Osheaga Music & Arts Festival
Montreal, QC
July 29-31

Montreal is one of the coolest cities on the continent. The culture, the party scene, the beautiful people, the fabulous food, and the mystery of a foreign language combine to offer visitors an enchanting experience. The Osheaga Music & Arts Festival, in accordance with its host domain, is a refreshing change of pace from most summer weekend fetes. Parc Jean Drapeau, located on a small island one subway stop away from downtown, overlooks the skyline while boasting some unique settings for the festival stages. The sixth installment of Osheaga, and the first to span three days, was destined for fruition.

The lineup for 2011, even more diverse than the historically varied card, had a little bit of everything. Local DJ Kid Koala, aptly sporting a plush koala suit, kicked off day one with a clinic in turntablism. The Tree Stage – nestled in a wooded area under a canopy of lush branches – was the site of an auspicious 40 minutes courtesy of The Rural Alberta Advantage. Fellow Canucks Broken Social Scene and Bran Van 3000 failed to cause much of a stir in consecutive evening sets on the twin main stages, but Janelle Monáe more than made up for it with an energetic display of her vocal prowess. The R&B songstress and her superb band powered through an hour’s worth of funky tunes as the sun fell in the sky.

The assortment of sundry acts, however, would all be trumped by one man: Eminem. Marshall Mathers’ headlining set on Friday was the driving force behind an attendance of 40,000 for that night alone (the entire weekend would draw 81,000 combined). With a sea of rabid fans at his feet, the unhappiest rap superstar in the world released 90 minutes of potent stadium-sized hip hop on la belle province. Marred only by an occasionally-misbehaving microphone, the main attraction dropped hit after hit on the elated deluge. While many in the crowd would wrap up their Osheaga experience following the Slim Shady spectacle, the weekend was just getting started.

Saturday brought a more rock-oriented schedule while keeping homegrown artists front and center. The Midway State plied their singer-songwriter material under the afternoon sun, and Death From Above 1979 continued their summer-long cash grab. As much as a dedicated faction of the audience went nuts for the recently-revived punk duo, it’s still unclear what makes them musically appealing. Ratatat diverted a hoard of spectators away from Bright Eyes’ main stage set with their mesmerizing multimedia assault, before Elvis Costello & The Imposters closed the night out with a non-stop parade of the English legends lifetime supply of songs.

The mixed bag motif prevailed on Sunday as Eels, Cypress Hill, Ellie Goulding, and Jamie xx contended for attention before The Tragically Hip amassed a sizeable draw to usher in the final night. Performance-wise, the Canadian heroes were outshone by countryman Shad, who rocked The Tree Stage with his charming brand of conscious hip hop. Death Cab For Cutie would not allow frequent technical difficulties to ruin their sunset slot, and The Flaming Lips proved to be an excellent choice for festival closer. Wayne Coyne and co. played 1999’s The Soft Bulletin front to back, dazzling the crowd with massive video screens and all the antics they have become known for. Osheaga, befitting the city that birthed it, achieved many kinds of cool in 2011. N’est ca pas?