Sunday night’s Juno Awards in Hamilton went hard on Canadiana, from Nelly Furtado expressing how proud she was to have always lived and worked in Canada, to a major role for Prime Minister Mark Carney, introducing music legend Joni Mitchell and quoting her song “A Case of You.”
“I drew a map of Canada, Oh Canada,” recited Carney, to raucous cheers from the crowd, before Mitchell was awarded a lifetime achievement award.
But for all the love for Canada, there were only a few nods to host city Hamilton in the ceremony, such as the appearance of Mayor Andrea Horwath, alongside Amos Key, a councillor from Six Nations of the Grand River, and Jesse Herkimer, councillor of the Mississaugas of the Credit, handing the baton to representatives from next year’s Juno host Winnipeg and Manitoba Indigenous representatives. There was also a performance by Hamilton band Arkells.
Arkells and Grouplove performed ‘Ride’ at the TD Coliseum on Friday, as a sneak peek of Sunday’s award show. (Aura Carreño Rosas/CBC)
The star-studded concert, which also included a surprise performance by the band Rush, a tribute to Furtado which kicked off with a heartfelt video introduction by Drake, and a tribute to Mitchell.
Many Hamiltonians were clearly feeling appreciation for the Junos on Sunday, however, following several days of celebrations and concerts in the city’s core.
‘Amazing to feel the energy’
Downtown resident Alyssa LeClair went to the awards for a second time Sunday, the last when Alanis Morrisette performed in 2015.
“It’s been kind of amazing to feel the energy down here,” they said, saying Hamilton has felt like “a completely different city” and “a bit more alive” the last few days.
From left: Friends Alyssa Leclair, Kaila Muzzin and Campbell Parsons were on their way to the Juno Awards Sunday evening. (Eva Salinas/CBC)
The Junos are a great way to tell people not from Hamilton “what we’re made of and what is at the core of our DNA,” they said, referring to the longtime embrace of music in the city.
Walking into TD Coliseum Sunday night, LeClair said they were looking forward most to seeing Mitchell, and also looking forward to Junos host Mae Martin, who they called “a Canadian diamond.”
Inside the arena as the show was getting underway, Rollie Pemberton, also known as rapper Cadence Weapon, told CBC Hamilton he’d been doing “everything known to man” over the past few days, including DJ sets and red carpet interviews.
“It’s very rare that [this] happens in the city you live in and me living in Hamilton now is very exciting, he said.
His weekend highlights included seeing TOBi, Saukrates and Jully Black win for rap single of the year at Saturday’s gala at the Hamilton Convention Centre, where most of the awards were given out. “I’m really stoked for Saukrates because in Canadian rap, we know how much he means to all of us, and it’s great to see him finally get his flowers,” Pemberton said.
From left: Hamilton resident Rollie Pemberton, aka rapper Cadence Weapon, arrives at the Juno Awards with his partner, Sara Mojtehedzadeh. (Eva Salinas/CBC)
Hamilton rocker Tom Wilson said he’d been out, surprisingly for him in this stage of life, every night until about 3 a.m. Having the Junos back in the city has felt like “a good punch in the arm, man,” he said. “It’s what Hamilton needs, events that bring community together… Things like this are important to this city.”
Junos were last here in 2015 — and it’s second only to Toronto for hosting the most Junos. The city said in advance of Juno week, the awards and related events would bring a $12-million boost to the city’s economy but it was unclear how big the financial impact was by Sunday night.
Some cafés on nearby King William Street told CBC in advance of the awards they were stocking up and preparing staff for an influx. Taxi driver Moussa Ahmat told CBC Sunday night because so many drivers were out anticipating crowds, there wasn’t as much business as he hoped.
The neighbourhood around the venue looked Sunday as though two worlds were colliding. Earlier in the day, fans lined up by the Skip the Dishes orange carpet waiting for celebrities to show up, while people in fancy dresses and suits walked around. At the same time, folks visibly struggling, experiencing homelessness or addiction were also passing by.
Dozens of events took place
Ammoye, left, and Samora perform at Ridiculous in Hamilton on Friday night. They were a nominee for Reggae Recording of the Year. (Taylor Westbury/CARAS/Starlight Snaps)
Elsewhere in the city, live music venues saw crowds Friday and Saturday night, some fuller than others.
Dozens of events took place over several days, with nearly 70 artists — including local musicians and Juno nominees from across the country — playing more than eight different venues such as Mills Hardware, Corktown Pub and Ooey Gooey’s.
Other events, like the Black Music Brunch at the Art Gallery of Hamilton, also brought artists, community members and people who work in the music industry out to mingle.
Music fans Lisa Aune and Allen Lewis were checking out Juno-related events at Merit Brewing Friday. They drove from Saskatoon to Hamilton for the awards, after doing so last year to Vancouver’s awards, when they first started dating.
Lewis had gone to the event annually for a few years before they started seeing Aune. “I’m getting to see a world that they loved already, and I’m getting to see it as a former music teacher, and so it’s just been wonderful,” said Aune.
(Saira Peesker/CBC)
The couple stayed at a hotel on the mountain and said they’d been enjoying walking up and down the escarpment stairs to get between downtown and their hotel.
“We’ve been punished by the stairs a couple of times,” said Aune. “But I love it,” added Lewis.
The couple said they had good seats for the show on Sunday.
Work of Hamilton music teacher recognized Sunday
During Sunday’s awards, some high-profile locals got a spotlight.
Hockey players Sarah Nurse and Renata Fast handed out an award to The Beaches, after thanking Canada for its support of the women’s hockey team during the Olympics.
“I thought we were the only ones crazy enough to get up 4 a.m. to watch hockey,” Nurse said.
Hamilton music teacher Raquel McIntosh was also honoured at the event, earning the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award for her work at Adelaide Hoodless Elementary School, west of Gage Park.
Arkells’ Max Kerman and Mike DeAngelis handed the award to McIntosh, who thanked her family, including her mother who “made sure I didn’t quit piano lessons.”
She also praised MusiCounts, an organization that has given her and her colleagues an “opportunity to dismantle systematic barriers that try to decide who is worthy of holding an instrument.”
(Oskee Photography/CARAS)
She continued: “Every child regardless of where they are from, what they look like or how they identify is worthy to experience that transformative power. Music is a thriving career and the kids deserve to know that.”
McIntosh’s Grade 7 and 8 students are currently taking part in a program she designed called Beyond the Soundtrack, bringing their lived experience to the processes of composition, arranging, production, and storytelling, according to MusiCounts.
Moments other Canadian artists can ‘strive for’
Arkells played their song Ride with rock band Grouplove, a song Kerman described at a rehearsal on Friday as being about riding a bike though a city.
“That feels like freedom to me,” he said. It was the band’s second Juno Awards show in the building, after playing in 2015. The venue — which re-opened in November after a $300-million renovation — is immediately adjacent to Jackson Square, the colourful downtown mall that was the namesake for the band’s first full-length album in 2008.
(Ryan Bolton/CARAS)
As the lights came on in the arena at the end of the night, audience members Tara Gammon and Laura Sergeant, both from Hamilton, said they liked that the event took a joyous and positive approach, and they appreciated being surrounded by so much Canadiana.
“It was very funny and light, and people were so loving toward each other,” said Gammon. “It was really refreshing compared to what we’re hearing elsewhere.”
Not much later, as the crowds spilled out into the street, Toronto friends Sarah Obst and Phyllis Cameron Ung stopped to take one last photo in front of Junos posters on James Street North before they caught a GO train home.
(Eva Salinas/CBC)
Cameron Ung said a highlight was getting to see so many artists she grew up with, like Shawn Desman and band Billie Talent.
“It was amazing. God, it was legendary,” she said.
Obst told CBC Hamilton that getting to see Mitchell performing was an honour. Mitchell had joined other musicians on stage at the end of the night for a rendition of Big Yellow Taxi, as part of the tribute to her.
“I don’t know how many precious moments [like] those are left in the world, so I felt really honoured to be in the room with her,” Obst said.
As an aspiring musician herself, Obst said it’s nice to know there’s “something to look forward to” here in Canada. “I think things like these are really important for Canadian artists to be able to look up to and strive for.”