Osheaga Festival: Day 1

Arriving at the Mountain Stage I found Caracol just about to start her set. The first Montrealais band of the day, she bantered with the crowd in French and started off the set playing ukelele. They debuted a brand new song, “Deux Cent Fois”, that began with Caracol and guitar player David Lafleche combining for some magnificent vocal harmonies, before taking the song somewhere that reminded me of “Spiderwebs”-era No Doubt. After a cool latin-sounding song about spies in the French Army, they slowed things down for “Tes Larmes”, with a neat stabby piano part from Vincent Rehell. She then traded up for an electric guitar and ribbon microphone to give her voice that old gritty sound on a superb tune that was very 50’s doo-wop, with stellar harmonies and feel to it. Unfortunately, their set was plagued by sound problems the whole time, feedback, cracking mic’s and a sounguy who ran up and yelled in her ear (as she was mid-lyric no less) to move over and steal backup vocalist Audrey-Michele Simard’s mic. Simard wasn’t sure what to do, since nobody bothered to get here another mic, but stayed positive with her percussion playing, which was peppered throughout their set and always rhythmically perfect and interesting. Caracol had no problem shifting genres or styles from song to song, as they ended off with her back on uke for a skankin’ song that could have easily been a hit by the Specials. You don’t need to understand French to love this band – highly recommended. They’re touring the shit out of Quebec for the next couple months, so check them out if you get the chance.

Time for some real hip-hop with ol’ dusty foot himself – K’Naan. With the radio waves plagued by unimaginative groups like Black Eyed Peas, we should be thankful to have a talent like K’Naan here in Canada to prove that we’re not a joke in the hip-hop world. I got there in time for “Take a Minute”, with his band solidly backing him up. He brought things down with a great a capella version of "Somalia", and then got things cooking again with “Fatima” and “T.I.A.”. He put his incredible guitarist in the spotlight as he ripped a burning guitar solo on “If Rap Gets Jealous” that the audience ate right up. Ending the set with the inspirational message of “Wavin' Flag”, he got everyone singing along and sent them away smiling from ear to ear.

You’ve gotta have balance, so after hip-hop comes ball-busting rock n’ roll courtesy of Flash Lightnin’. These guys don’t have any hesitation in rocking-the-fuck-out, with great stage presence, monster riffs, thundering drums, pummeling bass lines and soaring vocals. Darcy Yates could almost pass for one of the Gibbons brothers from ZZ Top, with his thick beard and long hair behind his Hofner bass. Chris Henry showed his skill on the skins during one song with some pounding fills between guitar breaks. And the son of Jimmy Page (not really), Darren Glover on lead vocals and guitar lit up his fret board with some very Page-esque riffs and rambled all over the stage while doing it. I can’t wait for their full-length album to drop soon and to see them again in support of it on tour.

The Rural Alberta Advantage followed on the same stage, opening their set with Amy Cole (keys) and Paul Banwatt (drums) both banging on a floor tom while Nils Edenloff held it down on the acoustic guitar. They have a really great sound going, with what are basically folk songs transformed into something much bigger due to the ferocious drum beats provided by Banwatt. With his electro/disco beat added, they become an energetic dance band almost, but with acoustic focused harmony. “The Ballad of the RAA” was also a highlight for me, and they had a great song, "Frank, AB",about the landslide back in 1903 that buried the town. The song ended quite dramatically, with Edenloff banging on the top of his acoustic guitar to ring out the chords instead of strumming them, a very powerful and intense effect.

While Coldplay was on the mainstage and you were looking for the real party, you needed to get over to the Tree Stage for Woodhands’ electrifying set to close out the night. With an insane amount of energy for just two guys, they packed the area around the stage and got the place jumpin’. Drummer Paul Banwatt (yes, he's also in The RAA) threw down a slick verse of Puff Daddy’s “I’ll Be Missing You” into the middle of one song to great appreciation before they got a few surprise guests up to join them. First was Cadence Weapon, who provided some key rhymes and is allegedly now living in Montreal even after just being named the new Poet Laureate of his native Edmonton. Then Gentleman Reg came up for another tune and they closed out the night, leaving everyone dirty and sweaty after another fiery set of spazzy dance rock.