I don’t know if the folks from Broken Social Scene are, in fact, broken or social. But with 11 members on stage at Osheaga (including Amy Millan!), there’s no doubt they are a scene.
Tag Archive for 'Osheaga'
Yesterday I lamented the fact that I brought the rain from Newport to Osheaga. Well to quote David Brent quoting Dolly Parton, “If you want the rainbow, you’ve got to put up with the rain.”
Hey MGMT. Yeah, I’m talking to you. I know you’ve written some good songs. But please take a cue from The Go! Team and learn how to put together a good live set. (Hint: Play with energy, avoid long, boring guitar solos, and if you’re late, thank the crowd for waiting).
Hey Go! Team. Keep it up.
The stories of Amy Winehouse “jacking” Sharon Jones‘ sound are plentiful. But I never fully appreciated the injustice of the theft until watching Ms. Jones and the Dap Kings perform tonight.
Jokes about Winehouse’s eating “issues” aside, watching Sharon Jones perform makes Amy Winehouse look small and insignificant. Hell, the way she owned the stage at Osheaga tonight, Jones would make anyone (save James Brown on his best day) seem insignificant. For the first time in a long time, I found myself speechless. As I write this now, words fail to express the energy–no, electricity of her performance. She danced, shook, flirted, strutted, convulsed and sang with such abandon, the audience had no choice but to release their own inhibitions and dance and scream along.
The luckiest person in Montreal? This red-headed guy:
Ok, “favorite band” may be a little strong.
But these guys are really good. With the raw energy of White Denim, meandering song stucture of Pavement, and the pop instincts of Weezer (circa 1995, not the current whitebread edition), these guys really won me over. Switching instruments mid-song and singing in three part harmony, they produce more variety of sound than they you’d think possible for a rock trio. Bottom line, they’re a lot of fun– yet unrefined and smart enough to avoid classification as a guilty pleasure.
Actually, the White Denim comparison may be the most appropriate. I remember seeing WD this past February at Noise Pop in San Francisco and thinking they would be the next big indie thing. Performances at the Plug Awards and heaps of SXSW press confirmed my suspicions. But months later, I haven’t heard much about White Denim.
Are Plants and Animals doomed to similar fate? Is there just too much music floating in the indie-music sphere for these guys to find a sustainable audience? We’ll see. But today, the crowd loved them. As did this music critic.
