Osheaga Day Two: Circle Pits with Turnstile, Surprise from Angine de Poitrine, Rap Legend in the Making with Little Simz, And More
Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder) - Turnstile @ Osheaga
Saturday at Osheaga, rising artists stepped confidently onto some of the festival's biggest stages, with established acts reminding audiences why they've remained festival favourites for decades. Everything from UKG to hardcore found a home across Parc Jean-Drapeau. Ottawa’s fanclubwallet welcomed new fans into their whimsical universe, Turnstile turned the Valley Stage crowd into not one but three circle pits, and Franz Ferdinand proved their catalogue remains timeless. Saturday showcased the remarkable range that has made Osheaga one of North America's most adventurous festivals with bold programming that warrants some tough choices when building your schedule. Here’s what we saw:
fanclubwallet
From seeing fanclubwallet in a tiny pub in Newfoundland earlier this year to a mid-sized stage at Sled Island, it was genuinely heartwarming to watch Hannah Judge and company step onto one of Osheaga's biggest stages with an audience ready to discover their next favourite band.
Judge has a way of making even a festival crowd feel intimate. Their songs wrap around you like a warm hug, while the multimedia visuals—whimsical hand-drawn stars, clouds, and cartoon sketches drifting across the screens—pull audiences deeper into fanclubwallet's world during songs like "Guts" and "Cotton Mouth."
Before closing, Judge asked if anyone in the audience was celebrating a birthday. A chorus of cheers erupted. Whether it was true or not almost didn't matter. As the band launched into "Me Time," it somehow felt like everyone had something worth celebrating. - Jess Arcand
ECCA VANDAL
The afternoon quickly shifted into heavier territory with Ecca Vandal. Comparisons to Turnstile inevitably follow the South African-born, Melbourne-based artist, especially after the success of "CRUISING TO SELF SOOTHE," and programming the two acts on the same day felt almost inevitable.
But reducing Vandal to those comparisons overlooks just how eclectic her music really is. Tracks like "CAME HERE FOR THE LOOT" and "BLEACH" blend alternative rock, trap and bhangra influences into something entirely unexpected.
Naturally, "CRUISING TO SELF SOOTHE" sparked the biggest pit of the afternoon, but the highlight wasn't just the 2:30pm moshing — it was spotting dads with kids perched on their shoulders jogging around the edge of the circle pit, and a swarm of young girls at the front who felt representation in their favourite genre, singing along to every word. It was a reminder that heavy music can still be surprisingly wholesome and impactful. - Jess Arcand
Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder) - Ecca Vandal @ Osheaga
Angine de Poitrine
Angine de Poitrine were rumoured to be Osheaga's mystery main stage 4:30 p.m. act long before it was announced. Reddit detectives had noticed a suspicious gap in the band's touring schedule following Newport Jazz Festival, and speculation spread quickly.
By the time festival gates opened, the secret was effectively out. The merch tent was already stocked with the band's unmistakable polka-dot alien faces and fans were adorned in cosplay to follow suit, just in case.
We squeezed near the barricade beside rows of glitter-covered Tate McRae fans patiently waiting for the night's headliner. As the aliens casually wandered onto the Bell River Stage to set up their own equipment, greeting Montreal in their wonderfully indecipherable language before opening with "Yor Zarad," confusion spread through parts of the front row. Several fans couldn't understand why everyone else had backed away from the barricade and they were about to find out.
Triangle hands immediately shot into the air throughout the audience. For longtime fans, the surprise booking was a triumph. For everyone else, it became one of the most delightfully bizarre introductions to one of Canada's fastest-rising bands — even the Tate McRae fans lining the barricade were won over by their performance, even though that couldn't have been more different from what they were waiting for. - Jess Arcand
Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder) - Angine de Poitrine @ Osheaga
AJ Tracey
UKG artist AJ Tracey brought us back to the belairdirect Valley stage, bringing high energy right from the start. Joined on stage by only his DJ, he initially apologized to the audience for not having a full live band behind him, but the crowd couldn't have cared less. Fans were far too busy dancing, singing along, and moshing to pay attention to who was on stage with him. I honestly didn't expect a mosh pit to open up during an AJ Tracey set, but that unpredictable energy is exactly what makes OSHEAGA so special.
Beyond performing fan-favourite solo tracks like “Seoul” and saving his signature anthem “Ladbroke Grove” for a triumphant closing moment, Tracey treated the crowd to a rapid-fire speedrun of his biggest collaboration tracks. Hearing snippets of hits like “Rain” (featuring Aitch) and the iconic “Thiago Silva” (featuring Dave) allowed him to give the crowd maximum music in a limited timeframe, leaving everyone excited for what was to follow. - Gabrielle Cadiang
LITTLE Simz
Dripped out in an Avatar: The Last Airbender Aang t-shirt, jorts, and a Las Vegas Raiders hat, Little Simz put on a phenomenal set. Her performance was split into three distinct acts, bridged by a "Club Simbi" segment between the two live sets — a mid-show DJ set that she kicked off with "Mood Swings” and ended with “Open Arms” from her 2026 EP Sugar Girl.
What was most admirable about Simz’s set was how interactive she was with her band. Hyping them up at every opportunity, the entire performance felt like a continuous exchange of gratitude. She saved two of her biggest anthems for the grand finale, closing out the night with "Woman" (which she dedicated to the girls in the audience) and "Gorilla." Ending on such heavy hitters left the crowd on an absolute high, cementing her set as one of the standout moments of the day.
- Gabrielle Cadiang
Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder) - Little Simz @ Osheaga
Viagra Boys
Viagra Boys delivered one of Saturday's best—and perhaps most underrated—performances. Opening with "Man Made of Meat," Sebastian Murphy immediately took command of the stage, shirtless and dancing like everyone's favourite drunk uncle at the pub.
During "Punk Rock Loser," Murphy fearlessly crowd-surfed despite one of the steepest festival stages imaginable, while "Sports" found him jumping onto the edge of the barricade, dropping for at least fifteen push-ups before collapsing onto the stage in a puddle of sweat.
Backed by stacks of graffiti-covered Marshall amps, Oskar Carls' blistering saxophone work, and Murphy's unmistakable dirtbag charisma, Viagra Boys proved that it doesn't matter how big the stage is — they're going to make it their bitch. - Jess Arcand
Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder) - Viagra Boys @ Osheaga
Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand eased the festival into nightfall with "The Dark of the Matinée," opening a set that leaned heavily on the band's landmark self-titled debut. While fans of Tonight may have wished for more than "No You Girls," there was little room to complain once the hits started arriving.
Alex Kapranos remains one of indie rock's great frontmen, still pulling off his signature split-kick and leading the band through perfectly synchronized movements that feel as choreographed today as they did two decades ago.
Speaking flawless French between songs, Kapranos eventually convinced the entire audience to crouch to the ground before exploding upward as the band launched into "This Fire." By the time thousands shouted, "This fire is out of control," it was impossible not to be reminded why Franz Ferdinand became one of the defining bands of the indie sleaze era. More than twenty years later, their style, poise, and witty songwriting that made their debut album so influential remain almost entirely intact. - Jess Arcand
Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder) - Franz Ferdinand @ Osheaga
Turnstile
It’s been a long time coming for Turnstile. After kicking off their set with “NEVER ENOUGH” frontman Brendan Yates told the crowd that on the dot, thirteen years ago, Turnstile played their first ever show in Montreal at Death House. Turnstile’s set was the highlight of my evening and possibly the highlight for most of the crowd at belairdirect Valley Stage, with murmurs from the front that they were “ready to cry their eyes out”.
Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder) - Turnstile @ Osheaga
Their set featured heavy-hitting tracks like “Drop” from their 2015 album Nonstop Feeling alongside “I Don’t Wanna Be Blind” from 2018’s Time and Space. They also played tracks from both NEVER ENOUGH and GLOW ON. Bassist Franz Lyons routinely commanded the floor to open up the pit, while the gigantic screens flanking the stage broadcast a mix of live overhead footage and close-ups of fans moshing in real time, and even a few kiss cam moments. The operators would also feature young kids who were more than likely experiencing Turnstile for the first time.
To be honest, and maybe I’m biased. I've been a fan for nine years and consider myself a self-proclaimed "Reverie Turnstile super-fan", but even a first-timer would admit they completely stole the show. It was easily one of the most electric (and sweatiest!) sets I've ever experienced this OSHEAGA. Turnstile has a unique gift for whipping a crowd into such a frenzy that you can't help but enjoy it, purely off the shared passion in the pit. - Gabrielle Cadiang
Photo credit: Shannon Johnston (@me_onlylouder) - Turnstile @ Osheaga
