Osheaga 2012 - Day Two

Kaytradamus (Photo: Nick Leger)

The second day of Osheaga was "Tweelime Day" since Stephanie from Twee Time was with me at the festival (the lime is from my show The Limelight, get it?). I met her at Scene Verte where the Aggrolites were performing cover songs, including ska and raggae. They were a fun band. We moved on and I hit the Piknic Electronik stage where Kaytradamus was DJing with a couple of guys hyping up the crowd and spitting a few lyrics. These guys played tracks I would love to hear at a party. It was the perfect blend of crazy bass electronic beats, hip hop from Jay-Z to J Dilla. They went from old to new school seamlessly and the crowd loved it.

A$AP Rocky (Photo: Tim Snow)

The next act I caught was A$AP Rocky. Even though he's a hip hop act and I'm a hip hop DJ, I only listened to some of his tracks prior to the show without really paying attention since he appealed to a much younger crowd. I, being of the 90s generation, prepared myself to hear lyrics of youthful debauchery. He got on stage and in spite of lyrics like "I'll be thuggin' with my team ho" you couldn't help but get into the heavy bass beats. I enjoyed watching an energetic A$AP jump up and down on stage getting the crowd hyped up. For an artist on a smaller stage, there was a large crowd that he stage dived in. Of course at some point he took off this shirt and a crowd member remarked that he had "bad underwear." Somehow, I was tickled by that comment.

SBTRKT (Photo: Nick Leger)

Stephanie and I parted ways as I went to cover my next electronic act SBTRKT. This was another act I was curious about that did not disappoint. Aaron Jerome from London, the man behind the tribal mask, was actually showing his face (probably because it was way too hot to be wearing a mask). This show was his first Montreal appearance. He played electronic beats and used cowbells at the same time! His sounds include a house slash dub-step mash up, with Aaron on vocals and a wicked drummer. The beats were also the kind of beats you can listen to when cruising in your car. 

Little Dragon (Photo: Nick Leger)

I thought the crowd would clear out after SBTRKT, but only a people few left because they wanted to see Little Dragon and were ready to party. I was excited because I've been a fan of that band since 2007. Lead singer Yukumi Nagano got on stage and put on an amazing show. She performed "Test" from their first album Little Dragon, which is one of my favorite songs. She also included tracks from her new album Ritual Union and Machine Dreams. The beats had the electronica fans excited during the entire show. She moved her body to the rhythm and made a connection with the crowd. The last song they played had a fast electronic beat and the band just jammed on stage as everyone was going crazy and dancing. Little Dragon was my favorite performance of the day.

Snoop Lion (Photo: Nick Leger)

I arrived late at the River Stage to catch Snoop Dogg, now known as Snoop Lion, only to find that the show was just getting started. Out of all the acts at Osheaga, I have to admit this was not a priority for me. But hey, it's Snoop Dogg! I couldn't help but get excited when he got on stage. He did all his classic tracks from Doggy Style and favorite songss like "Drop It Like It's Hot." Many of his new songs are really catchy. He also performed a Bob Marley track, reminding you he is Snoop Lion with the "Jah Rastafari" vibe. The dancers in the act did not fit in with his new Rastafarian mentality; they looked like strippers who got a break to travel and dance on stage! It was funny because he had a mic with letters that still had "Snoop Dogg" in sparkly gold—I wonder if he'll update that...

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