From Osheaga: Ohbijou and goodnight

Sun sets and suddenly we’re at summer camp. The bathrooms are full of girls fixing their hair and people juggle beers as they migrate from stage to stage. I feel like exploring the woods with a flashlight, but I wonder if the trees are just a facade that ends after the requisite 5 or 6. From the internet cafe tent I have a clear view of two stages (the Scene Telus de la Riviere and the Scene de la Montagne). This has been convenient. I watched Stars while blogging Patrick Watson and seeing the stage readied for Feist-

Ok I just had to get up off the pile of Exclaims I’m sitting on to go see what was happening on the Smashing Pumpkins stage. Seems they were playing ‘Oh Canada’ and the sound cut out…now they’re back with…some Smashing Pumpkins song. I hope Alanah is watching and can fill in the details.

For my last show of the day I saw Ohbijou over at the Scene des Arbres. This stage was really nice for Ideal Lovers earlier in the day-

-’The world is a vampire…’

And were back. The Scene des Arbres has a nice covering that creates a cozy little space for the less stadium-rock breed of Osheaga guests-

-”..despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage”

Oh wow, I just figured out how to do English quotation marks on this French keyboard. You can probably tell it’s getting to be late in the day and I’m weary and distracted.

It’s been nice blogging as a team here, checking in at the internet tent between shows to blog and compare notes and exchange apples for peanut butter cookies. It’s a good exercise to blog quickly and live from the festival.

Ohbijou are a seven-piece from Toronto with violin and cello who I saw for the first time earlier this year at Friendship Cove. Their show at Osheaga was similar to this one in dynamic; the lead singer has an intensity that comes from the gut yet leaves with a smile. As a band they’re softspoken in their onstage presence. Not timid, but relaxed, perhaps Canadian is the right adjective. Most of the crowd sat to watch them and the venue provided enough atmosphere to let Ohbijou be as charming as they were at the Cove when I secretly crowned them a treasure band to be enjoyed in dark places with friends and candles.

Ohbijou have the drums and strings of other -

-Uh oh, Smashing Pumpkins just got some unwanted feedback from an amp. From what I’ve heard about Billy Corgan’s diva behaviour lately, this might mean bad news for a certain sound tech…

Right, Ohbijou drums and strings are standard Canadian indie rock done well, while keys, melodica, and vocals are freshly enchanting and real. -

-Ok here we go. This is that big song with the strings….”Tonight, tonight”? A real nice song in the nineties, gotta say.

And a nice song to leave the island with. I’m out for the night. Gonna pass the baton on to tomorrow’s bloggers and get some sleep. Whew. Maybe this multiple stages and tents and action in every direction is a bit much. But more on festivals later. Marilis and Alanah will have another post on their last shows of the day and then we’ll have to leave you to wonder: How will tomorrow compare? How will Pop compare? And more pressingly, how will I get all this dirt off my shoes? Zzzzzz