There’s no better way to start off a weekend that celebrates Canadian music than with a jam compiled of over 25 of the nation’s most talented musicians playing covers of some of our favourite Canadian songs. Playlist Live: Canada’s 150th concert event presented by ole, took place just outside of the city at La Shoppe in Gatineau, QC. The event was hosted by the very own George Stroumboulopoulos who, along with the many performers, kept the party going into the wee hours of the morning.
When I arrived, the small warehouse venue had not yet filled to capacity, but as the night went on the crowd grew increasingly large. Two members of the four-piece puppet band, Feltworth, kicked off the evening with their light-hearted tune, “You turn me on” to get people in the spirit of the event. The first set continued with performances by Kasador, William Prince– who received two Juno Award nominations for his debut album, Earthly Days, Whitehorse and a handful of others.
The crowd really got amped up when Billy Talent’s, Ben Kowalewicz got up and played a few tunes with Carole Pope, including a cover of The Tragically Hip’s “Nautical Disaster”. Jim Cuddy also covered the Hip later on in the night, and played an awesome version of “Bobcaygeon”. The evening continued with other performances from JUNO award nominees and performers, including country singer-songwriter, Jess Moskaluke’s version “Whose bed have your boots been under?” by Shania Twain and an incredible collaboration between Tasha the Amazon and Michie Mee that had the walls shaking.
The Arkells hit the stage with an energetic performance of one of their classics, “Oh, the boss is coming” and one of Canada’s classics, Bryan Adams’, “Run to you”. It left the audience amped up and with the energy to continue a long night of music.
Katrina and I would have to say our own personal favourite of the night was Fred Penner’s nostalgic performance. The 70-year-old musician had a way of bringing the audience back to their childhood with his song “The Cat Came Back”, and had the crowd equally as excited with his cover of k-os’, “Crabbuckit”. Another highlight of the evening would have to be The Tenor’s tribute to Leonard Cohen. The trio sang a beautiful, harmonized version of “Hallelujah”.
Overall, the event was a huge success, and proved to be one that would set the pace for the rest of the weekend. The audience and performers alike partied hard, and celebrated the community that is Canadian Music.
