LUCIDMEDIA

Canadian Indie Awards 2008

Written by Darren Hutz Thursday, 13 March 2008 08:07

After a surprise performance by The Spirits, Montreal’s Young Galaxy kicked off the show playing “Swing Your Heartache” and “Outside the City” with sincerity and compelling grace. The evening was dedicated to memory of the recently passed Jeff Healey. Shortly after Young Galaxy left the stage, Healey’s former bandmate Joe Rockman offered a touching salute to a man he described as “fiercely independent.” Rockman spoke chokingly as though he held back tears, “Jeff brought out the best in everyone who performed with him.”



The first award of the evening, for best rock group, went to last year’s performer and perennial favourite Neverending White Lights, a.k.a. Daniel Victor. Feist’s “1234” did not win either of its nominations for favourite video and favourite single, despite its Grammy nomination and exposure from an iPod commercial that saw high rotation in the last year. The video nod went to Alexisonfire for “Rough Hands,” and in a surprise move, the single of the year went to aptly named Vancouver rockers State Of Shock. The single “Money Honey,” won over “1234” and another nominee that had received a lot of free airplay from being in a commercial, “Roller Coaster” by Major Maker. The future looks good for State of Shock who were all tall drinks, high-fives and fuck-yeahs in the green room after they took their hardware. They are nominated for best new group at the upcoming Junos. Major Maker didn’t leave empty handed. Their homepage, with its hilarious 50s motif, won best band website (www.majormaker.com).

Feist, another Juno nominee, still picked up favourite album for The Reminder and favourite solo artist. She was not in attendance. The New Pornographers, also the headlining act, won favourite group or duo amid steep competition from Bedouin Soundclash, The Stars, Sum 41 and other performers that evening, Tokyo Police Club. The most visibly elated recipient was Jenn Grant, of Orchestra of the Moon who won the 2008 Galaxie Rising Stars award. The award, which includes a tasty $3,000 cash prize, went last year to Tokyo Police Club. This year Grant won out against nominees like Joel Plaskett Emergency, and performers New Pornographers and Besnard Lakes. She giddily accepted the award, and at a loss for words giggled, “Thanks to the band! Ok bye!” Notably, Arcade Fire was shut out, despite the popularity of their latest album Neon Bible. Arcade Fire is up for numerous Junos.

Amongst the awards, we saw performances by rockers The Cliks and Attack in Black, but the stop-and-go award show format completely killed energy in the

crowd.
Attack in Black attempted their high-energy, melody driven pop/rock, but they were met with little more than a few golf claps. It certainly didn’t feel like a rock show, “maybe because the drinks are so expensive,” speculated frontman Daniel Romano between songs.

The Cliks came out with a full head of steam, diving into an upbeat track from their latest album Snakehouse, “Oh, Yeah.” But when nothing bounced back, they became infected by the boredom in the room, barely making it through their second song. The host got more applause for a weather reference.

Towards the end of the awards part of the evening, rockers Lowest of the Low joined Bands DOA and The Pursuit of Happiness in the Canadian Indie Music Hall of fame for making long-term contributions to the growth of the Canadian music industry. They took the stage and set out to entertain the unenthusiastic crowd.

“He’s making a fool of himself, that’s what indie music is all about” chuckled lead guitarist Stephen Stanley about a yelling dude in the audience. Somewhere between songs, he managed to impart some wisdom, “some of these fools, you’ll be buying MP3s from.” Lead singer Ron Hawkins grabbed one of the very few enthusiastic fans from the crowd and brought him up on stage. After a tuning mishap or loose chord lead to a false start on their opening number, and Hawkins opted out of singing verses in their second attempt, they needed all the help they could get. The moment they pulled the yelling dude into their performance showed exactly why the Lowest of the Low truly belongs in the Indie Hall of Fame. It isn’t because their independently released first album, Shakespeare My Butt, is the ranked 7th in Chart magazine’s most important Canadian albums of all time. Forget about polish, or production, or getting songs perfect every time, Lowest of the Low became the icons they are today by setting out to do one thing: to entertain. Two notes into their set they had already blown a shot at perfection but they did what was necessary to win back the audience. The yelling dude showed the sleepy crowd how to rock with air guitar and lip syncing to the upbeat “Last Recidivist.” He raised one hand and swayed to the slower classic “Rosy and Grey.” Once they shook off the cobwebs, Lowest of the Low performed with veterans’ confidence and complete comfort with stage, material and each other, getting the first observable rise out of the crowd that I had seen all night up to that point. Their entrance into the Indie Hall of Fame should serve as a lesson to any indie rocker: Write good music, and make damn sure people have fun listening to it. Success will follow.



Favourite album nominees Besnard Lakes were the next to take the stage with a stellar performance. With more akin to Young Galaxy, Besnard Lakes than the bands that had followed them, they began each song slowly and quietly with rich vocal harmonies towards an intense guitar-driven climax. The effect was entrancing and highly emphatic.
Following Besnard Lakes was Galaxie Rising star winners from last year, Tokyo Police Club with their unique brand of nerd rock. Lead singer and bassist Dave Monks thanked us for their invitation through nervous, heavy breaths, saying he was pleased to be able to play us a “bowl of songs.” When they got to their music, any lack of



confidence vanished and the nervousness evolved into a twitchy electricity that propelled them through a series of short, fast songs that kept the audience moving. They still reek of the awkward facial hair, acne and stumbling of high school, although it is finely honed into their music. Each song is frantic in its pacing; they jump into the chorus when you barely have time to get used to the verse, wasting no time on foreplay. Time will tell how much mileage they’ll get out of rhythmic, two-note bass lines contrasted against dissonance between keyboard and guitar parts. For now, their esoteric lyrics make the difference, keeping each song interesting in its own way. Their spastic stage presence was compelling, and when Monks addressed the crowd through the awkward mop of hair that hid his eyes, his humble attitude was endearing.



The New Pornographers emerged after TCP to fitting applause for the favourite band award winners, and they did not disappoint, playing long into the night for whomever decided to stay after the awards were finished.

The Winners:

Favourite Rock Group:
Neverending White Lights

Galaxie Rising Stars Award of the CBC:
Orchestra for the Moon(Jenn Grant)

Favourite Jazz Artist or Group:
Sophie Milman

Favourite Blues Artist or Group:
Little Miss Higgins

Favourite World Artist or Group:
Alex Cuba

Favourite Childrens Artist or Group:
The Smudge Fundaes

Favourite Urban Artist or Group:
Classified

InDISCOVER.net Favourite Artist or Group website:
Major Maker

Favourite Metal Artist or Group:
3 Inches of Blood

Favourite Punk/Hardcore Artist or Group:
Silverstein

Favourite Electronica Artist or Group:
Holy Fuck

Astral Media Radio Favourite Single:
State of Shock, “Money Honey”

Favourite Pop Artist or Group:
Suzie McNeil

Favourite Classical Artist:
Jasper Wood

Favourite Folk Artist:
Corb Lund

Favourite Country Artist:
Aaron Lines

Favourite Francophone Artist or Group:
Tricot Machine

Favourite Group:
The New Pornographers

ChartAttack.com Favourite Album:
Feist, The Reminder

Favourite International Album:
Radiohead, In Rainbows

Favourite Solo Artist:
Feist

Favourite International Group or Duo:
Silversun Pickups

Favourite Video:
Alexisonfire, "Rough Hands"

The Indies Hall of Fame:
The Lowest of the Low