It’s been 3 years, but we’re always amazed by the venue. Parc Jean Drapeau is truly the perfect spot for a music festival. It’s like a small town being built just for this event (and also for pretty much every weekend for the next month with IleSoniq, Lasso, Vans Warped, Iron Maiden and AC/DC). With the two sets of “main stages” at about a 10 minutes walk from each other, it’s really easy to get from one artist to another, which is a good feature, as there’s a LOT to see over the next 3 days!
Rio Kosta
After setting up our stuff and getting ready for the day, we headed to the Main stages area to check out our first band; Rio Kosta. A duo consisting of Mike Del Rio and Kosta Galanopoulos (now you get the name), with their group of musicians came in and played all stuff from their brand new album Unicorn, which blends Reggae elements with some “vibey” indie rock. There were moments where it felt like Tame Impala playing a Bob Marley cover band. The best part is that it worked, and it was a very nice way to start the festival.
Wunderhorse
No need to move much, as our next act was on the stage right next to where Rio Kosta were playing. In some way, we waited a whole year to finally see Wunderhorse, as they had to cancel last year 2 days before Osheaga in 2025 because the lead singer had an infected tooth. For their 2nd trip in Montreal, the rock band went for their latest album “Midas” as the source for their 40 minute set, and took us into a groovy mood that caught the crowd’s attention after just a few songs. Always a good feat when you know most of the gate crashers are not necessarily there to see you.
Wolf Alice
Right after Wunderhorse was done, it was time for Wolf Alice to hit the stage. The UK band took us all over the place from the opening song “Bloom Baby Bloom”, the big rock song (Play the Greatest Hits), to the more smooth, almost Fleetwood Mac-esque “How Can I Make It OK?”. Lead singer Ellie Roswell got the amazing capacities of going through all the vibes with her voice without being forced. They also made the rare feature (for me) to seriously think about seeing them again if they come back as headliners.
Wet Leg
Let’s continue with another amazing voice from the UK with Wet Leg, and from the moment the opening riff from “catch these fists”, we knew we would be taking for a rocking ride! Lead singer Rhian Teasdale had the crowd in the palm of her hand going with her bandmates taking us through their set which was pretty much 50/50 of their two amazing albums “Wet Leg” and “Moisturizer”. They are the type of band that would make the crowd go wild at CasinoNB or Lighthouse!
Billie Marten
It was time to get moving for the first time of the festival all the way to the Valley stage where another UK voice was on display with Billie Marten. The folk singer came in as a simple trio and performed songs from her really good latest album “Dog Eared” to the delight of an impressive growing crowd even though the rain decided to show his head. For those who dont know Billie, think of it as the UK equivalent of Basia Bulat, which is probably the reason I was drawn to her when I saw the lineup.
MPH
While the rain was still going, I decided to head to the Coca-Cola stage for my first taste of Electro music of the weekend where the party was already going with (another) UK artist; MPH. The young DJ who specialized in the style of “UK Garage”, who was part of the main influence of Dubstep and Drum N Bass, wasted no time putting the rhythm to the surprisingly packed (at this hour) smaller stage. While not as “Bass Dropping” as one of the genres it influenced, it was a constant beat that wasn’t leaving much time for the crowd to take a break to recoup their breath.
But for me, I needed a step back. But one of the joy of those multi stage festival is that there’s plenty of other options to choose from,
Olivier Forest
Now to the smallest stage of the island; the SiriusXM stage which was more focussed on the homegrown talent, where I caught part of Oliver Forest’s set. While at first I thought Oliver was the name of the lead singer, it turns out, it is truly the name of the collective of artists that decided to record music together as Oliver Forest. Their music is a cool blend of pop, indie with even a lil bit of folk, which has been one of the trademarks of Montreal’s indie scene of the past 20 years.
VTSS
Okay now back to the Coca-Cola stage, for Polish DJ, VTSS. She’s more specialized in a style called “Hard Techno” which pretty much means, pushing the pedal to the metal and not stopping! And she kept that promise. The fast beat, going higher and then just “dropping it” to the delight of the entire crowd. A crowd that was ready as the rest of the Cola stage would continue in that direction through the rest of the night, but we’ll get to that later.
The xx
The moment the lineup was announced, I circled The xx as the band who would deliver the performance of the festival. After an absence of little over 8 years, where each member worked on solo projects (2 of them even played Osheaga as separate acts in the last few years), The xx were back in what is, at the moment, their only Canadian performance. From the moment the first notes of Crystalised went through the speakers, the crowd went into a frenzy mode, myself included. From then, we were just passengers to an amazing trip of beautiful music that still sounds good to our ears after almost 15 years to the release of their debut album.
After going through a bunch of their “group” catalog, they went into a more “solo” part of the setlist, featuring one of my favorite songs “Loud Places” by the DJ of the group Jamie xx. We say “solo stuff” but considering that all members worked on each other’s project, can we say that they are “solo” projects?!
After about ⅔ of the set, I made the tough decision to head back into the Cola stage because I didn’t want to miss the last stretch of the night.
Brutalismus 3000
I wasn’t lying when I said that after VTSS, the EDM stage would stay on the high level of energy through the rest of the night. I arrived for the last part of Brutalismus 3000’s set. The German duo specializes in the more “punk” variant of electro music. With Victoria Vassiliki Daldas on vocals and Theo Zeitner on the DJ booth, the similarities to Crystal Castles is clearly there, but they bring a more “dance” mood into their music, compared to the former Canadian duo. They blasted through the rest of the set with songs/mix from their brand new album Harmony that came out just last month. In the EDM jargon, it was simply a fire set, and the perfect way to prepare us on what would be going to happen to finish the night at the same stage!
Amelie Lens
Labeled by some as the Queen of Techno, Amelie Lens simply arrived on stage to the roar of the already conquered fans, and just went to business! Her set was a non stop blast of hard energy and wasn’t planning to stop for the whole 1h20 of allotted time she had. Going through hits after hits, remix after remixes, including her most well known one (the remix of Voices in my Head), which came at the start of her set through the delight of her fans and myself, and wrapping up with Falling for You, her set was the perfect way to empty everything we had in our tank for the final set of Day 1. Even more impressive was the fact that she delivered such an amazing set while being halfway through a pregnancy.
And that was it for Day 1 for me, as my tired legs walked through the metro station (as with the other almost 40 000 people with me, trying to find a way to regain my energy level as there’s another 2 days coming up!