Juno you won’t want to go home
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The Junos are coming, the Junos are coming.
The Junos, Canada’s annual orgy of music supremacy, rolls into the capital tomorrow, and for the next week, Ottawa will be the centre of the musical universe.
Indie, rap, folk, hip hop, metal, jazz, classical, aboriginal bands, name your brand, they’ll be here. So too will fans from across this fair land and around the world. The city will resemble a United Nations of cool.
And though our stars may not have the recognizable star-power as our American cousins, they are generally a lot more fun. So what you can’t name most of the top nominees — Dan Mangan, Dallas Green, The Sheepdogs. these Canadian dudes know more about having a good time than any other prima donna pop star anywhere.
Take that, Beyonce!
For the next seven days, there will be more music happening here than anywhere else in Canada. Live shows will be going on later than a Guns ‘N Roses gig. And the normally-industrious people of Ottawa will be there every step of the way because it is the Junos and only comes to town every nine years — the last time they were here was 2003 when Shania Twain hosted.
The capital proved to be a gracious host. Drinking hours were extended from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. because no one wanted to go home. At the same time, there was also a sense that this was a historic occasion. I remember seeing MP Sheila Copps and then-Ottawa mayor Bob Chiarelli at Barrymores to see Cuff The Duke, Fiftymen and Kathleen Edwards. I saw city councillors — the cool ones like Jan Harder, Maria McRae and Clive Doucet — hanging out with Blue Rodeo and k-os. With company like that, no one was in the mood to go home early.
I remember sneaking out of Social for a smoke and talking to Lynn Miles about her music for half an hour. The next night, I caught up with old buddies Glenn Milchem and James Gray from Blue Rodeo.
It was a dizzying experience, and it’s as close as we’ll ever get to Mardi Gras, a time when we throw out most of the rules and enjoy ourselves as much as we can before the big show packs up and moves on to Regina in 2013.
You too can have that quintessential Juno experience at JunoFest, when for two nights, Friday and Saturday, 100 bands from across Canada will play 15 clubs around the Market. Shows I’m really looking forward to most are The Good Lovelies, The Beauties with Oh Susanna, Jenn Grant, Daniel Romano, Cuff The Duke’s Wayne Petti, Jim Cuddy and others at Mavericks on Friday, March 30; Philly Moves, D-Sisive and Swollen Members at Babylon on Saturday, March 31; The Lake Effect, Call, Orienteers and Fiftymen at the Elmdale on Saturday; Harlan Pepper and Deep Dark Woods (if you like bluegrass) at The Lounge on Saturday.
Two things Ottawa loves most, hockey and Canadian rock music, collide when hockey-playing rock stars like Barney Bentall, Sloan’s Chris Murphy and Sam Roberts square off against former NHL players Gary Roberts, Laurie Boschman and Paul Coffey for the JUNO Cup at the Nepean Sportsplex on Friday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m..
It’s good for a laugh.
By the time they roll out the red carpet at Scotiabank Place on Sunday at 3 p.m., I hope to be in my pajamas watching the festivities on CTV. For a full schedule of events visit junoawards.ca.
denis.armstrong@sunmedia.ca
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