Osheaga 2014

California has Coachella, we have Osheaga! My adventures this year at Osheaga were certainly very fun, despite the extremely crowded festival site! Filled with a carefully crafted selection of some of the best bands, booths and food trucks, this festival certainly did not disappoint it’s festival-goers! Some of the headliners this year at the weekend-long festival were Outkast, Jack White, Lorde, Arctic Monkeys, Foster the People, HAIM, Band of Horses, Sam Roberts Band, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Chvrches. All the performers that I saw were amazing, but I did have my favourites of the day! Here’s a recap of my top moments on August 3rd, 2014 at Osheaga.Matt Mays was the first to perform on sunday, and he was great! The crowd hadn’t all arrived yet, and so it was intimate for a big stage performance, and the Canadian singer/songwriter was fantastic!Foxtrott, an up-and-coming techno-fusion project from right here in Montreal. Very interesting, and definitely captured the audience and took you into a fantastical, dreamy zone. Vance Joy, a recent favourite of mine, performed all of his best songs, including Emmylou and Riptide. Love, love, loved him!Kodaline performed a small, acoustic set a few hours before their actual performance. It was intimate, with a crowd of no more than 60 people, and their no-mics, no speakers rendition of All I Want had the entire crowd singing along.The Kooks, one of my favourite bands, didn’t fail to disappoint! They played their hits, and their energy was perfect for the hot, summer day! They had us all dancing to naive, Junk of The Heart and She Moves In Her Own Way.

Kodaline’s actual performance was also amazing. They had a fantastic set and their love for music made us love their fantastic music.Ah, my loves, Half Moon Run. They were the main reason as to why I chose sunday as the day to go to Osheaga. They are hands down one of my favourite bands and I was so happy to see them live for the first time. I swooned over their performances of Call me In The Afternoon and Need It, among others from the set.Showing my support!The H&M Loves Music Booth at Osheaga, equipped with purple umbrellas and pretty lights! 

See you all next year!

Phoenix & Albert Hammond Jr.

Last night, I had the privilege of seeing both Albert Hammond Jr. and Phoenix live at Metropolis in Montreal. What an amazing concert! Both bands wowed the crowd and had my friends and I dancing like crazy in front row!

The opening act was Albert hammond Jr., whom we saw at Jake Bugg. I had gotten these tickets for my friend Tiana as a birthday present, and we both knew it was because of Albert. He’s such a talented musician, and it’s all the better that he’s a Strokes member (one of our favourite bands)! This time, we were prepared for the band.  We arrived with signs, and he noticed us immediately. We basically had conversations with Albert and the lead guitarist Mikey. We became known as the front row girls, and Albert even shouted out a song for us, saying ‘this one’s for the girls in dresses’ (We were all three wearing dresses).

We didn’t think the night could get any better, and then Phoenix came on. WHOA. I saw them perform last year at Osheaga, but it must’ve been the front row vibes we were getting, because this was a performance. They tore up the stage. Thomas, the lead singer, almost crowd surfed three times and actually crowd surfed once, he grabbed my hand twice, and he sat down on the ledge right in from of the stage (and us) and sang to us. Not even a foot away. It was amazing.

After the concert, we (obviously) went to the back and met the members of the bands! Unfortunately, Albert had left, but we still met Mikey and Jeremy, his drummer, as well as three of the members of Phoenix.

 

Jeremy, drummer for Albert Hammond Jr.Mikey, lead guitarist of Albert Hammond Jr.Christian Mazzalai, guitarist/bassist for PhoenixDeck d’Arcy, guitarist/keyboards for PhoenixThomas Mars, lead singer of Phoenix

Old Montreal

I spent the day down in Old Montreal, also known as le Vieux Port (in french), strolling down Saint-Paul street to explore in the many art galleries. It’s such a beautiful part of town, and they have so many adorable restaurants, cafes, galleries and boutiques. If anyone is ever in Montreal, this is a must see location!

I took collection of photographs of things that caught my eye throughout the day. Looking back, I think I have a slight fetish for doors and logo typography for restaurants and shops… Anyways, enjoy!

Daughter: Live at the Corona

Last night was the night. The Daughter concert had officially arrived, and it was amazing. One of my good friends, Tiana, and I spent the day downtown, but headed to the venue at around 3:30 to wait in line to get front row. It was so much fun, and thank god it was a warm day because we waited outside for a good three and a half hours.

The concert started at 8pm, and we were front row, right in the centre! The opening band was a local find, Pang Attack. They were excellent! Reminded me a bit of The National, another great band. They played all the best songs from their newest EP, Dreamer’s Drug.

Daughter came on at around 9pm. Words can’t even describe how amazing they were. The time flew by, it felt as though they only played for five minutes! They performed with such passion and intense emotion, it was so beautiful. I was blessed to be in their presence.

Once the concert had ended, we stepped outside and ended up meeting the opening band. The best part, after the concert that is, was actually being able to meet Daughter. First, we met the bassist/keyboardist, Luke Saunders, and he was so sweet and polite. He singed my concert ticket, and we got to snap a pic together.

It really became the perfect night after I met lead singer Elena Tonra. She, playing a huge role in my life and being one of my greatest inspirations of all time, was such a beautiful person. Kind, sweet and extremely humble. I was so happy to have been able to meet her, speak to her, and even take a photo together. She too signed my ticket stub, and after I got the opportunity to hug her and tell her how much she meant to me, my life was complete.

It was truly one of the best nights of my life, and I am so grateful to have such an amazing friend who came along with me on my wonderful adventure. Special thanks to my dad as well, who waited around until I met Elena, and filmed the entire meet!

The opening band, Pang Attack.

Elena Tonra of Daughter

Igor Haefeli, guitarist/bassist of Daughter, You can also see Luke in the background as well.

Meeting the lead singer of Pang Attack.

We met, and spent time chatting with Luke Saunders of Daughter.

Meeting Elena Tonra of Daughter!

What an amazing memory! I will never forget these moments…

Dinner in the City

Last night, I went downtown for dinner with friends at local restaurant iBurger. This fancy, futur-esque burger joint is stocked up with electronic menus on the tabletops, and a variety of options for each meal. The concept is unique and creative, and I love it! Sure, it could use a few tweaks, but it was a really cool experience! Anyways, this one caught my eye; a sushi burger! It was stacked with two layers of rice (the bread), avocado (the lettuce), tuna tartare (the meat) and mango (hmm… a little extra!). It wasn’t your traditional burger, and you certainly needed to use a fork and knife, but boy was it good! I would definitely have it again. It was funny to have a sushi burger with fries, but it tasted surprisingly good. The french fries were delicious as well. The perfect mix between crispy and soft, they had the homemade fry taste. We all enjoyed our meals, and the service was fabulous.

Osheaga 2013

So this past weekend, I had the privilege of going to Osheaga, a Montreal Music Festival. This is a huge deal here in Montreal, and after having gone to it for the fifth time, I can say that it is officially a huge event. I still remember back to when it was only a two day event, and there were only about one fifth of the amount of people there were this weekend. It was amazing, and not even just because of the music!

The Venue

The Music

Some of the highlights of the night;

The Head and the Heart

Hyphen Hyphen

Ben Howard

Daughter! This was such an amazing moment, to see my idol live. I was in such shock when she started singing. The last song she performed, Youth, made me want to cry! And she was such a beautiful person. So humble, and so real. It was breathtaking.

Daughter (again)

Beach House

Some of the other highlights were Vampire Weekend, Ellie Goulding, Alt-J, The Cure, Phoenix, but the best by far, and its too bad I didn’t get a picture, was Capital Cities. They were fantastic and so much fun to watch!

Etc.

That’s me!

All the rave was for our new food trucks, and so we tried a grilled cheese from Le Cheese Truck. I must say, best grilled cheese I have ever had in my life (sorry Mom!).

My shoes 🙂

My ‘ink’. Didn’t realize until after it was done, but the first A is actually and upside down V. Très hipster.

H&M was a big part of Osheaga, and they had a huge kiosk with really awesome ideas, and one of them was printing instagram photos from the people at Osheaga. It was so cool!

These were the ones I had made 🙂

#Osheaga2013 Such a great weekend!

Mother Daughter Day

Yesterday, I spent the day downtown with my mom, the two artists that we are. We went down to Old Montreal to pass by the art galleries and get inspiration, while I was eager to stop inside the cute clothing shops around town. I had my camera, as per usual, to document our adventures.

Here are just a few pics I took while we were walking and talking, and window shopping of course.

Mom, observing the beautiful paintings in front of her.

Two of my favorite stores, Steve’s music and Simon cameras.

This was a special treat! We went to one of my favorite stores in Montreal, Papeterie Nota Bene.

After our shopping day, I was so excited when the idea came up of going to the… The Great Gatsby! So, we packed up our things and drove down to the movie theatre. The film was amazing, especially for me who read the book, and I totally recommend it to everyone!

{Credit: Warner Bros}

Brandy Melville Store Opening!

 

My fellow Montrealers, we have a new store in our midst. Located in the heart of downtown shopping, on Ste Catherine Street, is the brand new Brandy Melville store. This, one size fits most LA brand has decided to open their third Canadian store, the first two being in Toronto and Vancouver. I was enthralled to finally visit the store, after its official opening last friday. I must say, although the selection was not as great as online, and the prices were quite a bit higher than their website, it was still a great store.

The perfect location, and the store was decorated beautifully. They took in all of the space and made it very unique, with wood walls and various posters and signs all across the store. I almost purchased one written ‘Fashionista’, however I quickly realized it should be my new DIY project. The dressing rooms were also very creative. Some walls were filled with pages torn out of old books and magazines, while others had pieces of fabric scattered across the white walls. The entire space was very well laid out, and I loved the atmosphere.

I went in the change room with six pieces, and I left with two. I am very happy with the two that I purchased though! They were truly adorable! I got a black dress, with a low, open back, and a thin light blue tank top, with braided straps and semi-high cut. The dress was $38, and the tank was $18.

Overall, I was very happy with my purchases and my experience at the store. If i were to fill out a comment card, I would rate it very high.

 

Montreal Location: 1188 Ste Catherine Street West

{Photo: My own, thanks iphone!}