Photos by Katrina Lat & Erin Rooney.
The 2017 JUNO Awards kicked off on Sunday Evening at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Katrina and I got the chance to scope out the red carpet, talk to some very talented artists, and watch the live broadcast itself from the media room.
The event was hosted by Canadian rock legend, Bryan Adams and comic Russell Peters, who, aside from some controversial moments led the awards show with a light-hearted presence.
The event started off with a performance that would set the tone for the rest of the evening. Buffy Sainte Marie, who won the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award this year, introduced the performance by A Tribe Called Red, featuring the rhythmic beats of the Black Bear Drum Circle and the captivating throat singing of Tanya Tagaq. The performance itself was a great way to start off the JUNO awards, celebrating indigenous music and culture. When talking to the electronic music group on the red carpet before hand, they had said that this performance would be an “evolution of one of our dreams”. Following their opening, it was clear that this performance and this year in general meant a great deal to the group, as they started to get emotional taking it all in. They said that a performance such as this is something they’ve wanted to do for a while. When we got a chance to hear what Tanya Tagaq had to say, she praised the group and their potential as producers, emphasizing the element of trust. She was proud to be introduced by a figure such as Buffy St. Marie, saying that she is “worth her weight in gold, but more than gold, she’s worth her weight in stars”.
Later on in the evening, Sarah McLachlan gave a heartfelt speech following her induction into the Canadian Music Hall of fame. She expressed the value she held in being Canadian, and focused on the importance of the younger generation of Canadian artists. The 10-time JUNO award winner performed her song “World on Fire” later in on in the show.
Another influential performance was of course, Feist’s tribute to Leonard Cohen. She performed a cover of “Hey That’s No Way To Say Goodbye”, in a way that was soft, stripped down, and meaningful. Our nation’s leader, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau, who gave a touching speech on Leonard Cohen and his remembrance as a Canadian Music Legend, introduced the performance.
Many other artists took to the stage throughout the evening, including July Talk, who gave an energetic performance of their song “Picturing Love”, The Strumbellas, Arkells, Dallas Smith, Shawn Mendes, and Alessia Cara, who performed her latest single, “Stay” alongside electronic artist, Zedd, as well as her song “Scars to Your Beautiful”.
A notable speech from other Canadian Music Legends came from lead guitar player, Paul Langlois of The Tragically Hip. After accepting the award for Group of The Year he took the time to say some sentimental words pertaining to Gord Downie, the Hip’s final show in Ottawa, and the importance of Canadian music. After running his speech a bit longer than usual, the broadcast tried to play him off with music, But he persisted, saying “This is my arena, not yours”, to which the audience cheered on in approval. It was a moment such as this that relayed the genuine feeling of artists celebrating one another, of solidarity held together by music.
This feeling was further brought together by a collective performance of Bryan Adams’, “Summer of ‘69”, in which artists who were celebrated for their talents throughout the night joined together to play the Canadian classic. Performers included Bryan Adams himself, Alessia Cara, Sarah McLachlan, Whitehorse, Arkells, Billy Talent, Dallas Smith, and more.
A full lists of this year’s winners can be found on the JUNO award website.
