Every Montrealer has their conceptions about Osheaga. The idea of getting to Ile St Helene at the peak of summer’s heat, with massive crowds of people to see live music could easily be a heaven or hell situation. If you’re one of those people leaning toward the hell side, I challenge you to read to the end of this article to see if I can convince you otherwise. 

There are a multitude of first-world problems that concertgoers face every month. It could be that you forgot your good-quality earplugs, or maybe you were even slightly inconvenienced by having to dump out your water bottle before entering the venue. But, probably the most frustrating of all: when two shows you’ve been anticipating for months end up falling on the same date. But sometimes, by pure luck, you can end up seeing those two shows pair together into one, which is exactly what happened on Friday at the Fairmount Theatre when Cola and Snooper performed on the same bill, after both of Cola’s opening bands, Shunk and Yves Jarvis, had cancelled.

For a music journalist, covering multiple local gigs a month, shows can often become monotonous. Same venues, same industry acquaintances, same local beer, same flavours of indie rock, it can be difficult to find something new to say. 

But, once in a while, the weary critic will find herself in attendance of something truly special. This was the case for me at this past Tuesday’s show at L’Escogriffe featuring Burlington Vermont’s own Greg Freeman. 

From the moment I arrived at the nineteenth edition of Shazamfest, there was not a minute that passed without something exciting or, at the very least, interesting happening. As I approached the main site, following the decorated path from the car park, the Eastern Township fusion dance troupe Tribal Roses had just gotten underway. Led by Catherine De Sève, the troupe mixes eastern dance and western electronic music. It was punctuated with flamboyant costumes and a fair amount of audience participation, which at Shazamfest culminated in one big mass dance-a-thon to close out the show. 

If you are a true Montrealer, you’re probably exhausted by the time you are reading this. Between the extremes of the seasons and non-stop access to shows, concerts, festivals, movies, it feels like we can just never stop. Living in this city sometimes feels like you have a shiny all-access pass to an amusement park. You want to make the most of everything so you try to cram all the fun into one day. And perhaps the most anticipated ride of them all? The dazzling, neon roller coaster Osheaga, complete with loops, dives and upside-down twists and turns. Ready and waiting for you at the end of the summer.