"Blue Rodeo Day" feels like Bologna in their Shoes

Lost Together - Blue Rodeo

Did you hear about the honours that have been bestowed to the best band to come out of Canada? I think I may have mentioned it before! :) Although Blue Rodeo has experienced some international success, they have remained true to their Canadian roots. After all, how many groups boast band member hockey jerseys for sale on the web store? Only in Canada you say? lol! Blue Rodeo is that band and I promise that if I had the extra cash flow, I would have one of those hockey jerseys! 

Blue Rodeo was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame on April 1st during the Juno's telecast. A long time coming for sure, but to be fair the Hall of Fame has only been in existence since 1978. Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor the foundation of Blue Rodeo have been collaborating in since 1977 but we would wait 10 years before the debut of Outskirts and the iconic "Try". Thereafter would follow some 15 albums in the next 22 years - clearly these boys have the music in them, for this doesn't even include the various solo release that they have put out. Yes, I am a fan! I adore everything that they put out as a band and as solo artists. Every release has a different feel in the music and concept of the album but the voices and the depth of meaning in the songs remain the same. Unlike so many other artists, each song is unique and stands alone in both the words and music. While the city of Ottawa may have declared Friday, March 30th as Blue Rodeo Day, in my world it is Blue Rodeo Day every day. For not a day goes by that I don't hear at least one song by my favourite band ever. 

The induction itself, I feel is a great honour for any band and was looking forward to some hoopla and fanfare during the telecast. I have to say that in the end I was a little disappointed with what was offered. While I have heard many Blue Rodeo collaborations with Sarah McLachan that I very much enjoy, I don't believe that this was the time nor the place for Sarah to be a part of the performance. It was Blue Rodeo's time and they should have been  showcased on their own. I also would have liked a more detailed and elaborate retrospect of the decades long career of the band. Perhaps some still shots and recollection of the many accomplishments. I could have seen this as a way to introduce a whole new audience to the magnitude of talent that is Blue Rodeo. 

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The Juno's are the Canadian version of the Grammy's celebrating the music from this country. I love the Juno's because there is an opportunity to learn about artists that may not have made it to the mainstream radio stations. While it is nice to see Canadian musicians experience success on the grand scale of the Grammy's because the patriotism has a chance to swell like the proud peacock thrusting out its chest, it is for me, not mandatory to prove success. This year for example, Canadian artists were all but shut out of winning any of the coveted Gramophones but they sure tore up the US Billboard charts. In fact, at one point in December, four of the five top spots in the chart were held by Canadian artists. Go Canucks! It seems that the top contenders north of the border were shut out by time not talent. Eligibility for the Grammys ends September 30th of the proceeding year and the likes of Nickelback, Fiest, Bieber and Buble all missed the cut off date. By next year these efforts may be all but forgotten with nearly a full year of new offerings coming to the plate.

Onto this years Juno telecast from the capital city of Ottawa, not the best I have ever seen sadly, William Shatner as host was okay but not great. When he did his spoken-word medley of rock classics, he should have forgone the awkwardness of having the guitar placed over his head since he didn't even do a good job of faking the playing of it and it turned into an unnecessary prop. When it came to the performances during the telecast, I thought the medley of songs by the likes of Dragonette, Alyssa Reid and Angulie were mostly sung flat and off key. The idea of the mini-showcase was a great idea though, a little teaser to introduce some of the upcoming talent. And did the entire audience suck in all the air at the Scotia Bank Place when K'naan lost his footing and ended up in the "ditch" between the stage platforms while he collaborated with Simple Plan? Sitting at home, I emitted an audible gasp for sure. Ah, but like a cat, he landed on his feet and continued on, unbeknownst to Pierre Bouvier. And I for one watched the stitled acrobats very closely during Hedley's performance to ensure they didn't suffer the same fate for I swear, one came pretty close! It was a real treat to see Hey Rosetta! perform during the show and I thought they were fabulous. My only beef with the performance of Dallas Green was the fact that I was visually drawn to the enormity of the tattoos that seemed to cover every inch of his hands and fingers to the distraction of the talent of the musician itself. But that is a reflection of my personal distaste of tattoos in general. 

The last beef that I had with the Juno's telecast was in the production itself. The secondary stage for the handing out of hardware was a good idea but seemed to fall short in that after the presentation, the winning artist didn't know what to do with the microphone left in their hands and there was confusion on how to exit the stage. On high heels and with fancy dress, it would be nice to have an escort off the stage rather than walk off into oblivion alone. This aspect may have looked better on paper than it played out on the live stage. I was also saddened by the number of nominees that couldn't be bothered to attend, in particular Justin Bieber who was busy getting slimed at the Kids Choice Awards in the US. 

I do think that we have to make a better show and a bigger deal out of the honour of winning a Juno to ensure that the artists show up to claim the hardware. As we know, it was Pierre Juneau himself who lobbied the Canadian government to ensure that Canadian artists had an shot at airtime above and beyond what the mighty dollar could pay for. It is for him that the awards celebrating the excellence in Canadian talent was named in their inception in 1970. He was instrumental in ensuring that the artists who wished to remain north of the border had a chance at success - we need to keep it going even after his death this past year. Some of the nationally published reviews of the show, threw out terms like "a giant April Fools Joke" and "the ultimate alienation of talent" because of some of the victors in the various categories. While I can't personally say that I agree with all of the choices that were made by the powers that be, I would suggest that there was better choices for album of the year than the remake of Christmas songs by Michael Buble - not that he isn't a talented musician. Of course, it goes without saying that I believe that Jim Cuddy's solo effort "Skyscraper Soul" deserved more than a passing mention. If it counts for anything, it is the best in Canadian music I heard all year! :)

As for Blue Rodeo...I'll see you boys soon! ;) So excited I can barely stand it!