House Shows = The Future

As venues become harder to get into and the world becomes more oversaturated with bands and musicians than ever, I have come to one conclusion. House shows are the future. You don’t need to go through the trouble of working with a promoter or booking a venue, just play at one of your friend’s houses.

            Of course, some bands may still be a bit iffy on playing at a house. What if no one shows up? It really doesn’t matter, because in a house you’ll definitely be able to find a room that will look packed even if there’s only two people watching you play (the bathroom for example). Seriously though, as long as you play in a town with a healthy music scene or one with a university and/or college (such as Guelph), there will always be a decent-sized crowd that will show up to any house show. People love the intimacy of seeing an amazing band or heartfelt acoustic troubadour play in a living room or on a back porch, and being able to talk to them after as if they are hanging out with them at a party. The artists will love the instant cred-boost they will get from playing house shows (they’re in touch with the fans, man), and the sound quality is always surprisingly good. Plus, there is guaranteed to be an abundance of cool photos and videos taken of you that you can put up on your Facebook page for months of use. House shows also operate on a pay-what-you-can/pass-the-hat type of system, and people are generally more inclined to be generous while sitting on a couch than if they’ve been paying for drinks all night in a bar.

            House shows are definitely the future of live music, and once you’ve been to one where a 10-piece band is playing in a tiny front room and you’re with friends, dancing on someone else’s furniture, you’ll be inclined to agree.

-Scott Kendall

Are The Junos Relevant?

One of the major complaints music fans have always had is that awards shows aren’t relevant, or that they don’t reflect the current musical climate. Many of these people are, of course, just upset that their favourite artist wasn’t nominated, but they do have a valid point. Most awards shows are extremely safe, in both their choice of nominees and the artists they have performing at the show. They know what artists people have wanted to see in the past, or have sold millions of records, and bring them back year after year. The question is, are the Junos guilty of any of this, and are they relevant?

One of the main things Canada is known for throughout the world is our indie music scene, which is constantly innovative and sounds unlike anything else. We are also known for producing some of the most hated artists in the world, such as Nickelback and Justin Bieber. It says a lot about the stance of the Junos then, that Nickelback opened the show this year. They usually keep the performances Safe with a capital S. Hedley came on midway through playing a song that sounds like it could have been made by almost any artist in the last 20 years. It was among the most generic songs I have ever heard. Simple Plan, who were popular in 2003 but haven’t done anything of any merit in the last few years, performed a song that didn’t show any traces of their pop-punk roots, instead blatantly ripping off Jason Mraz and Bruno Mars’ recent hits. Deadmau5 ‘performed’ his usual dull-as-dishwater dance music with no defining characteristics. But, strangely, the Junos also have another, more adventurous side. The third performance of the night was a medley of comparatively unheralded Canadian artists performing snippets of songs, such as Dragonette, Mia Martina, and JRDN. This was arguably the highlight of the show, with the exception of Alyssa Reid, who looked and sounded like she belonged in a karaoke bar in Barrie, Ontario. Elsewhere, Feist and City and Colour restored people’s faith in good, soulful music, and Hey Rosetta! were the token indie rock band. The Junos have always tried to have one new and/or ‘cult’ band perform every year, who in the past have been names such as The Sadies and The Rural Alberta Advantage, but the obvious question this year was why were Hey Rosetta! playing instead of Dan Mangan? Mangan was nominated for four awards, and won two, so why were a band who were only nominated for one award chosen instead of him? Such things will remain a mystery. Speaking of the awards, they are one place where the Junos definitely are relevant. With the bizarre exception of Michael Buble’s Christmas album winning Album of The Year, the winners of the awards were definitely spot on.

So, to conclude this article, the Junos manage to straddle a thin line between being safe and being relevant, without really committing to one side. This is something that many other awards shows would kill to be able to pull off, such as the Grammys and the BRITs, which both ceased to be relevant years ago.

-Scott Kendall