concert

John Rzeznik pointed to a girl in the crowd as the music died down and the lights dimmed. He waved his hand toward his chest, brushing his large golden necklace, signaling for the girl to pass up her big, blinking sign. “Let me see that,” he said. The crowd parted and formed an assembly line across the rows, sending the white sign Rzeznik’s way. It read “biggest fan” in large, blue letters with a row of blinking white swirls underneath. “This is a technological marvel,” he said, gawking at the flashing poster. “Do you want it back?”

Ronnie Winter has the voice, lyrics and hair of a radio rock god. However, his band’s screamo-filled performance at The Lost Horizon Sunday night  proved that The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus won’t make it back on the airwaves anytime soon.

Lupe Fiasco was technically the headlining act of Juice Jam 2010, but when he finally took the stage after Passion Pit’s fanatically received performance, a quarter of the audience hightailed it to the exit. A few minutes later, when the rain began to pour, the audience that jumped along to Passion Pit’s bouncing beats dropped by half, leaving only dripping, diehard fans behind.

Montreal’s Osheaga Festival is so quintessentially Canadian. 

The crowds are respectful and polite, the surroundings are calm and peaceful, and the lineup is filled with Canadian musicians.

Staged in Parc Jean-Drapeau on Saint Helen's Island, the festival effectively mixes the urban and natural world. I was only able to attend one day (Saturday) of the two-day weekend festival, but the homeyness and simple charm of Osheaga made the trek up north well worth it

Stumbling out of the gates