Chappell Roan tops breakthrough acts to catch at Osheaga 2024

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Alert: Osheaga is upon us. The 17th edition of Montreal’s masses-magnet music fest takes over Parc Jean-Drapeau from Friday, Aug. 2 to Sunday, Aug. 4. More than 90 performers will tag-team on five stages over three days, enthralling the throngs with sounds ranging from rock to hip hop, electronic and pop.

And while the headliners — rousing folk phenom Noah Kahan, pop-punk pioneers Green Day and wry R&B star SZA — get top billing, closing out each day by gathering seemingly everyone in attendance around the main stages, the rest of the weekend is a playground of musical discovery.

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Osheaga is not only the place to take in the biggest music acts of the present moment, but to see the soon-come wave of next big things, some of whom have already arrived. Many of the festival’s artists get booked six to nine months in advance, making putting the lineup together a game of chance as social media and hive-mind buzz converge to crown new music royalty in the blink of an eye.

As a prime example, look no further than Kahan. It’s been a meteoric rise for the Vermont TikTok sensation, who in June 2023 played two packed nights at the 2,000-capacity MTelus before returning in March of this year to the Bell Centre, with his Osheaga headlining slot just five months away. And judging by the size and volume of the singalongs at the Bell Centre, he’s ready to meet the moment.

For those seeking the inside scoop on this year’s big-buzz acts, here are five performers poised to break out at Osheaga this year.

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Chappell Roan (3:30–4:15 p.m., Sat., Bell River Stage) 

The excitement around American pop juggernaut Chappell Roan is so huge right now, her mid-afternoon set is already threatening to become one of the weekend’s show-stealing highlights.

“We saw her perform in Austin last year and we were just blown away,” said Osheaga director Nick Farkas. “She was channelling Lady Gaga. Not a lot of frontmen or women have that big on-stage presence. It’s not something you can teach. Her show was so over the top.”

Farkas and his programming team made Roan an offer upon returning to the hotel that evening.

“We just had a feeling she was going to be big,” he said. “We have some of the best ears in the city on our booking team; people can just tell when something is good. We have a pretty good track record at picking bands that are about to blow up, and that is definitely one; she’s going to be massive.”

Some might be wondering why Osheaga programmers don’t bump Roan up to a more prestigious evening slot.

“It’s not as easy as people think,” Farkas explained. “We establish lineup positions when tickets go on sale. If we move (Roan) up on the schedule, someone is moving down. And people aren’t like, ‘Move me down on the roster — so and so is getting bigger than me.’ The only way that happens is if somebody cancels.”

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Ayra Starr (4:05-4:50 p.m., Sun., Bell River Stage) and Steven Sanchez (5:35-6:20 p.m., Sun., Bell River Stage) 

“Some stuff is starting blow up,” Farkas said, looking down the rest of this year’s Osheaga lineup. “I think Ayra Starr and Stephen Sanchez are going to be really big. They’re already getting there.”

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Nigerian Afrobeats phenom Starr has begun to break through with her new album The Year I Turned 21, bringing an aura of prophesy to her ambition to make it “one of the greatest Afrobeats albums to ever be released,” as she told Billboard. She has reached one billion streams on Spotify and received a Grammy nomination for best African music performance for her song Rush, the video for which has an impressive 366 million views.

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Sanchez, who is also 21, acts, sounds and sings like a new-school Elvis meets Roy Orbison. The video for his retro ballad Until I Found You (featuring Marilyn Monroe lookalike Jeri Mae James) has been viewed more than 350 million times on YouTube, while the song has garnered 2 billion streams and 4 million TikTok videos.

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Romy (7-8 p.m., Fri., Coca-Cola Island Stage) and Jungle (8:15-9:15 p.m., Sun., belairdirect Valley Stage) 

If one were to try to pinpoint where the biggest dance parties will break out over the weekend, a good bet would be at the mid-evening sets by veteran British indie-singer Romy on Friday and fellow U.K. club crew Jungle on Sunday.

“So many things are happening in electronic music,” Farkas said, name-dropping the two acts. “It’s just really a lot of fun. It’s exciting to see it happening.”

Released last fall, Romy’s debut solo release Mid Air is an intimate collection of clubland pop hymns that hearken back to the gay clubs of the ‘90s. “I really love that record,” Farkas said. The album was co-produced by Fred Again (who gave one of the most memorable performances of Osheaga in 2023) and Stuart Price, best known for his production work on Madonna’s acclaimed 2005 comeback, Confessions on a Dance Floor.

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Jungle is the brainchild of London duo Tom McFarland and Joshua Lloyd-Watson. The group’s fourth album Volcano is just that — a visceral explosion of ‘70s funk, soul and disco-inspired dance music ready to detonate any dance floor. To wit, check out their infectious hit Back on 74, the one-take video for which features a dizzying array of moves to add to your repertoire.

The 17th Osheaga Music and Arts Festival takes place Aug. 2 to 4 at Parc Jean Drapeau. For tickets and information, visit osheaga.com

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