I unexpectedly was able to attend the Polaris Music Prize Gala last evening, where I got to see 10 amazing Canadian bands do a two song set. The goal was to woo the panel of judges into believing they were worthy of the 20,000 dollar prize, as well as the honor of being a Polaris Prize winner.
It started off with a tamed acoustic set by Metric. Metric, although capable of playing well acoustically seemed a little too reserved and with only one guitar playing it was obvious there was something missing.
I happened to stumble upon the Great Lake Swimmers practicing before their set in the stairwell. The acoustics sounded incredible. I would have been more than happy to watch their entire performace there, but the show had to go on. As the second performance GLS wowed the crowed with there mellow but somehow enchanting folk sound.
The French-Canadian band Malajube was next, their interesting sound was easy to set apart from the other bands. When accepting their nominee poster, they had very little to say, well in english anyway!
Patrick Watson and his strange band of unique instruments played next. They weaved in and out of the crowd with giant lights on their back. One member was playing a saw! Their eccentricities added to the over-all strangeness of the sound. But what an incredible sound it was. Patrick Watson is obviously underrated.
K'naan gave me chills with his moving performance of Take a Minute. I had my money on him taking the prize.
Joel Plaskett and his father did a beautiful folk tune. My respect grew for Plaskett when I became aware that his favorite band was Zeppelin ! He knows what he is doing when it comes to music. And it showed, the guitar was seemingly an extension of his body. The music came so naturally, you can tell he had been doing it for years.
Elliot Brood wouldn't have been that memorable if they hadn't handed out cookie sheets and wooden spoons to the audience to keep the beat for their second song in the set. It was neat to have the audience interaction, but it is debatable that was the best part of their performance.
Chad Vangaalen, who could also be a stand-up comic, showed us all a good time with his unusual sound. At one point I was a little perplexed by the “music” as it sounded like the speakers in a car had blown and no one knew how to fix it. But the vocals were powerful and his talent warranted his odd musical interlude.
Hey Rosetta! completely stole to show. They began with only vocals and a soft keyboard and gradually built to a full band, one instrument at a time. The crescendo was deeply emotive, especially the violins mixed with outstanding vocals of Tim Baker. If I were able to chose the winner, it would have been these guys, hands down.
Last but evidently not least, Fucked Up took the show from a low key setting to a high energy punk show. Even the audience drew off their energy as a massive alcohol throwing fight commenced after their first song. Fucked Up had 3 vocalist screaming, one of which was a girl. The lead singer decided to remove almost all his clothing, it was pretty obvious they wanted the audience to think “ wow, this is Fucked up”. And indeed it was. They went on to WIN the Polaris Music Prize, which was equally fucked up.
Thankfully each band got recognition for the work they are doing as Canadian artists. It was important to all of them that the uniqueness of Canadian music thrives, and as Patrick Watson said, we need more than this “run of the mill” kind of music. So lets continue to support our bands like Hey Rossetta! and Malajube. To the world they define Canadians as more than just radio artists, but truly talented musicians capable of being known universally.
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