The Juno Awards are usually an eye roll away from being completely unwatchable, but last night’s celebrations in Hamilton had more good than bad: high-energy performances from Kiesza, The Arkells and Hall of Fame inductee Alanis Morissette showcased the strength of live music in our fair country. Plus, newer artists garnered a ton of support, with The Weeknd snagging two trophies and The Arkells picking up an award.
But if you went to bed with Rude by MAGIC! numbing your brain to sleep: you’re not alone. When stacked against Alanis’s powerful medley closer to the end of the show, the rest of the show’s lineup seemed sadly unmemorable – a reminder of CanCon’s mediocrity.
Below, find out what was good, what was bad and, of course, the ugly:
The good
Calgary’s Kiesza won a well-deserved three awards for Video of the Year, Breakthrough Artist and Dance Recording. The Weekend won best R&B/Soul Recording and, interestingly, Artist of the Year, beating out Canadian legend Leonard Cohen and, strangely, Bryan Adams. It was a pleasant surprise compared to previous years where new, innovative artists were ignored.
And live music has a bright future in this country. The Arkells clearly got off on playing to their hometown and winning Rock Album of the Year for High Noon, rousing the crowd with a sweaty rendition of Come to the Light. Kiesza had no Grammy-like backing track for her vocals when she performed her medley. Even Hedley, who are terrible, sounded decent.
The bad
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Alanis Morissette performs medley featuring Uninvited, You Oughta Know and Thank You.
All hail Alanis, who celebrated the 20th anniversary of Jagged Little Pill by getting inducted into the Hall of Fame and blowing away FirstOntario Centre by sounding just as great as she did the first time around. But let’s face it: there’s something special that fuels the songwriting and production on that record.
Others have already pointed out that the Juno Awards fail to appreciate what makes Canadian music good. Requesting weirdness at the Junos is a bit like hoping The Pixies will reunite at the Grammys, but hearing Alanis effortlessly bring those powerful, emotionally intense songs back to life really made everyone else look like watered down amateurs with nothing to say.
The ugly
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Magic! performs No Way No and Rude.
Fortunately, lots of cool acts won, just not on television: Bahamas, Caribou and Tanya Tagaq all picked up trophies, but they grabbed them the night before at the Gala Dinner & Awards. By relegating the actual best of Canadian music to the sidelines while bowing down to bands like Hedley, the Juno Awards and the government bodies that subsidize it fail to truly showcase the country’s future Hall of Famers.
Find the full list of winners here.
kater@nowtoronto.com | @katernow
