Juno Awards 2012: Notable performances from Dallas Green, Blue Rodeo
The 2012 Juno Awards performances were filled with true Canadian talent and moments of indie soul. Multiple genres shared the stage as rock, folk, pop, dance, electronic and punk took over Scotiabank Place in Ottawa and made us proud to call these musicians our own.
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Nickelback: Same Old, Same Old
The evening began with a performance that included pyrotechnics and black t-shirts as Nickelback opened the 41st annual awards show. Their song, "This Means War," was delivered in predictable Nickelback fashion with lead singer, Chad Kroeger, belting out into the microphone and reminding us that going acoustic is just not their style. However, if they were able to deliver a more raw performance, wouldn't it be cool to see the band perform a song like "We Must Stand Together" unplugged?
Dallas Green's Soulful Song
Kroeger and the boys could take a lesson, if they were ever so inclined, on how to achieve depth in an awards show performance from none other than Dallas Green, professionally known as City and Colour.
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Green appeared alone on stage with just his guitar and a slideshow full of memories. As he played his song, "The Grand Optimist," various pictures of his early life and parents appeared on the stage's huge television and multiple IMAX screens. Green's honest performance and soulful lyrics proved why he is this year's Juno winner of Songwriter of the Year.
'Mixed Tape' Performance Leaves Audiences Confused
Dragonette (who won Dance Recording of the Year), opened the evening's 'dance mixed tape' performance and had roughly 50 seconds to perform a portion of their award winning track, "Hello." The effort put behind this compilation package, that also featured Alyssa Reid, JRDN, Mia Martina and Anjulie, really shouldn't have been labeled as a "live dance 'mixed tape' performance."
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Only three out of five artists actually qualify for the genre and may have left the audience confused as a ballad version of Alyssa Reid's "Alone Again" and JRDN's soulful "U Can Have It All," also appeared in the package.
Blue Rodeo Knocks Our Socks Off
The evening truly belonged to new Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductees, Blue Rodeo. As they took the stage with Sarah McLachlan and performed their 1992 track, "Lost Together," it seemed like every member of the audience at Scotiabank Place and watching at home, felt their joy during the momentous occasion. As the performance came to an end, the crowd rose to their feet and gave the band a spirited standing ovation recognizing them as one of Canada's true musical treasures.
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Other Juno performances included indie rockers like Hey Rosetta! and Feist, pop-rockers, Hedley and Simple Plan featuring K'Naan and a special deadmau5 performance featuring Lights and MC Flipside.
It is truly commendable and worth noting that every singer performed live without any evidence of lip syncing during the show and made the 41st Juno Awards a must-see event.
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