Learn to spell Osheaga

It took me a good 30 seconds to remember how Osheaga is spelled. In real life, that 30 seconds would matter little, but I feel I may have missed 12 great moments in music while working that out.

I can hear Martha Wainright play about 200 feet from where I am right now. And Ièm fine with not being right up front. What Iève learned from this and other multi-stage events is that you canèt get hung up on your plan for the day and sweat trying to see it all from the best spot possible. Osheaga, and its kin, are best enjoyed when you wander from the plan and have your moments of discovery interspersed with headliners you knew were going to hit home runs.

I walked onto the grounds with plans to track down Lise and Marilis and stumbled on We Are Scientists. All my planning was put on hold as their set ended and morphed into Paolo Nutini… Suddenly that unknown (to me) mention on the schedule turned into a must see moment and enjoying Osheaga began.

So let’s review some moments and get back to the experience;

-Paolo Nutini; endearing to the point that the 13-year old sing-along choir did nothing to discourage me from having a good ‘ole time. Oh, hell. I even enjoyed the sing-along.
-Sunday Sinners; my first small stage experience while attemting to track down Marilis and Lise. My friend Claire sold me on their merits and I was not dissapointed. i definitely want to see more of these folks in the near future.
-Au Revoire Simone; I’ll have to quiz Marilis. During their opening song, another group joined them on stage to sing-along. I don’t know who they were (Marilis?), but it gave the stage a community reading that always makes the crowd feel like something truly special is happening before their eyes. Or maybe we’re just nosy: who were they? Friends? Former enemies? Lovers? Pool cleaners? Why did they leave so early on in your set?
-Pony up! I just left them in the midst of a rough sound check, but I hope they get up and running soon. It started out playful… and when a sound check is entertaining, you’re bound for a great show… right? Time to end this post and run back to their stage…

But first…

If you’re here now and reading this, go see Tyler at the art tent and check out some of his POSTERS(!), right after you pick up some eats from Thola at the Afrobytes tent. Hasta!