In Montreal, C2 stands for commerce and creativity, as in C2-MTL, an annual gathering of leading innovators from a broad spectrum of industry who have but one thing on their minds: finding creative answers to commercial questions. And, especially this year, C2 also stands for culture and cool…

Now in its second year, C2-MTL – taking place at Arsenal (a converted shipyard built in 1846), May 21-23 – fairly explodes the notion of the traditional business conference. No soul-destroying PowerPoint presentations here. Instead, 20 internationally renowned keynote speakers from a multiplicity of disciplines – including, for example, Virgin’s Richard Branson, former supermodel and now business exec Elle Macpherson, and French architect and designer Philippe Starck – sharing their experience vis-à-vis immersive multimedia presentations.

An imaginative array of panel discussions, collaborative workshops, interactive exhibits, conceptual spaces and festive events all serve to augment the emphasis on creating next-level networking opportunities and real-world business solutions. Which is to say stimulation, not simulation.

C2-MTL is about the whole brain, left and right sides combined. Well-satiated senses are conducive to creating and C2’s arts and cultural partnering in particular reflects that. This year the Montreal Opera will play a key role at the conference opening with uniquely conceived solo performances blending digital media. Cirque du Soleil will contribute with a 47-performer strong original creation upped with “an extra dose of dazzle” from fashion legend and keynote speaker Diane von Furstenberg. The Montreal International Jazz Festival will kick in with Musique Risquée, featuring prominent Montreal DJs Vincent Lemieux and Akufen (they’ll also be curating music on C2’s outdoor plaza).

Modern dance will come in the form of the Festival TransAmérique choreographer Ginette Laurin and her new Arab Spring-inspired work Khaos. And to cap it all off, three of Montreal’s cutting-edge music festivals – M for Montreal, Osheaga and Igloofest – will all sponsor live entertainment on C2-MTL’s closing night at the Intel Forum onsite. Look for performances by indie-folk-rock tastemakers Half Moon Run, longstanding top-shelf turntablist Kid Koala and internationally acclaimed electro/techno dance DJ Tiga.

THE DETAILS

C2-MTL, May 21-23, 2013

Arsenal, 2020 Rue William, (514) 931-9978

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Day 1 of Osheaga featured great bands like Broken Social Scene and Timber Timbre, the infectiously upbeat Janelle Monae and legendary talents like funk and soul singer Charles Bradley. But the scalper who asked if anyone wanted “Eminem tickets” summed up the main reason for the record numbers of fans: Marshall Mathers. Who did not disappoint. But whatever the reason they showed up, the fans had a blast and looked good doing it…

Though the super young and sexy crowd on Day 2 may not have made the trip for Elvis Costello, there were enough enraptured fans in the audience to start with, and he pretty much won over the rest. Always a consummate showman, he studded his set with extended versions of his beloved numbers (Every Day I Write the Book, Alison, Watching The Detectives) while accompanied by go-go dancers and sweating buckets. It was the wrap-up to an epic day: from an energized set on the Trees stage by The Mountain Goats, to a searing mainstage set by metal-hipster duo Death From Above 1979, a jocular and poignant Green Stage set by Sia, followed by epic robot music by crowd-pleasers Ratatat, the day was one of the most enjoyable in Osheaga’s six-day history.

Sunday was one of those perfect summer days meant for hanging out in Jean-Drapeau Park, a blissful breeze taking the edge off the incredible heat. But the mid-day sun beating down on the two main Osheaga stages hadn’t deterred the crowds from gathering to hear the Glaswegian singer-songwriter pop of Frightened Rabbit and Eels’ range of rockabilly, blues and full-on dad-yacht rock. There was a melange of dance-pop, big-stage indie-rock, hip-hop from the old-school to the new, and all kinds of electro-dance beats thanks to Piknic Electronik. Canadian classic The Tragically Hip put on a high-energy show that brought their brand of ‘90s rock back in full form and Death Cab for Cutie did a similar, poppier thing for the ‘00s. MSTRKRFT, Galaxie and The Flaming Lips ended the day on different sorts of high notes, the latter, with nothing less than playing the whole of their album, The Soft Bulletin, marrying a couple on stage and following it up with a glorious rendition of Do You Realize. Ah, the sounds of summer.

Check out the complete set of Osheaga 2011 photos by Susan Moss on the Montreal Buzz Flickr.

Text by Robyn Fadden, Melora Koepke and Brendan Murphy

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Osheaga 2011 is in the books and we’ve got the video to prove that it was another success year. The Montreal Buzz Bloggers talked about the expanded Osheaga Arts program, interviewed Cypress Hill and Death Cab for Cutie and filled you in on the Montreal Bands you needed to see. Even though it’s a year away, we’re already looking forward to Osheaga 2012.

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Montreal Buzz: How’s Osheaga treating you?

Chris Walla: It’s been really fun. We got into town yesterday and sort of spent yesterday bumming around town but the grounds are beautiful, the lineup is great today, the festival seems really well organized and the weather’s cooperating. I don’t know what else I could ask for.

Jason McGerr: I love that there’s a place to do this and hang out away from the main stage. That’s not saying I don’t want to see or hear the main stage, it’s actually the opposite. We wish we could be hearing the main stage because there are people we want to see today but sometimes you’re backstage at a huge festival and there’s nowhere to go. So it’s going really, really well.

CW: And I just found out we’re conducting this interview right now in the old Olympic swimming pool. So basically we’re in the pool right now. It’s so weird!

JM: There’s something appealing about places that once were, places where you can sit down and visualize what it was once like.

MB: Montreal fosters a really creative climate for a lot of reasons but one of the main ones is the affordability of studio space and the time to work on pursuits like music. And people can afford to save up money to buy equipment.

JM: Well, you also have aid to support your music. When we tour in Northern Europe there are government funded venues and it makes it a better experience for everybody. There’s a charm to a punk rock club with cardboard on the bathroom floor, but if you’re willing to work hard and you want to make your living that way and you’re trying to give back to the people and you qualify for a grant it makes a lot of sense to me.

CW: Montreal’s such a festival city, it seems like it’s really a priority for the city and the province and the country at large to try and support and bolster whatever they can. Like the Jazz Festival here, it’s like a heritage project and there’s nothing like that in the States at all. It’s all private promoters. You never end up with that sort of partnership between a public program and private group in the arts, at least not in rock and roll.

JM: Was the first big music festival in Montreal the Jazz Festival? I want to say that it is.

MB: I’m not sure, but I know that the Jazz Festival has been around since the 70s.

JM: Yeah, well that in and of itself is a testament to really caring about the arts. That would never happen in the States.

MB: How do you guys feel about touring this time around?

JM: It’s great.

CW: Yeah, it’s been really fun.

JM: It’s fun now, maybe talk to us after nine months of touring. I might not be quite as exuberant.

CW: I’m having more fun on this tour cycle so far than I’ve had in years. Not that I’ve ever hated touring, but it feels like there’s a lot air in what we’re doing right now. Like it feels really good, everything feels like it’s working. We’re all getting along really well, all the pieces are lined up and it’s really cool.

MB: That seems to reflect your new record Codes and Keys.

CW: It has to do with the new record but that feeling has been growing for the last couple of years and that’s part of what led to the new record.

JM: It’s a much healthier place for everybody. And when was the last time we had a record come out in the spring? So the front end of touring is generally nice weather.

CW: Yeah, I never want to put a record out in the fall again. This is the first time we’ve been to Montreal in the spring and I love it.

JM: The previous three records all came out in September or October, which means the first four to five months of touring were winter months. And you have all this energy at the start of a tour, and it’s met with dismal rain and cold weather. It’s hard to battle through that, especially over the holidays. Psychologically I recognize how different it is.

MB: You guys have been playing together since 1997. What were some highlights?

JM: We got to play with Elvis Costello. And he’s here at Osheaga too.

CW: Yeah, we played the part of the Attractions with Elvis Costello. It was horrifying but it was amazing.

JM: For him to turn around and count out the song in a language we didn’t quite know yet, is maybe something that sets in later in one’s music career. But we were so on our toes and excited, it was great.

CW: Yeah, we’re kind of fanatics.

JM: We got to play with some people who we never envisioned playing with, like Pearl Jam or Neil Young or Elvis Costello. It’s amazing, if you stay with this for long enough and work hard enough you eventually get to meet your heroes and they turn out to be cooler than you expected.

Photo Credit: Ryan Russell, Victoria VanBruinisse

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(rock n’ roll island) Whether you like your concerts big and loud or small and sweet, Osheaga delivers. The weekend-long outdoor music festival turns the island paradise of Parc Jean-Drapeau into one big party with five stages of rock, pop, folk, hip-hop, electro and more (plus plenty of green space to chill out in). We’re talking Eminem, The Flaming Lips, Elvis Costello, Broken Social Scene, Janelle Monáe, The Tragically Hip, Cypress Hill, as well as lower-profile entities well-deserving of great hype, like The Mountain Goats, Twin Shadow and The Low Anthem, and some of the Montreal’s best bands and DJs.

(park life) Montreal’s many parks bustle with people, picnics and entertainment all summer. On July 28, at 7:30 p.m. see the Montreal Symphony Orchestra at Parc de l’Honorable-George-O’Reilly in Verdun. This weekend in Parc LaFontaine, see Le Choeur Éolien, a choir featuring singer Marc-André Fortin on July 31 at 8:30 p.m. and Misses Satchmo, playing the songs of Louis Armstrong on August 1 at 8:30 p.m. On August 4, at the park’s Théâtre de Verdure, see Montreal’s own Jewish hip-hop star Socalled live and on film in recently celebrated documentary. And for the hungry, stop by restaurant Espace La Fontaine, open all summer.

(rock n’ roll town) The Montreal Electronic Groove (MEG) Festival gets the night life rolling with hip hop, dubstep, house and more all weekend. On Friday, NYC’s Beatnuts are at Sala Rossa while San Francisco’s DJ Craze headlines Le Belmont. And on Saturday night, MEG pairs with Osheaga to bring LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy and Pat Mahoney to the Olympia Theatre for a late-night dance party, with the two DJs spinning their electro-disco faves, while NYC’s Brown Bag Allstars make you sweat at Casa del Popolo. On Sunday, ride the St-Laurent river all day on the MEG boat as CKUT co-presents Designer Drugs, Toxic Avenger and more.

(laugh in) The final weekend of comedy festivals Just For Laughs and Zoofest has arrived, but there’s still plenty to enjoy in these three days. Guaranteed laughs abound at showcases like The Nasty Show (it really is nasty, believe me), A Tribute to Nerds (finally! Hosted by Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar from The Big Bang Theory), Craig Ferguson’s International House of Comedy, and Talk of the Fest. In the past few days of Zoofest, I’ve seen The Pajama Men, Hannibal Buress, DeAnne Smith, Adam Hills, Sara Quinn’s Other People’s Problems and Paul F. Thomkins – my aching, laughed-out cheeks and I heartily recommend them all, especially when you can buy a $40 Zoofest pass and see all of them and more! And, for the ultimate in spectacle, check out the Twins Parade on Saturday afternoon at Place des Festivals.

(home and native land) The Montreal First Peoples’ Festival (August 1–9) brings together a diversity of voices from First Nations artists and musicians from around the world to reaffirm messages of peace. Outdoors at Place des Festivals in the Quartier des Spectacles, a 100-foot-tall teepee will be set up, alongside a bonfire, restaurant spaces, arts and crafts tables, a longhouse screening festival films, and a variety of live music and dance shows, including hip hop by Anishnabe rapper Samian, work by Chilean composer Javier Farias and Atikamekw composer Pascal Koukouchi Sasseville. Down the street at the Grande Bibliothèque (National Library), see The Matshinanu/Nomades exhibition and, on August 2, hear poetry by Joséphine Bacon, Domingo Cisneros and Naomi Fontaine.

(take the high road) Head outside the city centre to witness 34 years of highlands tradition at the family-friendly Montreal Highland Games and Festival. Fiddler Ashley MacIsaac headlines the musical portion of the festival, with pipe bands, folk singers, highland dancers and more, alongside games of Gaelic football, rugby and hurling, plus arts and crafts and plenty of food and, of course, a beer tent. With shuttles running all day from Crescent street (below St-Catherine) to the site at George Springate Sports Centre in Pierrefonds (see the website for details), it’s easy to make a day of it.

(wine of the times) Switch Scotland up for Italy at Pointe-à-Callière, which proves that it’s not your average history museum with this summer’s exhibition To Your Health, Caesar! Wine and the Gauls. Learn all you ever wanted to know about history of wine throughout civilization – perfect cocktail party fodder – at the exhibition, featuring historical items from North American and French institutions, including the Louvre, and private collections. While there, enter to win a trip to Gaul – a week of wining and dining in the Rhône-Alpes region.

(fashion forward) Art, music and fashion align in cosmic style at the Montreal Fashion and Design Festival, August 3–6, along Avenue McGill-College at St-Catherine. Models strut the catwalk wearing the latest and greatest of Montreal-based fashion, musicians like Black Tiger Sex Machine bring the noise and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts presents Jean Paul Gaultier’s 2011-2012 Fall/Winter collection, a celebration of age and timeless beauty.

(talk it out) On August 2, at Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent) at 8 p.m, Drawn & Quarterly welcomes writers Sheila Heti and Misha Glouberman as they introduce their book The Chairs Are Where the People Go with something better than a simple book reading. The Trampoline Hall Lectures riffs on the premise of the book – people talk about subjects outside their personal or professional area of expertise – to amusing and even informative results. In Montreal, we’ll hear Marci Denesiuk talk on Evolution and Shadow Puppetry, Anthony Kinik stare down The Evil Eye, and Jesse Staniforth gets real about The Theory of Relativity.

(music and more) The weekend may be packed with festival musts, but there’s always more going on in the Montreal music world. If you can’t make it to Parc Jean-Drapeau, get a taste of Osheaga at the kickoff party on July 28 at Theatre Corona with Freedom or Death and Jokers of the Scene. See what the kids – the real kids – are up to these days at the amazing Rock Camp for Girls, a community initiative that proves the power of rock n’ roll. These 34 young ladies have honed their rock chops over the summer and are ready to rock out this Saturday (August 30) at the Ukranian Federation (5213 Hutchison), 5 p.m. On Monday, August 1, see California’s Gardens & Villa, just as pretty-sounding as their name, at Casa del Popolo, which is also home to the Woodshed Orchestra on Tuesday and JF Robitaille and Mike Bloom (of Rilo Kiley) on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, August 3, who’s back but Ace of Base, seeing the sign once again, at the Corona.

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Although Osheaga (July 29-31 at Parc Jean-Drapeau) features chart-topping musicians from all over the globe, they couldn’t forget the world-class talent born and bred in their own backyard. Here’s some of that talent that you should make sure your festival schedule includes…

Karkwa is playing Osheaga on Saturday, 5:40-6:30. The band formed in 1998 and have been together ever since, garnering acclaim from fans and critics alike along the way. Persistence paid off for the band last year when they took home the highly-coveted Polaris Music Prize for Les Chemins de verre. If you’re a fan of cinematic folk rock, do yourself a favour and head to Osheaga to see the Kark.

Braids moved to Montreal from Calgary in 2008. The band made a splash with their album, Native Speaker, that was short-listed for this year’s Polaris Music Prize, a serious honour in Canada. It’s an award judged by a panel of critics and solely based on artistic merit, not record sales. Based on that criteria, it’s no surprise that Braids are contender for the prize. Braids play music the way a lot of people should play music. They’re experimental, atmospheric pop that is sincere but still fun. They play Saturday, 3:10-3:50.

Malajube is yet another French band from Montreal playing Osheaga. They might sing in French, but that hasn’t stopped the band from branching out of Quebec to achieve Canada-wide acclaim (yes, another Polaris nom was involved). Maybe their success has something to do with their album, Le Compte complet, being produced by Martin Pelland of The Dears. Or maybe it’s just the pure charm of their infectious pop sounds. They hit the stage on the final day of the festival, Sunday, 5:10-5:50pm.

The Barr Brothers are playing a small stage at Osheaga on Friday, 9:10-9-55. They’re the kind of band that will surely be filling up arenas in the near future, so catch them while you can. The raw onstage energy of The Barr Bros is what launched them into the category of best live band in Montreal right now. Well, that and Brad Barr’s virtuosic guitar playing. If you think The Black Keys sound too much like a beer commercial, you’ll love rustic and bluesy Americana sound of The Barr Brothers.

Galaxie play the fest Sunday, 10:20-11:00. They’ve been playing their Franco garage rock since 2002 and throughout their reign they’ve received help from collaborators like Groovy Aardvark and members of Karkwa. Their latest album, Tigre et Diesel, had made a big enough splash to be awarded with a spot on this year’s Polaris short-list. A wise man once told me that you can determine how good a song is if the song would be cool to play while driving around in a ‘78 Camaro. Galaxie passes the Camaro test, which is no easy feat. But you should go see for yourself.

Jacques Greene offers a bit of a change of pace from what I’ve been writing about. He’s a Montreal DJ with Night Trackin’ and he has been making waves as a producer with the release of his solo EP, The Look . If you’re into house and R&B vocals check him out Saturday, 6:30-7:45. If it’s good enough for Thom Yorke, it’s good enough for you, yes?

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Montreal Buzz: So, how do you like Montreal?

Sen Dog: I like it a lot, I like the whole French thing. Any time you get a chance to get to visit a place that you learned about as a kid, it’s great. The food there is brilliant. It’s a very nice place.

MB: You’re playing Osheaga this year. Is there anyone you’d like to see at the festival? Like Eminem, maybe?

SD: If time permits it I’d like to see some bands, but Eminem and us play on different days.

MB: Your album Rise Up featured members of Linkin Park, System of a Down, Rage Against the Machine, Marc Anthony and more. How did you come up such a diverse list of contributors?

SD: Every single aspect of Cypress Hill, our dark side, our happy side, our rock side, our hip hop side and our Latin side are all represented on the album. The song with Marc Anthony was our last song, a lot of people were surprised to learn we were working with Marc Anthony, but he knows a lot about hip hop. For songs like Armada Latina, the Armada part was Marc Anthony’s idea and I came up with the Latina part.

MB: Cypress Hill is in a unique position because you’ve seen the music industry undergo a serious transformation. What do you think about the changes that have taken place since the 80s and 90s?

SD: You’ve got to go with the changes, if you refuse to conform then you’re going to get left behind. I’m old school, I always bought complete albums and I’m still that way. My daughter is an iTunes kid- one song here, one song there. It hurts the artists more than anything. A lot of opportunities in music aren’t there anymore. It’s hard to get signed on the strength of your talent, now you’ve got to come into the game with somebody supporting you.

SC: Do you remember the first album you ever bought?

SD: Yeah, it was an Isley Brothers record. I had records from my dad who worked for the airlines. I remember once that someone left a record on the plane and he brought it home. It was Help by The Beatles. I loved it and then we noticed it was signed by all four Beatles- the next day my dad sold it for 50 bucks! The Beatles led me to Elvis, which led me to Hendrix, Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, then funk music like Parliament/Funkadelic and stuff like that.

MB: But eventually hip-hop became your main focus?

SD: It narrowed into hip-hop. The first time I heard rap was Kurtis Blow’s The Breaks, it didn’t do anything for me. When I first heard Run DMC, I thought ‘this is really cool’. When Public Enemy came out, I wanted to be just like Chuck D. But an even earlier song that got me into hip-hop was Rapture by Blondie. She was one of the first mainstream artists that saw hip hop and wanted to be part of it.

THE DETAILS

Cypress Hill plays Osheaga on Sunday, July 31 at 4:20pm

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The Osheaga festival is the ideal oasis for people who like music, picnics and outhouses. While the Osheaga in the City series may rock Montreal proper, the actual festival’s location, Parc Jean Drapeau, is a lush and sprawling island minutes away from the downtown core with perfect hills to perch on while watching the shows. Osheaga is a big draw for world class-bands because, well, who wouldn’t want to be in Montreal in the summer? This year, like every other year, promises some seriously heavy headliners: Eminem, Elvis Costello and The Flaming Lips are just a taste of what the festival promises.

In earnest or for the sake of curiosity, I highly recommend seeing Eminem who closes the first day of the festival. If for some inexplicable reason you’re not an Eminem fan, then why not check out Montreal’s very own The Barr Brothers. Their style is a kind of dusty Americana held together by excellent musicianship. If you’re already at Timber Timbre, who are slated to play an overlapping set, then you’d be remiss not to catch the last twenty minutes of The Barr Bros set because they’re up your woodsy alley.

On Saturday, pack a lunch and catch Braids and then head to see Merge Records’ The Mountain Goats. Expect a full-on dance party for the Lupe Fiasco set just after cocktail hour, and, for a change of pace, Death From Above 1979 is back in action with a live show that never disappoints. Seriously, their South By Southwest spectacle incited a riot that resulted in beer bottles being thrown at horses.

After, dash to see New York City’s Ratatat, but if you’d rather take it real easy check out what Conor Oberst has been up to while he plays in support of his new album, The People’s Key. If you can’t decide who you’d rather see, the great thing about Osheaga is that you can magically do both. Finally, the man and the legend Elvis Costello & The Imposters‘ close Saturday night with some grumpy greatness. This is your chance to see one of the greats in the flesh and I suggest you take it but consider pulling yourself away for a bit to see Toronto’s Fucked Up do what they do best.

Sunday is the last day of the festival, but that doesn’t mean the party winds down. It’s just getting started and it’s no surprise that Cypress Hill takes the stage at 4:20 sharp, am I right? From there, lounge in the evening sun until Beirut and if you’re into Canadiana, The Tragically Hip bring their catalogue that Canadians legally have to have memorised. Finally, The Flaming Lips close the entire festival by playing songs off of their most popular record, The Soft Bulletin, under a starry sky on a hot Montreal summer night. With so many bands, Osheaga has outdone itself yet again. Mark your calendar and pack a picnic.

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THE DETAILS

Osheaga, July 29-31, 2011

Osheaga in the City, July 27-30, 2011

The post OSHEAGA 2011 appeared first on Tourisme Montréal Blog.

July 8: Jolie Holland, whom fans will have loved since her work with the lovely group The Be Good Tanyas, provides a smooth, easy entry into the month, bringing her mildly twanged blend of roots, jazz and blues to the Cabaret Mile End.

July 8-9: U2 at the Hippodrome. The 2-night concert run so big they had to build it its own outdoor stadium. Seriously- I drove past it the other day and the structure itself is worth the price of admission. And if you thrown in the fact that some small rock outfit from Dublin is going to play a couple tracks you might have heard before, well, it seems like it might just be kind of a fun time.

July 11: A short time ago, The Black Keys were a group that music nerds loved but the world in general knew little about. 3 Grammy awards later (for their great album Brothers), the world caught on that this duo from Ohio was making some of the toughest, smartest rock out there. Befitting this audience embiggening, they play the Bell Centre. In my mind, this is the biggest concert of the month.

July 14: Taylor Swift is a teenager who writes and sings sweet country pop songs. Which would make you think that this show at the Bell Centre would only be on the radar of a select group of teens. But, as many grownfolk who listen to entirely respectably intelligent music have noticed, Swift is a skilled songwriter. Kanye didn’t want to let her finish and she appears not to be done by any stretch of the imagination.

July 23-24: Heavy MTL. Some people will see this as a Kiss concert with a lot of angry bands playing before them. Others will see this a Motorhead, Anthrax, Disturbed, Billy Talent and Gobsmack concert with some guys playing dressup after it. I wouldn’t want to get in the middle of those two groups.

July 23: Every month there seems to be two simultaneous concerts that seem to exist in diametric opposition to the other. This month, it is Heavy MTL happening at the exact same time as the Oprah-approved Josh Groban serenades your mom at Bell Centre.

July 26-27: Sir Paul McCartney, who plays the Bell Centre for two nights, explained recently that an ex-manager suggested he retire at age 50, almost 20 years ago. Instead of throwing in the towel, this timeless Beatle released 11 new albums and continued playing shows around the world.

July 27: The Glitch Mob are an electronic outfit from LA who put on a pretty incredible live show. They’ll be kicking off the Osheaga en Ville (“Osheaga in the city”) series at the SAT.

July 28: I first saw Gobble Gobble at Pop Montreal. It was a bunch of dudes running around in grass skirts and a dude with angel wings on the mic. And then it got weirder. And kind of awesome. They play with Grimes and Pat Jordache at Sala Rossa.

July 29-31: Osheaga. Eminem, Elvis Costello, Janelle Monae, Sam Roberts, Bright Eyes and much more. Obviously, we’ll be all over this.

July 30: DFA founder and LCD Soundsystem‘s James Murphy always puts on amazing show and his gig with fellow LCDer Pat Mahoney at Olympia is going to be the perfect party to shut down the month of July. Though none of The Muppets in the video below will be in attendance, this video makes me super happy.

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Ninja Tune artist and Montrealer Kid Koala is a prime example of the kind of multi-disciplinary creativity not uncommon in this city – he’s a musician, a DJ, an artist, a writer, an event organizer, an all-around cool guy, and Space Cadet reflects that. Coming to Osheaga in the week before acts such as The Flaming Lips, Broken Social Scene, Eminem, Elvis Costello and, oh, about 70 more bands get set to blow our minds, the Space Cadet Headphone Tour, part of Osheaga Arts, sets the tone for a friendly, fun time. But instead of music blasting from speaker stacks a mile high to a crowd of festival goers, all the sound comes through individual headphones as the audience lays back and relaxes in inflatable “space pods.”

As we recline in the awesome environment of architect Buckminster Fuller’s Biosphere, Kid Koala creates a new sonic storytelling environment using turntables, a piano and more. Experimental lighting artist Travis Flint adds an awing visual dimension to the music and singer-songwriter Terence Bernardo also performs a set. A Space Cadet Gallery accompanies the show, with installations, an “interactive Music Spaceship Console,” a Space Cadet Soundtrack Cassette Jukebox, and original etchboards from the Space Cadet graphic novel. And there will be cookies, to decorate an to eat. Which all sounds like the perfect arty evening out on the town, er, in the park, to me.

In addition to Kid Koala’s shows, Osheaga Arts features an exhibition by photographer Susan Moss, who’s made a name for herself capturing the action at all kinds events around town, from rock shows to roller derby. Her photos are up at Usine C (1345 Lalonde Ave.) starting July 21. And poster art has its day in Music on Paper, an international exposition of 15 silk-screen artists known for finding just the right images to represent bands in poster form – the show opens July 6 at 4220 du Saint-Jean Baptiste (4220 Drolet).

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THE DETAILS

Kid Koala’s Space Cadet Headphone Tour, Biosphere Environment Museum, July 15–17.

Osheaga Arts, July 6–31.

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