Osheaga-Festival | Arcade Fire brings Osheaga back to life

Emilie Cote
The Press

If you weren’t among the 40,000 festival-goers present, you missed a whole Arcade Fire performance on the first day of the Osheaga festival.

But take comfort: Win Butler’s band has announced another show at the Bell Center on December 3.

“Montreal in my heart”, Régine Chassagne shouted to the crowd at the end of the opening song, Age of Anxiety I.

Then, it was a rolling fire of memories and chills with Ready-to-Start, The Suburbs and Neighborhood #1.

From the choice and theme of the songs, there emanated from the beginning of the show the comforting feeling of being at home. The members of Arcade Fire were obviously moved on stage.

During No Cars Goyou had to see Win Butler hammering let’s go while Régine Chassagne waved her accordion with passion. It was powerful!

Arcade Fire performed key pieces from their six albums. The disco ball suspended above the stage shone brightly to the sound of the dancing double Afterlife and Reflector. ofEverything Nowthe public was entitled in particular to Creature Comfort.

The crowd was able to catch their breath during the ride End of the Empire I-IIIbut the show went off with a bang with The Lighting I, II. We wrote these lines listening to the end of the show without however being able to watch it. The public chanted the “oh-oh, oh” of wake-up just before a heavy rain started to fall.

15 candles for Osheaga

It was Arcade Fire who approached evenko’s programming team when the Foo Fighters canceled their presence following the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins.

To launch the festivities of the 15^e Osheaga’s birthday, it was the perfect headlining band.

Both Osheaga and Arcade Fire – two great symbols of Montreal – have stood the test of time admirably.

The same can be said of Dan Boeckner, who accompanies Arcade Fire for the album tour WE.

Win Butler took the trouble to present it, and surprise: the crowd was treated to This Heart’s on Fire of his band Wolf Parade!

All of them embody the golden age of indie rock, the prosperous period during which Osheaga was born. However, thousands of festival-goers present on Friday were still in diapers in 2006. And that’s what was beautiful to see: the renewal of the public (apart from the omnipresence of the sponsor Garage).

A very functional site

Except for the rain at the very end of the evening, the weather was perfect on this not too stifling sunny day. He took pictures, in front of the various majestic views of the St. Lawrence River.

After three years of forced break (except for a presentation in reduced format last fall), Osheaga resumed its rights at Parc Jean-Drapeau at full capacity and in the heart of summer. This is only the second time that Osheaga has been featured on its revamped and expanded site.

What is known as the “festival-goer experience” has been improved with a larger and more diversified food offer. Only downside: you have to go to the YUL EAT area, next to the Calder sculpture, to be able to drink a good beer. This should be possible site-wide.

Great novelty: the Green and Valley stages placed side by side like the main stages where the shows alternate. Traffic between the two poles was efficient and fluid.

A little after 6 p.m., we saw – from the natural amphitheater of the Plaine des jeux which overlooks the Green stage – the Australian group Parcels. His rock rhythmed by disco and which floats with vocal harmonies was perfect under the end of the day sun which weighed down on the river and the Jacques-Cartier bridge in the background.

Next, we caught the latest pieces from British pop singer Charli XCX. When we arrived, the crowd was jumping to the Icona Pop hit she’s featured on, I Love It.

She continued with Yuck and Beg for You. The British singer and her dancers had energy to spare (almost too much, as if it were forced) and there were too many pre-recorded tapes.

Then, the reunion with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was epic. True to form, the great Karen O wore a flamboyant stage costume and possessed an inner fire at the microphone as she whispered the signature “ch-ch-ch-ch” of ballads like Cheated Hearts and Soft Shock. The public was treated to two new songs which will appear on a new album (to be released in September), in addition to the hits Zero, Head Rolls and Golden Lion.

Before the essential mapsKaren O appealed for love and tenderness.

We leave you with these benevolent words while waiting for the sequel to Osheaga, which continues this Saturday and Sunday with Future and Dua Lipa as headliners.