It’s almost September and “summer’s almost gone” - thank you Jim Morrison for consistently coming to mind when August comes around. July flew by as usual - busy and productive with many new opportunities for Filter Box Media. Laura and I have had the opportunity to attend some really great concerts and meet some really great people. Here’s a recap of some of the highlights:

Paul McCartney in Quebec City

On the weekend of July 19-20th, myself (Massimo) and a few close friends made the trek up to Quebec City from Montreal to celebrate Quebec’s 400th birthday and witness a performance by legend Paul McCartney. The whole experience felt more like a pilgrimage than anything else. Needless to say I am a fan of Paul McCartney and of The Beatles - the first album I can remember playing on my turntable back in the early 80’s was an extremely used Sgt. Pepper album. The entire weekend was an amazing experience and truly something I will remember forever, the wait in line, the heat, the friends, the music and the audience - all 250,000 of them! Here are some videos that will sum up what the experience felt like.

Radiohead - Parc Jean Drapeau

Music trendsetters Radiohead returned to Montreal to play in front of a packed Parc Jean Drapeau. 35,000 absolutely soaked fans enjoyed what was can be called my favorite Radiohead concert thus far. I’ve seen them 4 times already and every time I’m always impressed with the way they have grown and evolved as a band. They are a prime example of how being creative and trying new things in the music industry is a must nowadays. It poured intensely shortly before Radiohead took the stage but that made it all the more appropriate with a rainbow forming over Parc Jean Drapeau - a suitable touch for their In Rainbows focused set list.

Osheaga

Year three for Osheaga proved to be another great year! I (Laura) was able to attend last year’s festival and was blown away by the amazing line-up including memorable performances from Damien Rice, M.I.A, Interpol, Paolo Nutini, Bloc Party, Feist, Stars, and so many more. This year had less acts but nonetheless many memorable experiences. Here are my personal highlights of this year’s festival of the acts I was able to see.

Day 1

Sleepercar: A last minute addition to the line-up due to Eddy Grant’s cancellation. These guys opened for City & Colour this past June in Montreal and put on a great performance. Their Osheaga performance was very good but not as memorable as their Theatre St. Denis performance due mainly to the lack of sound quality that comes from outdoor concerts. This alternative-country band is lead by Jim Ward who is also the singer of Sparta and ex-guitarist of At the Drive In. Check out the song Wednesday Night.

N.E.R.D: The crowd was pretty annoyed with the 20 minute delay, but when Pharrell, Shay and Chad came out on stage beaming with energy, they got the party started for the first time on Day 1. Soon after they began performing they grabbed twins Seena and Joshua up on stage from the crowd. They happened to be in the front of the crowd surrounded by boring people so their enthusiasm for N.E.R.D was quickly noticed by Pharrell and he told them to join him on stage. Being in the crowd myself I was thrilled for the two boys who were not shy at all, jumping all over the stage and singing every word right in Pharrell’s face as if they were part of the band. It was amazing, and even more amazing was when they started calling up girls on stage. I was one of the lucky ones to get up there and I now know why musicians become musicians. The energy up on that stage in front of thousands of people is intense. Overall N.E.R.D’s performance was killer; everyone was talking about it for the rest of the day.

Iggy & The Stooges: This guy is crazy! I saw and heard this performance from a distance due to the huge crowd but that man cannot be 61! Insane! Bravo to him and the band for still kicking ass and getting the crowd going.

The Killers: The lyrics “I got soul but I’m not a soldier” was sung repeatedly by thousands of people in the crowd from the song “All these things that I’ve done”. That song was probably stuck in everyone’s head all weekend. Great performance.

Day 2

Jamie Lidell:

I was blown away! Everyone go listen to this guy right now and catch a live performance whenever you can. (I just found out he’s coming to Montreal on October 10^th at Le National) What an amazing way to start Day 2. I want to send a big thank you to T’Cha Dunlevy of the Montreal Gazette for warning everyone in advance to not sleep in and check him out. Lidell and his band’s wacky stage presence and bizarre attire were the perfect combination for their funky sound. Loved it!

The Kills : Another amazing performance. I’ve only heard a few of their songs previously but they definitely got me hooked now. Watching The Kills perform was like being transported back to a time when Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix would have headlined the festival. There was this creepy intensity between duo Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince that drew me in to their world. Mosshart’s deep stare was almost hypnotizing as she glared to her partner and the crowd.

MGMT:

I love these guys half of the time. I absolutely love half of their album Oracular Spectacular, the other half is ok. That’s how I felt about their performance at Osheaga. They started off really tame and boring as the duo was accompanied by their touring band members on stage but halfway during the set, most of the band left the stage to leave the official members Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden to do what they do best. The performance finally came alive as the duo danced around while the crowd went nuts.

CSS : These Brazilians know how to stand out. Lead singer Lovefoxxx came out looking like a Fruit of the Loom grape and then stripped down into a colorful leotard jumpsuit. The performance was fun and the young crowd was loving it.

Stay tuned for a busy month ahead, more news coming soon - stay updated by subscribing to our blog.