AWmusic

I must apologize in advance here for the lateness of this post. Being under the stress of certain events and tragedies that have just taken place in my life, I did not exactly have the time or patience to write my article concerning the 9th Annual Independent Music Awards yesterday.

Walking into the Royal York Fairmont Hotel at just around 8pm on Saturday, I found myself soaked in Rockstar 69 from a previous altercation that night. To say the least I would have to say that my car looked a lot worse than I did. I spent a good portion before the award show started in the bathroom just cleaning and grooming myself so I looked at least half presentable. I reeked of fruity alcohol for the latter part of the night, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from enjoying myself on a prestigious night such as this.

There were stars galore to be seen that night ranging from talent such as Bif Naked, to members of Papa Roach and Buckcherry. The list goes on to include names Jeremy Taggart of Our Lady Peace, Rich Beddoe of Finger Eleven, and all of Down With Webster. Most of the award nominees were there as well, including Lights, The Midway State, Hey Rosetta!, USS, Beast, and the list goes on. One thing I found disappointing was that although the Trews won an award that night they did not end up making an appearance at the show most likely due to their very busy schedule. Also on a side note here, although Dallas Green was nominated in almost every category being presented that night, he did not win a single award for any of his work done with City and Colour that year. I wasn’t even sure if he was there that night; I mean Dallas Green is one of the most hardworking names in Canadian music at the moment.

The performances during the first half of the night were cut short in comparison to those artists playing at the end of the night due to the intertwining of awards. I would have loved to see Hey Rosetta! or Midway State play a longer set, as they both played spectacular that night. All in all though, I can’t really complain here because looking at how long the night actually went, it would have been twice as long if any other artist had more time onstage.

One performer I had never heard of up until that night was Jon Lajoie. His performance was something I was not expecting in the least. He’s famous for his videos on YouTube where some have exceeded over eleven million views including one of his most famous videos entitled “Show Me Your Genitals”. This was my first time ever seeing Jon Lajoie perform anything in my life and I have to say that as soon as I got home I was typing his name into YouTube just so I could laugh some more. His songs are explicit and raunchy but they’re performed and sung in a way that you can’t help but crack a smile and laugh. His one song “Show Me Your Genitals” he performs as rap in which he wears hiked up shorts, a tucked in colorful shirt from the 80’s, a backwards Velcro strapped baseball cap, and some dollar store purchased plastic shades. His whole appearance totally adds to the absurdity and hilariousness of the actual song at hand, and near the ending of the song he breaks out into laughable break dancing. Personally I thought Jon Lajoie was definitely one of the biggest highlights of the entire night.
(Ed. note from Allan I can`t believe you haven`t seen his stuff… I`m just an everyday normal guy.. motherfucker)

The main attraction of the night came in one of Canada’s most famous metal icons, a band like no other, Anvil. A prestigious and antic filled metal band that hit the same chord as other bands at the time like Metallica, and Guns ‘N’ Roses; Anvil just never rose up to as much popularity outside of Canada. Their antics include everything from wearing bondage gear on stage to using a dildo to shred out some riffs on guitar. It’s just too bad the rest of the world never took full notice of them but tonight they were being honored at the Indies by being inducted into the Indies Hall of Fame. With this induction came a clip from their new documentary aptly titled “Anvil! The Story of Anvil”, and a one song set by the famous band. They played “Metal on Metal” and had the entire crowd singing along to the infamous song; it was really a site to behold.

The winners of the night were as follows:

Favourite Pop Artist/ Group of the Year – Midway State
Favouite Solo Artist of the Year – Lights
InDiscover.net Favourite Artist/Band Website of the Year – Hey Rosetta!
Favourite Video of the Year – The Trews
Favourite Group of the Year- USS
Astral Media Radio Favourite Single of the Year – Lights

These awards presented by various celebrities in the music business weren’t the only awards handed out that night. These were only a select few that had the honor of being presented in front of the audience, the rest such as favourite urban artist of the year and others were presented on screen quickly going through each to save time and make room for performances that night.

Another performance that I truly enjoyed that night was that of the Arkells. I love the fact that the vocals are so soulful, the guitar feels fresh, and everything just feels so crisp, it’s a rare thing to come by these days. The band has come a long way since their early days and are now even helping out other bands to get their kick start. With a record label like Dine Alone, they are pretty solid in the music industry now and getting bigger all the time. Their nominations here show proof of how far they have come, and how talented they really are. I just feel like they deserved a bigger set time than the half hour show they played.

The moment I was waiting for was coming shortly, but in the meantime a performance I felt that should have been shortened vastly was of Montreal based group Beast. I did not like their set or their music in the least. It was like some kind of acid trip gone wrong and my head was just spinning and pounding as they set a prolonged headache into my frontal lobe. I was bored during their entire performance, constantly looking at my watch waiting for the whole thing to be over, but it kept going on and on. I felt like passing out right then and there but then a miracle happened; it was finally over.

The moment of truth arrived in three letters; USS. They have been one of my favorite bands for a while now just because of their unpredictability on stage along with their use of various props that they bring on stage with them. Some of their props include various fruit, a blender, caution tape, a cut out of Kobe Bryant, a cut out of Albert Einstein and various other props they use to their advantage. Their whole performance is out of the ordinary and just so eclectic, there’s just no other way to describe it. They hop around on stage, they run around through the crowd and various other places, they spin on the ground while still playing, they’ll get on top of one another creating a totem pole, they’re just out of their minds, but that’s what makes it so perfect. The three songs I had been waiting for all night long had been “Hollowpoint Sniper Hyperbole”, “Laces Out”, and “2 and 15/16ths”. They did not disappoint and played each song and played them fantastically and as unusual as ever. Ashley Boo-Schultz and Human Kebab make one of the best Canadian duos ever and them winning the award for best group that night made me realize just how much they really deserved it.

Crystal Castles was up next on stage, but I’ve never really gotten into the band and having seen the band that I thought should have been headlining the whole show, I was basically set to go. I stayed for one song in respect for Crystal Castles and having the opportunity to attend this year’s Independent Music Awards and then I was on my way home.

I must say that I really enjoyed my whole trip to the 9th Annual Indies, it was an experience like no other, and I really hope I get a chance next year to attend maybe smelling and looking a lot better than I did that night. Canadian Music Week was something unlike anything I have ever experienced, full of new and old artists, some I’ve heard of before some I was listening to for the first time. All in all it was the craziest and most hectic week of my entire life but in saying that it was also the most fun I have ever had, and I am all giddy and excited as a little school girl for next year’s CMW. Until then I will just have to keep on trucking and be patient as next year should provide an ever better experience with plenty more opportunities to get inside the heads of some of Canada’s most prominent talent in music.

Never Again by The Midway State
Show Me Your Genitals by Jon Lajoie
Metal On Metal by Anvil
Oh! The Boss Is Coming by Arkells
Laces Out by USS

Tags: concert, feature