Osheaga 2012 - Day One

Amadou & Mariam (Photo: Pat Beaudry)

Once I arrived at Parc Jean Drapeau, I picked up my media pass and immediately made my way to Scene de la Montagne to see Amadou & Mariam, the blind couple from Mali. Their sound is traditional Mali music with a rock-blues influence. Amadou is a great guitarist, and Mariam has a beautiful voice that immediately captures you when she sings. She also had a cute little groove. The entire band was full of energy, and the crowd loved it!

The Weeknd (Photo: Pat Beaudry)

After that, I checked out R&B singer The Weeknd. He got on stage with a big smile, showed Montreal the love, and everyone went crazy! As one girl in the crowd put it, "I don't even scream this loud in bed." That pretty much sums up people's reaction to him. He sang songs from his albums Thursday and House Of Balloons. He also sang "Crew Love," which was a definite crowd pleaser. The only thing that left me skeptical was the voice effects on his songs, which made it look like he was lip synching. I guess I'll never know for sure.

Classified (Photo: Tim Snow)

Due to a schedule overlap, I had to leave the Weeknd show early to catch Classified at Scene Verte. Classified performed tracks from his latest album Handshakes and Middle Fingers, and a few from his older albums like Hitch Hikin' Music and Self Explanatory. He also performed some classic 90s hip-hop tracks from his time, and I really enjoyed that because that was my decade too. He showed concern for kids in the crowd by telling parents that this is a "weed-smoking crowd" and that kids shouldn't be there. Being a weed smoker himself, Classified smoked weed on stage and passed it on to his brother Mic Boyd. He also got a little greedy with his time, so they shut the power off in order to get him off stage. Classified is one of my favorite Canadian artists, and since I kept missing him every time he came to Montreal, I was really happy to finally see him perform.

Zeds Dead (Photo: Nick Leger)

After a quick rest and a poutine for lunch, I walked through the merchant stands on my way to see Justice and heard this crazy electronic beat. I followed the sound and found myself at the Scene Piknic Electronik. The group Zeds Dead was performing and the grooves were crazy. Their dub step drum-and-bass sound had everyone dancing, and each time I started to walk away I just had to walk back. I swear I did this three times!

Sigur Rós (Photo: Pat Beaudry)

I finally made my way to Scene de la Riviere and watched Iceland's Sigur Rós perform while I waited for Justice to take the stage. I had no idea who they were, but they're music was hypnotic. The girl had a beautiful and haunting voice, and the xylophones really enriched their sound. I also liked the special effects on the screens behind them, and was mesmerized by the black and white images and fuzzy-television effects.

Justice (Photo: Pat Beaudry)

After Sigur Rós performed, the adjacent stage lit up as the keyboards played the "Dracula" theme song, and the band Justice appeared out of thin air. I saw the Justice documentary, A Cross The Universe, and all I could think about was what jokers these guys were. True to form, Xavier de Rosnay had this stone-face expression while he smoked a cigarette, and Gaspard Augé had his curly hair all over his face. The stage was super cool with the light and crosses going with the beat, and I really loved their 80s-inspired electro synth sound. Justice sure turned Friday night into a big party!

-Lady Oracle hosts The Limelight on Saturdays from 6-8pm