Our Lady Peace performing at the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Toronto, on Saturday. The band covered inductee the Tragically Hip’s Locked in the Trunk of a Car.Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press
The Tragically Hip, Leslie Feist, Roch Voisine and Loverboy’s Mike Reno and Paul Dean were inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame at a celebrity-filled ceremony at Massey Hall in Toronto on Saturday evening. Media personality George Stroumboulopoulos and singer Marie-Mai hosted a three-hour affair that was at turns electric and emotional.
Stroumboulopoulos noted that while Canadian artists don’t need people outside the country to vouch for them, “sometimes when they come from elsewhere, we should take it to heart as well.” He then introduced “perhaps the greatest living songwriter in the world,” Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, who sang Feist’s The Park.
There was a strong American presence throughout the night. Finneas, the Grammy-winning brother of Billie Eilish, inducted Feist and performed as well. U.S. artists who made laudatory remarks on video for Feist included Olivia Rodrigo, Bon Iver and Joe Jonas. British musicians Jarvis Cocker and Sam Smith also taped messages.
Finneas performs after inducting Feist into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press
Sammy Hagar and Styx contributed testimonials in support of eighties rockers Loverboy.
It was an attempt, I believe, to broaden the annual ceremony’s scope beyond Canada. The event was carried live internationally on Amazon Music (in competition with the live-streamed Farm Aid and Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival on other sites).
New Brunswick-born Order of Canada officer Voisine said in his speech that he practised his earliest songs in the stairwell of the Stanton residence at the University of Ottawa. He was inducted by Canadian hockey players and married couple, the Montreal Victoire’s Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey.
The fourth and final induction of the gala, though, brought Canada intensely into focus. A prerecorded vignette in advance of the Tragically Hip’s induction highlighted the band’s domestic appeal: “They wrote about this place like nobody else − hockey heroes, wrongful convictions, shipwrecks, Canadian history. Songs that might have seemed local became universal.”
The show closed with the Hip’s Locked in the Trunk of a Car, performed by Our Lady Peace. It was one of the highlights in a night of many.
From left to right: Paul Langlois, Rob Baker and Gord Sinclair of The Tragically Hip speak after being inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press
Performances
Choiring minds want to know: Who were the 12 singers who added much oomph to Voisine’s I’ll Always Be There? They were Toronto’s dynamite Powerhouse Fellowship Soul Choir, who joined Isabelle Boulay and Voisine (the only inductee who performed during the gala.)
Memorable moments: Allison Russell’s impassioned version of the Hip’s Wheat Kings, Finneas’s vibrant take on Feist’s My Moon My Man and the poignant duet of the Hip’s Ahead by a Century by Ruby Waters and Dallas Green.
Quotes
Springfield’s a pistol: Jessie’s Girl star Rick Springfield hilariously spoke on video about Loverboy, saying the band sold millions of records, filled arenas and convinced an entire generation that red leather pants not only made you look thinner and taller but “extended vocal lines by rearranging your testicles.”
Key insight: Songwriting maestro and Hall of Fame member Jim Vallance said Loverboy’s Working for the Weekend started in the key of B before unexpectedly modulating to C in the chorus. “I have a confession to make,” he continued. “I’ve borrowed the idea on a few occasions. Check out Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone) by Glass Tiger.”
Schaden Frew: Glass Tiger’s Allan Frew praised Voisine by video, noting the inductee’s looks, voice and songwriting. “What is there not to hate?”
Fashion statements
Turn her loose: Backed by the house band under the leadership of Lou Pomanti, Amanda Marshall sang Loverboy’s Turn Me Loose dressed snazzily in a black, vinyl two-piece. Melted down, the outfit might produce a half-dozen or so LPs.
Talking the talk: Nicholas Durocher, the Ottawa-born artist known professionally as Talk, wore a powder-blue jumpsuit with tassels that would have had Elvis Presley shouting “Viva Las Vegas” in admiration. After the performance of Loverboy’s 1981 party anthem Working for the Weekend, audience members yelled for an encore − either for an extra song or one more suit.
In absentia
Hats off to Gord Downie: Inductees Reno of Loverboy and Hip drummer Johnny Fay were not present, their absences unexplained. Hip singer-lyricist Gord Downie was represented by his purple, feathered, broad-brimmed hat from the band’s final tour in 2016. It rested on a microphone stand as the house band played a vocal-free medley of Hip material.
Speeches
She went there: Twelve-time Juno winner Feist delivered a beautifully lucid explanation of the humanity behind songwriting. “For me, each song is attached to a question that I’m circling. … It’s a gift to pose questions to the ether like this, and to feel for what resonates, and sing right to that. … The tiniest moment in time can be stretched out to feel like infinity or the infinity of an enormous emotion. The size of the universe can be compressed down to four minutes, although my manager Robbie [Lackritz] says three and half would be better.”
That night in Montreal: Actor and filmmaker Jay Baruchel recalled seeing the Hip in the winter of 1999 in Montreal. “Every show I’ve seen since, I’ve compared to that night.” He went on to talk about the band’s gift to Canadians. “In an art form, the rock song, that usually lasts under five minutes, they gave us myths and poetry and storytelling as worthy and deep as any epic. And for those of us who dreamed of working and making our art in Canada, there was no bigger inspiration than the Tragically Hip.”
Message from Gord: Hip guitarist Rob Baker, flanked by bandmates Paul Langlois and Gord Sinclair, read the poetic Downie-written lyrics of Songwriter’s Cabal. “I stood before the songwriter’s cabal, bearing gifts of drugs and alcohol. That’s not enough, and that’s not all. Wait over there until your number’s called. I stood before the songwriter’s cabal, all wide-eyed and enthralled, just to be included at all.”