Day 3: Close to the finish line
It’s already the final day! It’s usually the day where everyone tries to gather the last remaining ounce of energy for the final hours of Osheaga. And energy was needed for today as it was another big day with some really good and high energy acts.
One thing I noticed when arriving on the site, is how they changed the layout of the “barricades” in front of the main stages. In the past, they were much smaller, and ready to be “closed” for certain performers, preventing too many people trying to get in and reducing the chances of a “stage rush”. It was probably also to make room for a newly installed catwalk for Olivia’s performance later tonight. Evenko clearly made the change overnight as the final headliner, Olivia Rodrigo, would certainly attract a LOT of people (probably the biggest headliner draw for this year).
Turbine
For the 3rd day in a row, I headed to the Cola stage, and for the 3rd day in a row, the stage’s first set was another Montreal artist. DJ trio Turbine came in, and brought an old school vibe to start the day: They actually had a TURNTABLE! While still working with laptops, the addition of turntables during their set was an “old school” breath of fresh air. While enjoying their set, I came to realize how, even though the 3 “Festival Openers” were DJs from Montreal, each of them had their own unique sound/technique proper to themselves, which is an amazing thing that we can say about the Montreal music scene.
The Darcys
I made sure to catch the end of The Darcy’s set. The duo from Toronto were at their first Osheaga performance, and came in on this hot sunny day, ready to win plenty of new fans! If you’re a fan of the Blue Stones, you definitely need to check them out (they even opened for them earlier this year). The duo bring a mix of rock, lil bit of folk, and even some disco with the set closer “Black Diamond” who got everyone dancing, even those who were already at the gate waiting for Olivia.
Rau_Ze
Lots of back and forth today as I’m heading to the secondary stages to catch Montreal’s own rau_ze! Another duo, but this time with their backing band, came in with a mixed bag of genre, going from jazz, R&B, soul, with even some 90s hip hop sounds through the whole set. Lead singer Rose Perron got the surprisingly big crowd in the palm of her hand with her smooth voice and was able to adapt it with the vibe of each song. A really nice discovery you can check out their latest album “Virer nos vies”
Gigi Perez
And…back to the main stages, as a lot of people knew that the next performance would be special. Like last year with Lola Young, Gigi Perez’s performance came with a vibe of “yeah this girl will make it big, it’s just a matter of time”. Judging by the crowd and the signs, we weren’t the only ones who thought that. With her debut album only a few months old, the Florida based singer songwriter could count on the crowd to sing along every word of every song. And of course finishing her set with the first, but not last, hit “Sailor Song”, I can assure you that in a few months people will talk a lot more about her, and will surely have a later spot on any festival schedules from now on.
Marina
Oh I was waiting for that one! I was always a casual fan of Marina & The Diamonds (she dropped the Diamond part about 10 years ago), but when I listened to the first few songs of her latest album “Princess of Power” (which came out a few weeks ago, I knew she would be a “can’t miss” at Osheaga, and boy was I right. From the first notes of “Venus Fly Trap”, the pop princess took the stage and made it her castle for 50 minutes. Her amazing and charming voice made everyone dance; from Olivia’s fans who maybe were too young to have been there from the start, to all the guys that had their head bopping and their hips moving. From the classic “Primadonna” to one of my new favorite songs “Cuntissimo”, she made it clear that even though she’s “older” than most current Pop icons, she still knows how it can be done!
The Beaches
Less moving this time, as I head to the 2nd stage to get a better view of Canada’s hottest band; The Beaches! The Toronto quartet came a long way from performing Osheaga back in 2014 on the small stage to 11 years later in front of a massive crowd who were all clearly there to see them! With a new album coming this Fall, the band went 50/50 with the choices of song, without forgetting of course the classic album “Blame My Ex” with 7 songs of the set. And for the few that were still in the dark about The Beaches, they made sure to explain each song of the set, drawing laughs and cheers at every one of them. They even bring in a “Jocelyn”’ from the crowd, and serenade her. The band scored some points with the crowd with their shirt “Montreal Bagels are better than New York’s”, which is technically true, but always glad to hear. After their performance, I thought to myself that these girls will headline the festival someday! And in the meantime, you can catch them later this Winter in either Halifax or Moncton.
The Dare
How to describe The Dare? The Californian brings a type of dance music similar to LCD SoundSystem, but he does it all by himself. Starting with some beats, and then take the mic and entertain the crowd in front of his Wall of Speakers! While most of his beats are pretty similar to one another, his talent comes in his way to “tweak” them depending on the song, and bringing a personal touch to each one of them, to make them unique, and not make us think that we’re listening to the same song over and over again. His entire set was just a big dance party, with people wanting some more. Lucky for them, the next day he was announced as an act for another festival in Montreal happening next month.
Cage The Elephant
One last time at the main stage area for a quick peek at Cage The Elephant. I’ll start by saying that they have always been a band that for some reason I never really got into. But I keep hearing about how they win crowds with their live performance. Especially with Matt Shultz’s high octane energy. I stayed for maybe 3-4 songs, and while people were true to their words about Matt’s crazy energy, even heading and performing to the other main stage while the crew were preparing for Olivia’s set, it just didn’t do much for me. At this point, I came to the realization that Cage The Elephant wasn’t just for me, and that’s okay. You can respect a band without being a fan, and seeing another HUGE crowd, it was clear that I was in the minority.
Chet Faker
I can’t believe that it’s the final FINAL stretch of the festival. For that I headed over to the secondary stages for a very rare performance of Australian musician Chet Faker. While still performing, lately he’s been doing more and more DJ sets, and his full band performance was his first in almost a year. The entire mood was probably the most chill I’ve witnessed through the festival. It was the optimal set as the sun was lowering here in Montreal. Not a man of many words, he would just do his thing (with his amazing backing band), making sure the vibe was installed for the final act of the night. He made sure to include his most well known songs, like his cover of “No Diggity” and of course finishing with the just perfect “Gold”, in front of a crowd that was getting bigger and bigger.
Jamie xx
The final act on my list is probably the one I was the most excited for! Being a big fan of The xx, I remember watching DJ Jamie xx performing at this very festival back in 2011 (in a small stage deep in the woods). From then, I witnessed him getting bigger and bigger, with 2 amazing albums and getting a better spot on festivals with more production value. He arrived without any big fuss, and just went straight up with the music, barely speaking to the crowd through the whole 1h15 of set time allowed. And how was his performance? I think it depends on who you ask. For the casual fans who were hoping to finish the night dancing away, the first half of the show might have been disappointing for them. While the songs were amazing, Jamie xx seemed to have trouble finding a good rhythm in the beginning. Mixing the up tempo song, with the more chill one which was leading to a lot of people stopping their dances and just “standing there” not sure what to do. From a more hardcore fan point of view, most of them had no trouble with it. He’s known for more mellow tunes, and they had to be put somewhere on the setlist. He did manage to pick everyone back up for the 2nd half of his set by putting bangers after bangers after bangers that made everyone groove until the final note. Was it part of the set, or did he read the room and make adjustments? Only he will know the answer, but for most of us, we didn’t care, we wanted everything, we wanted to dance, we wanted to chill, we wanted some good songs, and that’s what we got from him!
And that’s it for the 2025 edition of Osheaga! A year where uncertainty started right from the planning section (2 of the 3 headliners had dropped out around the Holidays season), Evenko pulled through and delivered another great edition where everyone could find acts from their favorite genre, while still being able to make some discoveries and who knows, maybe even finding out their new favorite artists! And in the end, that’s what Osheaga is all about!
OSHEAGA 2025: Day 3: Close to the finish line
