I hope all is well with you on this glorious day for Canadian music. That's right: today's the day we find out who wins the 2008 Polaris Music Prize and I'm blogging from the gala right now! Because technology is the way (of the future) and the light. See below if you need a quick refresher of who's up for this prestigious award.
10:14 PM EST - CARIBOOOOOOUU!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOO! I am so happy! I hope you'll pick up Andorra soon! Thanks for your support here folks and for listening! I have to catch a bus back to Guelph but we'll talk again soon! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
10:05 PM EST - Holy cats, Holy F**k just kinda slayed the stage. That "Lovely Allen" just lifts you up off your feet so, when you go see Holy F**k, bring a buddy and employ the "trust" rule, where they catch you if you fall. It must be weird playing music this energetic to tipsy musicians who are sitting down. They're all flailing about and mixing the sound of themselves as they go! It's awesome! I can barely stuoype! because I'nm dancing too muych!
9:58 PM EST - Yes yes y'all! How about that Shad?! I loved that set. Have you seen the video for "The Old Prince Still Lives at Home" yet? After this broadcast, check that link. It's awesome! I'm still hoping for either Shad or Caribou for this award. Actually, I've seen some jurors walking around, including our own Lana Gay, which means some kinda decision has been made, right? Shad's making a nice speech and his sister's getting married in a week. You know, 20 Gs will pay for some fine catering...Grant's saluting record labels right now. Oh my, Holy F**k are gonna hit the stage soon. One of the best live bands on the planet, for sure. Hmmm, they're playing some kind of sarcastically cheesy and purposefully antiquated instructional video about how the Polaris Prize works. Oh irony; you must be tired old man. Grant is back and he's introducing the host of MTV Live, Johnny Hockin. Here comes Holy F**k! Hold onto your potato!!!
9:43 PM EST - Wow, that was a great Black Mountain set and a great speech as well. Grant just wished us Rosh Hashanah. That was nice. He just gave an inflammatory introduction for music writer/presenter Brendan Murphy who intro'd a loud pre-recorded video performance by Montreal's Stars. I'm not a fan of Stars at all but this sounds nice. Nice inspirational speech by Arts & Crafts' Kieran Roy too. Oh Grant's about to introduce writer Addi Stewart who will in turn introduce one of my personal picks for this prize, Shad. Addi's nailing it man, The Old Prince is dope front to back! I'm excited about Shad hitting the stage. I'm guessing he's gonna play "Compromise!" Yay, here he comes man!
9:29 PM EST - Okay, no foolin' now, as soon as Black Mountain hit the stage, my earplugs went in. Man alive, they're loud and powerful as hell. Oh, they're bringing it down all of a sudden but I have a feeling they're going to harsh my mellow again, soon enough. Here they go. This is pretty awesome man. All eyes are on stage and a bunch of hair is flailing about. I'm gonna stand up for this. BRB. Oh, is that echo one of you heard gone yet?
9:19 PM EST - Steve Jordan just got the bad news that Mike Pleau, owner of the Alberta-based independent record stores, Megatunes passed away this week, and so Steve dedicated the rest of the night to Mike. Very sad and very nice that we could do that. Steve then introduced a pre-taped video performance of Caribou. Holy lord, what an amazing band Dan Snaith has with Caribou. Have you seen Caribou?! I saw them on the first leg of the Andorra tour and it truly was one of the most mind-blowing spectacles I've ever witnessed. Dan himself is just an incredible musician who plays every instrument perfectly. Again, people are talking over the video. They haven't come all the way down here to watch TV now, have they? Oh, Dan's gonna make a speech now. He's pretty shy and he kept it short and sweet. Dan's the man and I'm still pulling for him or Shad to win this thing.
9:04 PM EST - Laura Thompson introduced Montreal's Plants and Animals and the crowd went nuts! Now some of them are chatting as they break into a song from Parc Avenue. They're missing a great performance, I tells ya. There's some kind of wacky film projection behind the band. Hey, thanks for your comments as I'm going here. This is kinda fun! Oh wow, Plants and Animals just blasted off a bit! That'll show them talkers. Toronto crowds talk a lot at shows so I'm not too surprised by this. I'm at the back of the room though. The artists and folks at tables are all watching intently. I may grab some earplugs damn it. This is blowing my mind. I like it when a band just starts kicking ass all of a sudden. This is a great performance.
8:55 PM EST - After a very tasteful proclamation of love for punk rock, George Stroumboulopoulos brought Kathleen Edwards to the stage. A lot of people I know were surprised that Kathleen made this list. That's because she's still one of the most underrated songwriters we've got going these days. She's got the crowd in her hands right now, as Jim Bryson plays some hot licks. There was some kind of tech issue during "Asking for Flowers" I guess. Uh oh. Kathleen just blamed the "shitty backline." Hopefully the sound people don't make her pay for that one. If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's always keep the sound people happy. They can kill you with their fingertips. They're like ninjas man! "The Cheapest Key" sounds pretty good, with Jim on keys. Aw, Kathleen just made a very nice speech celebrating her fellow nominees and talking about what drives musicians to do the work they do. Very nice.
8:43 PM EST - Oh boy. Ongoing historian of music, Alan Cross is making a speech about Canada and music. He's a walking encyclopedia of music of course, but he also sounds like a talking encyclopedia, know what I'm sayin'?. Oh, I'm just kidding. A little. Alan gave a very warm speech introducing a video performance of The Weakerthans, "live" at the Dakota.
Uh oh. What the hell? The video link isn't working! A snag! Oh no! I hear Craig talking about it now. He sounds a bit like God in the Phoenix. What? It's true. This place has flattering acoustics. Oh, the video is working again and The Weakerthans are playing "Night Windows" It's uh, a little too loud. The room is vibrating. Oh, they fixed it. Someone just patted me on the shoulder and said "Hi Vish." I'm in the dark man! I can't see anything! Who was that?! People have started talking over the Weakerthans video link. Shoulda kept the volume high I guess...
8:31 PM EST - After Basia's wonderful performance, Alan Neale presented her with a lovely poster print. Grant gave a run down of the Grand Jury members and the process they go through to pick a winner. They are seriously sequestered somewhere in the bowels of the Phoenix. Well, maybe not the bowels. Y'know what? Let's go with that; they're in the bowels. Two Hours Traffic are up next, which is cool because they're nice boys with a sweet pop-rock sound. You know something? I just realized that the last time I saw THT, I was at the Phoenix! They were opening for their friend and mentor Joel Plaskett and his Emergencies, and were quite rad. Hey, Carl Wilson just stopped by to say hi and wish me luck with the difficult task of live blogging. "I feel your pain," he basically said. Thanks Carl. This place sounds really awesome. Great mix of THT so far and the room, she's filling up...
8:13 PM EST - Man, few people know how to rile up a crowd like Grant. A politically charged speech celebrating Canadian music that filled the room with energy. Oh, some jokes about the $20,000 prize not being a bailout. Very topical! I'm still a bit winded from co-hosting that preview show with Craig. Because he punched me in the gut. Oh, Alan Neale is introducing someone. It's Basia Bulat! Any second now the curtain's going to swing open and the lovely Basia Bulat's gonna folk-rock the joint. I think. Oh, here she is. Again, the stage looks cool. There's paper icicles hanging from the ceiling. I some times forget what a rich, arresting voice Basia has. Just her and a guitar to open the musical proceedings and it's taking over the room. Can you feel that on your computer? The room's shaking but it's not because of the PA. It's Basia. I'm all lonely in the back of the Phoenix, hunkered down at a laptop, while scads of musicians are sitting at tables, cabaret style. Oh, I have a visitor! It's Andrea Gin from Radio 3. I'll be back!
8:00 PM EST- Polaris Prize founder Steve Jordan just wrapped up a heartfelt speech thanking a long list of people who make this Prize happen. Oh, and his dad who's here! And his wife! Awwwww...
Just to set the scene, the lovely Phoenix Concert Theatre, where I've been lucky to see some amazing shows, is all gussied up in fancy, goin' to meeting clothes. The stage looks cool. Oh, Grant Lawrence is introducing the night! Let's listen....
2008 Polaris Music Prize Nominees:
Black Mountain - In The Future
Basia Bulat - Oh My Darling
Caribou - Andorra
Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers
Holy F*ck - LP
Plants and Animals - Parc Avenue
Shad - The Old Prince
Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War
Two Hours Traffic - Little Jabs
The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour
We're broadcasting the whole show live on the web and Sirius 86, plus Vish Khanna (that's me!) will be live blogging throughout the night. I'm here right now as a matter of fact and so far I've seen soundchecks by Black Mountain, Shad, and Plants and Animals. It's crazy, crazy loud in here.
Tune in at 7p Eastern/4p Pacific for the pre-show with Craig Norris and myself, as we warm up the crowd with our trademark blend of humour, which we've both lifted from David Letterman. Don't miss it!
May the best band win!
thanks,
vk
