You wear your high-top sneakers and your sailor tattoos

How do I begin to explain the weekend I just had? While short, it was packed with a lot.

Friday, we (KW, AW, and me) departed Charlottetown at 8:00 AM. Took the most backwoods way to the bridge you could imagine. It’s what you would call a Walsh-cut (as opposed to a short-cut).

Speaking of backwoods, we took the most backwoods way to Montreal, ever. It’s what Google Maps lists as the “shortest time” drive. We drove through pure, undeveloped, uninhabited forest (no rest stops, power lines, or even yellow road lines!) for about 400 km. We stopped the car briefly and heard, for the first time in a long time, pure silence. My ears almost couldn’t handle the complete lack of sound.

I won’t bore you with the details of the drive, except that there was a Lady Gaga rock out and that I drove from a bit before Edmundston to the outskirts of Montreal. It was rather uneventful and we made good time.

Arrived at Auberge de l’est around 9 PM perhaps. Checked in and got settled in our room. The multi-3 suite we got ended up being quite nice. HJ and I had a double bed, desk, and decently sized closet all to ourselves, and then shared a kitchen (stove, fridge, toaster, coffee maker) and bathroom with MP, KM, KW, and AW. Great set up, and a great location. We were a 2 minute walk from the Metro and there was a Dépanneur right under us (convenience store that sells alcohol).

Friday night a crowd of us went to the Metropolis to see Of Montreal play. The venue is awesome. So huge and a big balcony. Of Montreal used to be a favourite band of mine, so it was cool to see them. They didn’t live up to my expectations of them, but I enjoyed it all the same. Had way too much wine though. Made for a bit of a grumpy Lauren and a very shitty Saturday morning.

Saturday was the start of Osheaga. HJ, MP, KM, and I took the Metro over to Ile-Ste-Helene (built for Expo 67) and headed to Parc Jean-Drapeau. We got there kind of early and also didn’t realize there was no re-entry to the concerts. We couldn’t leave all freaking day. That made for a bit of a poorly prepared Saturday.

Saturday started off with the Walkmen (someone played before them, but I consider them the official start to Osheaga). They had a good set and were a great start to the day. After that, HJ was kind enough to accompany me to see Owen Pallett. I had only heard one song by him so it was a bit of a long shot to go, but we enjoyed him. Caught the end of Sarah Harmer’s set, which was enjoyable, then saw one of the best sets of the festival, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Super high energy and very entertaining.

After Edward Sharpe we took a little break and sat in the shade while Jimmy Cliff played. Got up for K’naan but wasn’t overly impressed by his stage presence. Music was just as good as if it were on a CD though. Ended with Waving Flag (no surprise there). K’naan also did a duet with Keane, who played later on Saturday after Stars. Stars had a good set, although I haven’t listened to them since high school and I didn’t know any of their new material.

After K’naan was another highlight, Pavement. Definitely one of the better musical acts I saw on the weekend. Not only great music, but excellent stage presence. Someone in the crowd chucked a beer and it landed square on the lead singer’s head. He didn’t even blink – just continued playing. After the song ended, instead of being pissed off, he just commented on the “good aim” of the person who threw the beer.

After Pavement, KW and I tried to see Robyn (you may remember her ’97 smash hit Show Me Love). I say try because we went over to her stage and sat there for 45 minutes and she never showed up. I was not impressed. When I got back to our digs, I ended up YouTubing the song and felt that was just as good.

After the Robyn debaucle, Arcade Fire came on the close the day. They had a fantastic set. I feel bad because I definitely did not appreciate it as much as I should have because I was freezing and tired (long day paired with being unprepared for the whole ‘no re-entry’ thing).

Saturday night I stayed in while HJ went out with friends. Best decision I could have made. I woke up Sunday morning feeling 100% better than Saturday morning. MP, KM, KW, and I explored the city by Metro and walking. Ended up on Ste. Catherine’s street. Apparently it was their Pride festival. Lots of men holding hands. We walked around for a bit and then made the best purchase of the weekend, hand sanitizer. Surprisingly, Montreal has no little hand sanitizer stations, even in the Metro. We felt grimy and dirty for most of the weekend (probably because we were grimy an dirty).

Headed to the concerts at around 3 PM, just in time to see Gaslight Anthem, another highlight for me. I had never heard them before and was completely blown away. After their set I sat down in the shade and listened to Ariane Moffatt, The Black Keys, Charlie Winston and The Cat Empire. We (and there were about 13-15 of us) ate snacks, talked, napped, hung out and enjoyed the music without being in the scorching sun.

At about 6 PM I got up and got situated for the much anticipated Snoop Dogg. He wasn’t scheduled to start until 6:35, but I wanted to be able to see him. He started about 20 minutes late, so it was a long wait, but completely worth it. He played Gin and Juice, and that was all I really wanted the entire time.

After Snoop, sat down for Sonic Youth, then eventually re-emerged for Metric. Emily Hanes is a big weirdo, but put on a good show. Gimme Sympathy and Combat Baby were highlights for that set.

After Metric it was finally time for the day’s headliner, and my personal favourite band since the seventh grade, Weezer. This was one of the major reasons I went to Osheaga and they did not disappoint. I got to sing-along to The Sweater Song and Say It Ain’t So live. It was unbelievable. Rivers was in good spirits and put on a good show. In their first encore they did a Kids (MGMT) and Pokerface (Lady Gaga) cover, which was really cool. Left before their final encore (Buddy Holly) to catch the Metro, but was fully satisfied having heard Say It Ain’t So.

Sunday night we hit up ES’s place after the concert. Beautiful apartment. Aside from a slightly scary roommate, it was a good time. I was pretty tired after another long day in the sun though, so when the boys headed out to the bars, I took it as my cue to return to res.

Monday we woke up very early (8 AM) and started the trek back to Charlottetown. Got a little lost, stopped more than our way up, listened to some good music, and eventually made it back in one piece.

And that brings me to now, back in the real world. Montreal was amazing.