the day wasn’t going to be flawless. i left my wallet at home and had to use my costco card as id.
“there’s no shame in it,” the welcoming staff member told me. “when my mom sends me to costco, i’m all in.”
less than half an hour later, the dramatic, heavy black eyeliner wings jillian had crafted melted down my eyelashes toward my cheeks. “it’s emo,” she assured me.
and despite following the three rules of osheaga — hydrate, hydrate, hydrate — i eventually succumbed to heat exhaustion and had to find one of the misting stations asher and stevie were so fond of.
we fell into a rhythm: walk, eat, walk, sit, walk — oh, ferris wheel. there, up at the top, is where the good breeze had been hiding all along.
it was the last chill breath of air we’d get before arriving at the main stage, a maze of fans sporting high tops or cowboy boots, glitter and good cheer. that’s where the rest of the tweens and teens were found. throngs of them. vibrating with excitement. the elder melanialls — and one awesome dad — made space for them.
melanie martinez fans jillian, wearing the black mask, and her friend hayden at osheaga at parc jean-drapeau in montreal on friday, aug. 2, 2024.
dave sidaway
/
montreal gazette
i was less than an hour away from another bout of heat exhaustion when the giant bunnies appeared. there was a moment i assumed they were some sort of heat dream or mirage. the kids recognized them, though: they were the bunny doctors, characters with rabbit heads and human bodies that were created by martinez during her cry baby era.