^th anniversary of American Idiot that revived Green Day from falling into nostalgic obscurity.

While the show started with a bang, I felt that it faltered towards the end with many of the lesser-known American Idiot selections, at least for me.

While many started streaming out to beat the metro lineup, many stayed behind to hear “Wake Me Up When September Ends.”

We all knew the inevitable, as Billie said: “We don’t do encores, we just don’t stop playing.”

The evening ended with the sing-along “Time Of Your Life.”

Conclusion

Did I have the time of my life? That’s a grandiose statement, but I had a wonderful experience.

I added The Linda Lindas to my rotation. I got to see at least a song or two of a new rising star in Chappel Roan. I relived my younger days with Rancid, Smashing Pumpkins and Green Day.

I felt there were site improvements that lessened bottlenecks, which the F1, another event that shares the same island, could take note of.

I felt happy despite the heat, sweat and sore feet to have experience another successful Osheaga that gave me what I wanted to hear, yet gave others a completely different choose your own musical adventure.

Randal Wark

SUNDAY

DIIV

Maybe it’s the weather—slightly muggy with light rain—but it’s a smaller turnout that’s gathered in front of the Green Stage to see DIIV. Nevertheless, a very enthusiastic cheer greets the well-known first song “Under the Sun,” a great pick to get everyone’s mind off the ominous cloud covering.

After slowing things down with a couple of their trademark grungier post-punk songs, frontman Zachary Cole Smith seems to acknowledge the limited number in the audience, stating, “Thank you for choosing to see us, Osheaga. Thank you for coming to see us.” It seems he’s also noticed there are just as many people lining up at the nearby Burt’s Bees and Sephora tents, respectively, as there are watching this band.

At this point, Smith rushes off for a few minutes during what appears to be a technical mishap, while the rest of the band carries on riffing a tune between each other. When Smith returns and is greeted by cheering, he pauses to ruefully say, “Don’t cheer yet,” into the mic before running off again and eventually coming back, saying, “Okay, here we go.” This unexpected break seems to cause a slight shift in momentum since the energy appears to stagnate, both from the audience and the band’s perspective, going forward.

“Raining on Your Pillow,” “Soul-net,” and “Somber the Drums” are still pretty well received, though, and are accompanied by lyrics that appear on the large screens next to the stage. These songs are quite literally the perfect musical accompaniment to the increasingly overcast skies—or even a post-apocalyptic, haggard-survivors-emerging-from-the-gloom kind of scene.

Hard to say if it’s the mishap from before or the weather, but DIIV’s energy definitely seems to be waning without being able to pick back up from such a great initial start. The familiarity of “Blankenship” seems to stir a second wind among everyone, though, with audience members showing their definite appreciation for this well-known last song before DIIV finally thank the crowd one last time and unassumingly exit the stage.

Maybe this is just a warm-up to the next time they grace a Montréal stage?

Raye

Over at the Mountain Stage, Raye steps onto the stage in a striking red cocktail dress, looking head-to-toe like a glamorous jazz club singer. Although she begins her set with “The Thrill is Gone,” this song gets cut short due to extreme weather warnings, causing the show to be temporarily suspended.

After returning to the stage sometime later, Raye instantly apologizes for what will unfortunately now be a shorter set but assures audience members in her thick south London accent that they’re still in for a great show despite the abbreviated length. She instantly embarks on TikTok-famous “Worth It,” which gets everyone in the audience cheering and excited, already forgetting that there was any interruption to her performance.

Before beginning “Ice Cream Man,” Raye takes a moment to explain that this is quite a difficult song for her to sing due to its sensitive subject matter. Although she doesn’t enjoy singing about it, she chooses to do so anyway because she finds it necessary. She goes on to express that songs, and even music in general, help us to process feelings and that likely most in the audience connect with that concept—otherwise, why would they be here today? The crowd seems to unanimously acknowledge this and provides sympathetic applause as Raye fans her eyes with her hands and says, “Sorry, that’s a bug in my eye.”

Gears then change rapidly as “Secrets” and “Black Mascara” start playing. The second half of the set is no longer bluesy and jazz-influenced, but now pop-oriented and synth-beat heavy, which seems to be exactly what this crowd was hoping for as the energy builds up and the dancing gets very much underway.

Well-known “Prada” and “Escapism” get the frenzied reception that Raye is no doubt expecting, and it seems like she makes good on her promise that, although brief, her show did not lack in substance or quality. Her audience engagement is top-notch throughout. The rain mercifully manages to hold off as well!

Alvvays

The crowd is very receptive as Canadian indie darlings Alvvays grace the Coors Light/Mountain Stage. The clouds overhead still seem dark and heavy, but that doesn’t sway the performance that Alvvays put on for the sizeable Osheaga crowd that has formed in front of them. The band are definitely no strangers to playing in Montréal, and there seems to even be some fondness for the city if the guitarist’s outfit is anything to go by (his blue St-Viateur t-shirt indicates where he stands on the Montréal bagel divide).

A very enthusiastic cheer greets the initial notes of “Pharmacist,” the first song on the setlist, with “After the Earthquake” following closely behind to continue the beachy, summer-perfect sounds. Grainy visuals on the screen behind the band depict scenes of the ocean and sunny country roads, not unlike what the band’s home province of PEI must look like at this time of year.

The band then continues with “In Undertow” and “Many Mirrors,” bringing sunshine-indie-meets-retro-garage-band feels to their performance (think contemporary Daughters of Eve with an even more angel-voiced singer). The performer-audience interaction seems to be a little one-sided though, since the crowd is definitely loving every song Alvvays throws at them, but there isn’t a lot that the band is giving back—aside from a stellar performance, of course.

Perhaps this is due to the weather causing changes in set length times? Nothing against the band, but I have definitely seen shows of theirs with more dialogue and banter between songs, both on Canadian soil and abroad. Still, every song seems to be genuinely appreciated, and the 80s-sounding synth-pop track “Very Online Guy” is an obvious crowd-pleaser.

After the slower-paced ballad “Dreams Tonite,” Alvvays brings out the long-adored “Archie, Marry Me,” which has in no way lost its appeal over time—it still gets the crowd singing along as loudly as ever.

As the rain starts falling pretty decidedly, “Pomeranian Spinster” and “Easy On Your Own?” close out the set, with Alvvays then taking their leave with little more than a wave goodbye to the crowd. Maybe the difference in stage presence has to do with Alvvays reaching cult-level status, or maybe they simply feel more comfortable in smaller and more intimate shows; regardless, their sound remains exactly as on all their records, proving that theirs is a sound that doesn’t change with the passing of time.

Jungle

Jungle have been on everyone’s radar lately, with a few of their songs being constant features on the socials. Their catchy tunes are something that transcends generations to the point where even your grandparents might like them. So, it comes as a huge surprise that the majority of the crowd seems to be heading in the opposite direction of where Jungle is performing, ostensibly to go watch Hozier, but yours truly feels like this choice is a no-brainer.

The rain has thankfully stopped, and the stage’s ambient red light sets the whole band aglow as the sun sets over this last day of Osheaga. One of the band members seems to voice what everyone’s thinking: “The crowd looks so beautiful tonight.” The Jungle band members are pretty much all wearing sunglasses, showing just how classy this group is, and their music is no different.

“Heavy, California” comes up early in the set, and although there’s a fence running between the assembled crowd (likely with those on the Green Stage side ready to see Justice), all in attendance seem to appreciate the Miike Snow-esque song. After “I’ve Been in Love” plays, you can see that the crowd’s enjoyment is getting stronger as this is definitely a well-known and loved song; the enthusiasm that greets this tune will only increase as the evening goes on.

Up until now, Lydia Kitto (one of the lead vocalists) has kept a somewhat low profile among her fellow frontmen, but she takes centre stage now, looking very similar to Avril Lavigne circa 2003 (i.e. the sk8er boi look) and starts serenading the crowd with “Back on ‘74”—a song that gets the audience wild to the point that the first notes can barely be heard over the screaming fans. After the song ends, Tom (or possibly Josh) states, “Been coming here for 10 years, and it never gets old.” Jungle are clearly revelling in the audience’s exuberant feedback to their show.

As “Us Against the World” starts up, strobe lights start flashing, ramping up the energy both on stage and in the crowd. Inflated plastic beach balls are now getting thrown into the audience as the samba-esque party song “Coming Back” plays—very fitting for a Brazilian carnival, or in this case, an outdoor music festival.

At this point, there’s a definite atmospheric fun buzz—not just with the crowd but with the band too. Everyone onstage definitely looks like they’re enjoying themselves while never losing their cool and sophisticated vibe, even choosing to keep their sunglasses on despite it being past 9 p.m. and the sun set well over an hour ago.

“All of the Time” starts with all front members singing in unison, really making this song show the band’s dynamic and symbiotic musical prowess. A smoke machine effect starts adding to what is clearly a party between Jungle and all of Osheaga. Kitto is now jumping around to really showcase how much this set has fired her—and everyone else on stage—up.

“Keep Moving” closes out a performance that has gone by so quickly, with dancing onstage that mirrored the dancing in the audience. It seems clear that Jungle will be back in Montréal again very soon.

Justice

As Beethoven’s Fifth plays to close out Jungle’s set on the Valley/Belair Direct stage, it makes for a perfect intro to Justice’s set on the adjacent Green stage. Their sound has always been linked to a blend of disco, funk, and electronica. The light show that comes as part and parcel of a Justice concert includes long beams of strung-up LEDs that start to slowly glow in anticipation of the duo’s appearance, and the crowd mimics this rising tension by pressing in close to the front, with almost everyone already smiling from ear to ear. The palpable excitement is tangibly growing to the point of becoming a feeding frenzy of heightened nerves.

Nine different suspended gantries are set up, which will end up providing the visual support for Justice’s set. These literal light rafts rise, lower, angle up and down, flash, pulse, and emit every possible intensity of white (and other coloured) light throughout the show. As it so happens, the initial slow pulse of light builds up to the entrance of Justice’s Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Augé, and as they confidently march onto the stage, they waste no time launching into the well-loved “Genesis,” which instantly has the crowd going wild.

When a headlining band is as well-loved and experienced as Justice, there are no words needed to express the energy and raw excitement that is felt throughout the crowd. This is a pair that is obviously good at what they do. Anyone who knows or has seen Justice knows not to expect much in the way of audience engagement, because that’s just not what they’re about. Fans also know not to expect any dancing or smiling from these guys (the latter would probably have them expelled from the cool French artists’ club). But all of that’s okay. Xavier and Gaspard are the masters of cool, and just being in close proximity to these legends makes everyone a little bit cooler too. This might as well be a masterclass in being cool, alongside being the long-awaited return to Montréal of such an iconic music group.

Every song is better than the last, with classic tunes “Phantom” and “D.A.N.C.E.” getting mixed alongside more recent material such as “Neverender” and “One Night/All Night.” “Neverender” actually gets heavily mixed in throughout the entire set, showing that it’s a favourite among not just the crowd but Justice themselves. The crowd never gets tired of it, almost wordlessly (or not) demanding more through their shouts of appreciation.

“Stress” begins playing partway through as the light gantries shift from white to ominous red. This song is far from stressful in this setting and is actually even better suited to being played in this kind of atmosphere. Especially since, as one nearby concertgoer exclaims, “It has the best [beat] drop!” He’s not wrong. Yet another avenue in which Justice are experts.

If the first half of the set depicted this pair as calm and sophisticated to the point of almost being nonchalant, the second half shows them getting into their set and feeding off the crowd’s energy. Xavier is even bobbing his head along to the music, while Gaspard actually turns to face the audience and lifts an arm to wave his finger around at eye level, indicating for the crowd to really make some noise. That certainly seems like a lot of audience engagement for Justice, who, as previously mentioned, are pretty detached when it comes to interacting with their fans during a set. They hardly interact with each other either.

Sad as it may be, the set does come to an eventual conclusion. Like any band whose repertoire is extensive and incredible, this is a band that everyone could have heard more from and not gotten tired of. It seems like after they bow, that will be it for these two, but Xavier comes down to shake hands with his fans who have pressed up close to the fence and shown their enthusiasm throughout the show. Gaspard eventually follows suit and does the same before both retreat to loud cheers and applause. Not a single word was expressed from either of them, but rumour has it one of them cracked a smile while shaking hands with fans in the audience—just don’t tell the other cool French artists.

Ariane d’Ete