PeteHatesMusic Reviews The SiriusXM Indies at Canadian Music Week

As our preview yesterday indicated, the SiriusXM Indies were one jam packed evening of awards and performances. Rather than break down the smaller, 10 minute performers into the typical CMW Critical Conclusions reviews we have been doing, I thought I’d give you a timeline of how our night went, from leaving the CMW Music Summit to all of the backstage media access we that we granted. Without further adieu, a timeline of the Indies.

Note: If you’re looking for the Metric review and setlist, it’s clearly marked at the bottom. Also, you can check out a ton of pictures over on our Facebook page – give us a Like and follow us on Twitter @PeteHatesMusic.

5:22pm – sitting in a chair, wanting to nap, waiting for my trusty photographer Martin to meet up with me

5:39 – Met Jordan Klassen, who were playing a showcase later at night, severely struggling with carrying their equipment by the Eaton Centre.

5:51 – Ordered a Hero burger and used the futuristic pop machine to get a Cherry Coke Zero. Yes, this exists and yes, it is amazing.

6:05 – Where the hell is my burger?

6:25 – Arrived at Chroma, did the secret knock and got the run down and a new blue wristband. I now have 3 CMW wristbands

6:30 – Got lost looking for the coat check

6:42 – Walked around the empty Kool Haus floor. It looks smaller when empty.

 

6:49 – Security tries to kick us out, asking us for a pass, saying that doors aren’t open yet. The media release said 6, but this guy was having none of it. I felt guilty for nothing, as he was proven wrong.

7:07 – Decided to have a tea to wake up before the show. Massive chunks came out of the milk carton. Expiration date? Feb 17. I guess milk isn’t in heavy rotation in the club.

7:27 – Media room is filling up nicely. Cold Specks and Diamond Rings in the house.

7:33 – Grabbed a couple of beers. $7.25 for a bottle of Canadian. Ouch, says my wallet

7:42 – Since I was at the conference all day, my iPhone battery is down to 35%. Nope, 34% now.

7:49 – Out on the main floor. Tweets with the hashtag #SiriusXMindies are showing up on screen behind stage. Time to be silly.

10 minutes until show time at #SiriusXMIndies, which means I have 9 minutes to find my pants. Review and pics up tomorrow on PeteHatesMusic

— Pete! (@PeteHatesMusic) March 22, 2013

If you can read this, you’re not drunk enough. Beers are only $8, you have no excuses… #SiriusXMIndies

— Pete! (@PeteHatesMusic) March 22, 2013

 

I’m locked in the toilets! Can someone feed my cats for me? #SiriusXMIndies #lovehowtheycantfilterthis#followmeontwitter!

— Pete! (@PeteHatesMusic) March 22, 2013

 

8:00 – Success. 4 tweets make it on the screen and make the people around me laugh.

8:01 – Cadence Weapon makes an appearance to kick off the show. “My name is Cadence Weapon and I don’t need a fucking hype man” Amen!

8:06 – Well, Cadence Weapon just killed it.

8:08 – Weird opening monologue about losing virginity. This actually relates to music.

8:11 – The first award is handed out, for video of the year.

8:13 – Marianas Trench won. Vinyl records are what have the winner written on them – very cool

8:15 – Video montage! Sorry, award winners who aren’t cool enough (see: jazz)

8:20 – Another wristband debacle. All sorted. I now have 4 CMW wristbands.

8:22 – “We’re from Australia. No one knows white boy rappers from Australia!” 360 tells it how it is.

8:25 – Impressive backflip!

8:29 – Artist of the year time

8:30 – Carly Rae Jepsen beats out Grimes. Crowd boos!

8:31 – Some seriously awesome beat boxing is happening! That’s why he’s the Canadian champ I guess

8:32 – Collaboration of the year award

8:33 – Artists Against Bullying wins. I just notice that the guitar is the award. I bet that doesn’t fit on the trophy case too well.

8:34 – More video montages! It’s all about speeding up the show.

8:36 – Phone is at 23%. It is NOT going to survive

8:37 – Canailles takes the stage with 8 people, accordion intact. We’re 3 minutes ahead of schedule, a rarity for an awards show.

8:44 – “These guys are basically Mumford & Sons” – random guy in the crowd. Not quite. Impressive stage presence though.

8:45 – I think he’s singing in French! Yes, I know they’re from Montreal – my 10 years of public school French has left me. Mon dieu!

8:48 – Female Artist of the Year award

8:49 – I give up on my iPhone. I resort to – yup – pen and paper. Looking back at my notes, they look like the walls in A Beautiful Mind.

8:50 – Cold Specks wins. The crowd approves. She’s conveniently in the building.

8:51 – The host agrees with my comment, making the same joke. Male artist of the year, and man is this category stacked.

8:52 – Matt Mays win. A deserved winner, but wasn’t the bookies’ favourite.

8:55 – Wooden Sky are up.

8:58 – I find some people I know!

9:06 – Emerging French Artist Award.

9:08 – VIDEO MONTAGE!

9:14 – I grab some beers, come back, and nothing is happening. Commercial break?

9:18 – Cold Specks takes the stage, impressing with her great vocals.

9:26 – Cold Specks wraps after 2 great songs. The crowd seemed to dig her.

9:27 – Best Rock Act, and Big Wreck turn back the clock and win.

9:34 – Who doesn’t like award montages? Why listen to one 60 second speech when we can cover off 4 categories in 1 minute in a montage with no speeches?

9:36 – The crowd approves of Yukon Blonde and their performance.

9:40 – They have a guy in a speedo. What.the.hell.

9:44 – Some guy decides to try and start up a “Let’s Go Blue Jays!” cheer to limited (read: no) success.

9:45 – Commercials are the only thing worse than montages.

9:46 – Poor Young Things, picked by us as one of the acts to catch at CMW, win Emerging Artist (English) award

9:48 – Group of the year, and it’s.. METRIC. Not a huge surprise, given they are headlining. Oh, and SUPER POPULAR (like me in high school. You can laugh, we both know I’m lying).

9:54 – Diamond Rings enters the stage, with a band all rockin’ a pair of shades. The music kicks off and it’s good.

9:59 – A 45 year old woman in front of me is wearing a Batman shirt that she’s clearly too old to be sporting

10:01 – This observation may blow your mind. Diamond Rings looks like Justin Bieber with some make up. I asked 5 people and they all agree, therefore, it is now a law (that’s how laws are made, right?)

10:12 – Diamond Rings removes the spiky vest.

10:20 – After I’m Just Me, Diamond Rings closes with Day & Night. The upbeat, electro pop tracks were very well done live. Lots of energy, great vocals, good stage presence. Check out Diamond Rings if you get a chance.

10:38 – Matt Mays brings his east coast band, complete with toques, caps, and beards

10:52 – Martin stops by on the way back from the photo pit to mock me for using a pen and paper to write this out. It’s especially funny since we mocked a girl for doing it at the show on Tuesday. Irony is a dish best served cold. Or something like that.

10:55 – Matt Mays decides to burn some paper, perhaps the set list? Surely not my love letter.

10:57 – Again with the “Let’s Go Blue Jays” cheer?!

11:05 – The band explodes into guitar solos and jam sessions and they are fantastic.

11:22 – I head back to the media room. The guy in the speedo from Yukon Blonde is getting kisses on his abs (not from me)

11:25 – The dance music from the room/club next door is drowning out the Matt Mays feed in the media room.

11:33 – Our stalking of the media room does not turn up Metric

11:47 – The crowd falsely cheers for Metric. They are 2 minutes late – how dare they.

11:59 – Metric, where are you? Old World Underground, where are you now?

METRIC REVIEW (for those who don’t want to read the above bullshit)

12:00am – I turn into a pumpkin. Also, an automated recording introduces the band.

12:06 – And they’re on!

12:15 – Dark Side of the Moon-esque triangles with rainbows are on the screen behind the band. Maybe they should cover it!

12:18 – My friends leave me and I’m awkwardly alone. Such is life.

12:25 – After 4 newer tracks, Metric play something from their old catalogue (Empty), which draws big cheers

12:36 – Having seen them recently play the Air Canada Centre, I hate to say it, but they are better suited to a venue like Kool Haus. Who doesn’t like smaller venues though?

12:42 – The lights are going crazy behind the band, but the crowd isn’t into the song as much as the lights are.

12:45 – Emily Haines still has killer moves and that rock star persona

12:54 – Metric finally engage the crowd, and reminiscence about the Kool Haus and awards they got there.

12:55 – “Remember when I used to crowd surf? What was I thinking?!” – Emily Haines has a moment of wisdom. She also shares the dream she had last night where she crowd surfed.

1:01 – DEAD DISCO DANCE PARTY!

1:11 – If anyone cares, they are not going to make the last subway out of Union.

1:12 – The band wrap up after just over an hour of general awesomeness.

1:13 – ENCORE! The crowd has lost about 25% of the people, possibly to the TTC’s closing times.

1:15 – There was a girl in a green sweater at the back going absolutely mental with her dance moves. Good thing she had lots of space.

1:19 – A girl in the crowd decides to take off her heels and stand bare foot. Don’t worry, the floors aren’t sticky at all.

1:20 – Emily asks if anyone has seen Stars lately, as they are so proud of those guys. I’m thinking it’s the PeteHatesMusic interview with Stars she is most proud of, right?

1:22 – We get an acoustic version of Gimme Sympathy

1:24 – There are 2 lighters in the air, competing against 50 smartphones.

1:30 – I depart back to the media lounge. There are less than 20 people there.

1:31 – And I’m done! Time for sleep. Oh wait, that term doesn’t exist during CMW.

Overall Thoughts: A good mix of performances and awards. Good crowd interaction and proximity to the presentation area, with some bands shaking hands with the fans. Stand out performances for me were by pretty much everyone, but if I picked 3, I would say Diamond Rings, Matt Mays, and Metric – yup, the last 3 acts – I really went out on a limb there.

Setlist for Metric at the Kool Haus during 2013 SiriusXM Indies
1 – Artificial Nocture
2 – Youth Without Youth
3 – Speed the Collapse
4 – Dreams So Real
5 – Empty
6 – Help I’m Alive
7 – Synthetica
8 – Clone
9 – Breathing Underwater
10 – Sick Muse
11 – Dead Disco
12 – Stadium Love

Encore
13 – Gold Guns Girls
14 – Gimme Sympathy (acoustic)