Junos Week Wraps Up

Well, in case you didn't know, the Junos were held in Halifax this week, culminating in the televised awards tonight. I didn't end up going, seeing as the only tickets available were from scalpers looking for $200+ each...

BUT, I did go to the free concert held in the Grand Parade Thursday night. Me and 15,000 of my closest friends! I headed down with Annie from undergrad chem, and our friend Lisa. We showed up during Jimmy Rankin's set (unfortunately, we missed Garrett Mason, the opening act). Eventhough I'd never heard any of his songs (except his closer, the Rankin Family hit, "You Feel the Same Way Too"), he was great, and did well to keep the crowd pumped up as the sun went down.


After Jimmy, Joel Plaskett took to the stage. He was great, and probably my favourite act of the night. That guy loves his job as a performer, and that love really came out in his act. Plus, he played my most favouritest song by him, "Love This Town". I managed to grab a short clip of it on my camera.




The next group was Matt Mays & El Torpedo. They played the great "Cocaine Cowgirl", and plenty of songs that were new to me. Another great band, and by this time, the crowd was plenty rowdy (for good and for bad). A few crowd surfers, and plenty of people drinking and smoking, but still lots of fun.


The headliners of the night were The Trews. Another damn fine group! These guys were rocking to a very enthusiastic crowd, and did not fail to deliver. Unfortunately, we were getting tired and sore from the big crowd, so we headed out before they finished their set.


The Juno fun didn't stop there, though. Friday night was the Juno Cup, an annual hockey game between the Rockers (music industry folks and musicians) vs. the All-Stars (former NHLers and local stars). I headed down to the Forum with Annie and Lisa and Lisa's sister Janine. The cup is held as a charity event for MusiCan, to ensure music programs are available in Canadian schools. Michael Lansberg (TSN) and Chris Murphy (of Sloan) were the MCs of the event, and kept a constant, sometimes uncomfortable, running commentary throughout the game.
The highlights for me were the celebrity coaches: Mr. Lahey and Randy for the Rockers team, Julian for the All-Stars team (all three of Trailer Park Boys fame, and they were complemented on the ice by Ricky and Bubbles, both playing for the All-Stars). Another highlight was Measha Brueggergosman scoring a penalty shot goal, though she could barely skate. That really got the crowd going! And who knew Bubbles was such a good player? He scored one, and could have scored a few more, had Alan Doyle (of Great Big Sea) and Sami Jo Small (member of the Women's Gold Medal winning Hockey team) hadn't been in nets for the Rockers. But sadly, the All-Stars ended up winning the game 12-11, to increase their undefeated status to all 3 years the JunoCup has been played.

Well, in case you hadn't noticed, I had a great time at these extra-curricular events to the Junos, and that's because I really love Canadian music. And a big part of that is CBC Radio 3 and their weekly podcast (here's a good one to start with, host Grant Lawrence's Best of 2005). Before I started listening to it almost a year ago, I had no idea there were so many incredible musicians in Canada! If you have any interest in discovering some great independent music, ranging from acoustic to rock to rap, and all things in between, check out the site and podcast. Also, New Music Canada has thousands of independent musicians and their best songs all avialable for free! I've spent many a night just throwing together some kick-ass playlists of songs from the site. And for those of you who like live shows, might I suggest Just Concerts, now called the Concerts & Sessions section? Another great music resource, that has just recently changed over, but will be expanded soon.

ps. Check out my Junos pictures by depressing a mouse button while hovering over this series of text.