The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony was always going to be bittersweet this year, since the Tragically Hip were finally getting their due, but Gord Downie wasn’t there to witness it.
asserted
Downie → go → it
Still, Saturday’s star-studded ceremony at Massey Hall had plenty of highs, too, as Toronto indie musician Leslie Feist, Loverboy members Mike Reno and Paul Dean, and Quebec pop singer-songwriter Roch Voisine also joined this year’s class.
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Feist → stud → class
Loverboy gets the room working
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room → get → ?
Maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise that Loverboy’s boisterous arena rock broke the first sweat of the night.
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rock → break → night
Amanda Marshall jump-started the evening with a lively rendition of “Turn Me Loose,” dashing onstage and calling everyone to their feet.
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Marshall → jump → feet
The Toronto blues/soul singer said she usually shoots down offers to perform at these shows, but relented when she learned Loverboy was being inducted.
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Loverboy → say → shows
She threw her name in with the condition she could sing this particular song, citing its two backing vocalists as the draw.
uncertain
she → throw → draw
“Nancy Nash happens to be Canadian and Katie Kissoon is from Port of Spain, Trinidad, which is where my mom is from, so I just felt a connection,” Marshall said on the red carpet, dressed in a black T-shirt with the band’s name emblazoned in hot-pink letters.
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Marshall → happen → letters
“This era of music was so hyper-masculine...so to have a woman singing seemed fitting — and it seemed fitting that it be me.”
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it → sing → music
Other acts got into the Loverboy spirit just as quickly, including Todd Kerns, guitarist for Slash’s band, who shook the room with his energetic take on “The Kid is Hot Tonite” which had the night’s co-host George Stroumboulopoulos dancing on the sidelines.
Loverboy co-founder and guitarist Paul Dean accepted the Calgary band’s induction solo, telling the Star that bandmate Mike Reno had to miss the ceremony due to “severe vertigo.”
Dean still found a way to bring him into the evening, revealing that Reno was the one who came up with the idea to change the lyric, “Everybody’s waiting for the weekend” to what became “Working for the Weekend,” and secure a rock classic in the process.
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what → get → process
Gord Downie looms over Hip induction
No induction carried quite the same emotional heft as the Tragically Hip’s, whose distinctly Canadian songs helped shape the country’s modern identity, a point driven home throughout the show.
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songs → loom → show
The Kingston, Ont. band’s lyrics proved timeless across performances by Sebastian Gaskin and Tia Wood, who covered “Bobcaygeon,” and Dallas Green and Ruby Waters, who chose “Ahead By a Century.”
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who → prove → Century
But the most poignant moment came when Downie’s purple fedora was hung on a microphone stand at centre stage, a reminder that the late Hip frontman was the missing piece of the celebration.
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frontman → come → celebration
Downie died in October 2017 of brain cancer.
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Downie → die → cancer
Allison Russell began “Wheat Kings” by blowing a kiss to the hat, an item that became recognizable on the Hip’s final tour and through the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund.
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that → begin → Fund
Before her performance, Russell called the Hip “foundational, generational and defining Canadian auteurs.”
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Russell → call → Hip
“Not just as artists,” she added.
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she → add → artists
“But as humanitarians using their platform to do whatever they could to address the inequalities and harms they saw around us.”
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they → use → us
Hip guitarist Rob Baker delivered the band’s acceptance speech alongside Gord Sinclair and Paul Langlois.
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Baker → deliver → Sinclair
Drummer Johnny Fay could not attend due to family obligations.
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Fay → attend → obligations
Baker opened with what he framed as a message from Downie, which turned out to be lyrics from “Songwriter’s Cabal,” off their 1998 album “Phantom Power.”
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which → open → album
In the song, Downie sings about the immense pressure of creation.
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Downie → sing → creation
How Downie himself might have received the induction is anyone’s guess.
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received → receive → induction
His brothers say he was famously uncomfortable with awards adulation.
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he → say → adulation
“I think he’d come around,” said Patrick Downie.
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Downie → think → ?
“He had his lines about awards and being honoured, but I think with this one ... it’s pretty great company and he worked damn hard as a songwriter.”
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he → have → songwriter
Feist’s return on a wedding favour
If Leslie Feist performs at your wedding, the least you can do is induct her into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
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you → perform → Fame
That, at least, appears to have been Finneas O’Connell’s thinking.
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That → appear → ?
Feist, who he says is his all-time favourite guitarist, played his wedding last month, and so the musician and brother of Billie Eilish showed up to return a favour.
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musician → say → favour
He sang “My Moon My Man” and ushered her into the songwriting pantheon by dropping to one knee.
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He → sing → knee
Feist responded in kind, by accepting her trophy at his level.
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Feist → respond → level
“Leslie is so many of your favourite artists’ favourite artist — I know, I asked them,” Finneas said.
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Finneas → know → them
Based on the tribute video alone, he might be right.
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he → base → video
Sam Smith, Carly Rae Jepsen, Olivia Rodrigo, Joe Jonas and Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker were among the artists who offered lavish praise.
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who → offer → praise
Then there was Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, who performed a tender rendition of “The Park” before slipping offstage.
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who → be → Park
A visibly moved Feist took in the applause before offering perspective on the songwriting process.
“I’m really careful about the words I choose because words have power,” she said.
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she → move → power
“The rulelessness (of songwriting) is a kind of alchemy,” she added.
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she → add → alchemy
“I can write from confidence I don’t actually have, and maybe I’ll be lucky enough to sing it until it’s true.”
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it → write → it
Roch Voisine gets heavy on Lightfoot
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Voisine → get → Lightfoot
While it’s not exactly a strict rule, the way these ceremonies usually work is that the honourees watch from the audience while other artists perform their songs.
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artists → ’ → songs
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
