On the way to Osheaga: Young crowd invades métro

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This not-so-long and not-so-winding road to Osheaga begins at the Vendôme métro station.

I spot three people outside Vendôme and it’s immediately clear where they’re headed. They’re the right age — let’s just say they wouldn’t look out of place on a university campus — but the real giveaway is they look like they’re ready for one great party. They’re most definitely not on their way to work.

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It’ll be a party, but it’s also about checking out new music, they said.

“I like the amount new artists you can discover,” said Christina De Angelis. “Obviously, you get drawn in by the names you know and then there’s quite a few you don’t know. That’s what intrigues me.”

Her faves on Friday include alt-rock band The Backseat Lovers and hip-hop star Joey Bada$$.

Her friend Kieran King has been going to Osheaga for years, first with his parents and now with is pals.

“An outdoor concert is so much fun,” said King, who works as a waiter at the N.D.G. restaurant/wine bar Entre d’Eux. “I find it a lot better than an indoor one. Also whoever is curating the artists is doing a great job of creating a balance.”

Inside Vendôme, it seems only appropriate in this week of Montreal train glitches, that the automated machine to add rides to your bus/metro pass isn’t working, and so the STM staffer inside the ticket booth is forced to help about 20 people at the same time. As the train goes toward Berri-UQAM, more and more Osheaga-ers hop on.

But the Osheaga vibe really ramps up at Berri, where all the festival-goers flock in the same direction, toward the Yellow Line going to Jean-Drapeau Park. In the tunnel is where the screaming and yelling starts. Some unfortunate souls are going in the wrong direction in the tunnel, headed from the Yellow Line train, walking single-file, literally pushed up against the wall.

Then comes the crush to squeeze into the train to the island.

“We have to make sure we get in, so PUSH,” says one guy to his friend.

Packed in like sardines — or maybe fans at the front of a stage at a music fest — someone else shouts: “Are we all on?”

The final destination is the Jean-Drapeau station, and most more or less dash toward the festival site.

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Among those hanging out outside the métro is Aoife O’Connor, originally from Ireland and here with a bunch of friends she met while working in Banff.

“We just decided to have a big blow-out trip,” O’Connor said. “Two of us our visas are ending and we’re leaving Canada. I’m going to Australia. Montreal is a city we always wanted to go to and we came early to spend some time here. We arrived Wednesday and we’ve had a bit of fun. It’s beautiful. The bar scene and food scene is incredible. It’s very European. I’ve heard about (Osheaga) since I moved to Canada. It’s got a nice lineup, a really good location. People are friendly. I’ve been to a few music festivals in North America where it’s been a bit of a disappointment.”

Florence Mercadal, who moved to Montreal from France two years ago, was dying to see French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura and was seriously disappointed when the artist cancelled her Friday night appearance earlier this week.

“It was a huge disappointment, but there are loads of other artists I love, like Rüfüs du Sol, Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish,” said Mercadal. “So we’ll still have fun.”

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Then she started laughing and said she gets three nights off from taking care of her three-and-a-half year-old daughter, so it’s basically a weekend vacay.

Kayla Thibeault works as a waitress at The Blind Pig pub on Ontario St. in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and she won two tickets to the fest at the bar, which is why she was here with her friend Rosalie Deschênes.

“Sometimes the summer goes by so fast and we don’t have a chance to take part in the cool things that are happening in our city,” said Deschênes.

Some were disappointed by the Nakamura cancellation, but Thibeault and Deschênes were actually excited that Quebec star Charlotte Cardin would be replacing Nakamura on Friday evening. Plus, the price was right for them.

bkelly@postmedia.com

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