Osheaga 2009, Day 2
Date: August 2, 2009 What Beat Fills the Night After a last-minute decision, I made the trip to Montreal to catch the second day of this year's installment of the Osheaga festival. I was excited to get a second look at the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who closed out the Ottawa Bluesfest two weeks earlier, but was considerably less enthused to see a repeat of the rain that dampened that festival. Despite the weather, my first taste of Osheaga was a lot of fun, with a great set from The Decemberists leading the way. With a more narrow musical focus, Osheaga was quite a different experience than Bluesfest. A band like Vampire Weekend might have been a side stage headliner at the Ottawa festival, but here they played one of the two adjacent main stages. Despite the fact that they were playing at the prime location, I was surprised at having little trouble getting to the front of the concert grounds. This was probably due to a combination of people showing up late in hopes of avoiding the rain and my willingness to skip the Ting Tings, who preceded Vampire Weekend on the other main stage. Vampire Weekend came out looking even more dweeby than I would have expected, with singer Ezra Koenig leading the way in his green vest. Despite some awkward mannerisms, the band was faithful to the peppy songs from its self-titled debut. "A-Punk," "M79," "Mansfard Roof," and "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" were among the songs that had the crowd clapping and singing along; and they also dropped a couple of new offerings due on their follow-up album. In general, fans of the group should have been pleased with how they presented their clean, poppy songs on the big stage, although I can't say that I was won over by them. After Vampire Weekend wrapped up, I shifted my attentions to the other main stage, where hometown favourite Rufus Wainwright was given a lengthy time slot. Wainwright's delicate piano songs were a sharp contrast to the more musically dense acts around him on the bill. In general, he let his soaring voice carry the set, in English and French, although he did get a boost with a brief visit from his mother, Kate McGarrigle. Not being a fan myself, I took in Wainwright's music from a distance while also taking in supper and drying off in the sunshine that accompanied his performance. By the time that he finished a fine rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," I again made my move to camp out early at the other stage. The main draw for me at Osheaga was The Decemberists, whose driving set ensured that my festival experience was a success. One's opinion of this performance depended heavily on one's opinion of The Hazards of Love, a recent concept album that comprised the entire setlist. As a huge fan of the unexpectedly heavy riffs, narrative lyrics, and guest contributions on that record, I was delighted with the band's live rendition. Each of those elements was magnified on stage, with vocalists Becky Stark and Sarah Worden leading the way. Stark, dressed in a shimmering white dress, made her mark first, sounding sweet on songs like "Won't Want for Love." When the time came for Worden to take the lead as the story's antagonist, she clearly relished the role, slinking across the stage with theatrical movements, pounding her fist to the drumbeats, and unleashing her breath-takingly powerful vocals. With the two guest vocalists augmenting frontman Colin Meloy, and the band's musical output ranging from the tenderness of "Isn't It a Lovely Night?" to the rage of "The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid,", The Decemberists were nothing short of intense. Unfortunately, that same adjective applied to the rain that pounded down suddenly as the group neared its conclusion. The mood from my location at the front of the crowd was undiminished by the downpour. If anything, people seemed to revel in their refusal to bow in, with strangers sharing umbrellas and smiling in defiance of the soaking. Meloy bought in to this spirit, taking root under the one notable leak in the stage covering, playing his guitar while the water pounded him. Rain or shine, The Decemberists were the highlight of the day for me. The skies cleared just after that set and remained that way until the night's end. I kept myself at the main stages, although I again made no effort to get too close to the front of the right stage, which was hosting its final act, Arctic Monkeys. The English four-piece always struck me as a straightforward band whose popularity is a bit mystifying; to my ear, there's nothing wrong with them but nothing special, either. Their set at Osheaga only cemented that opinion. The stark red and white lighting set-up matched the band's no-frills sound, combining for a spectacle that was bright and loud enough for the fifteen thousand in attendance. The group opened with "Pretty Visitors," the first single from their upcoming album and proceeded to mix songs from their three releases. Their first hit, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor" earned the strongest reaction; but it wasn't long before I was drifting leftward towards my favoured stage, in anticipation of the festival closer. Yeah Yeah Yeahs were brought in as headliners late in the game, as the Beastie Boys had to bow out due to Adam Yauch's cancer diagnosis. This made for an interesting situation for me. Although I had seen the band two weeks earlier, I had taken in that show from a seat on the side of the stage. It was interesting to be able to contrast the experience of looking down on the band and audience to actually being in the crowd. Many aspects were the same, of course. Once again, the powerful opening of "Heads Will Roll" made it clear that Karen O would dominate the affair. In fact, with her showmanship as strong as before but her voice sounding in somewhat better shape, this may have been an even better outing for her. The noisy chug of "Rockers to Swallow" and the sleazy grind of "Phenomena," neither of which came out at Bluesfest, were welcome surprises for me, although I couldn't complain when the set returned to the familiar touchstones of "Dull Life" and "Gold Lion." "Cheated Heart," the third new offering for me, brought some pop hooks, although Karen O's screams on the chorus kept things from being too smooth. From there, the night moved through familiar territory. "Skeletons" gave the crowd a breather, although the truth was that there was always plenty of breathing room where I was standing. The Montreal crowd was fairly energized but it certainly wasn't as packed in as I would have been to be the same distance from the Ottawa stage. Still, it was fun to get the festival crowd experience as the band moved on to "Soft Shock," "Honeybear," and especially "Zero." Although the latter lacked the inflatable eyeball, the crowd reaction did not seem to suffer. Karen dedicated the tender "Maps" to Adam Yauch, before the band brought the set to an explosive finish with the one-two punch of "Y Control" and "Date with the Night." As I anticipated, an encore of "Poor Song" had the audience swaying, even if some were cheating towards the exit gates. The final pleasant surprise for me, though, was that the band preferred to exit on a burner this night, appending "Tick" to that encore. It took four years, but I finally made it to Osheaga, catching the latter day of the weekend showcase. While rain put a damper on the trip, the two acts that I was most interested in seeing each delivered sets that made the visit worthwhile. The Decemberists floored me with one of my favourite performances of the year, before the Yeah Yeah Yeahs brought a surprising number of twists for a band that I had seen only two weeks prior. Yeah Yeah Yeahs setlist Main Set
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