Juno whoop-up

In which our irrepressible and undeniably hip music scribe JOHN MACKIE schmoozes with the movers, shakers and just plain heavy drinkers at the post-Juno hi-jinks

The Vancouver Sun
Thursday, March 7, 1991
By John Mackie

So, like, Sherri Decembrini of Nite Moves was telling me how Leonard Cohen (thunk!, the sound of a name dropping) reminded her of Art Bergmann (thunk!) and could I maybe introduce him to her?

So, being like me and Len (thunk!) are big pals from way back (I talked to him once in person and once on the phone) I says sure, and taps old Len (thunk!) on the shoulder. Being ever so frightfully civil, he turns around and apologizes ("I'm sorry. Did I bump into you?"). I assure him everything's cool, and introduce him to Sherri. He smiles, she melts - the highlight of her week of non-stop schmoozing at the Juno Awards.

Rain City was schmooze central the past week, as planeloads of fast-talking music biz types left their speaker phones and ulcers back in Hogtown for the Big Do out west. Downtown hotels like the Wedgewood, Hotel Vancouver and Four Seasons reeled and rocked 'til the wee hours as the movers and shakers shimmied and shook and drank drank drank. 'Twas the biggest music biz whoop-up since CBS Records held its international convention here a couple of years back, a convention where I got to party with Pia Zadora and Cyndi Lauper (thunk! thunk!).

Me and Sherri and Suzanne Vega (thunk!) were among 120 revellers invited to an intimate Do in Leonard's honor Saturday night at Cafe Splash. Clad in our best black-on-black attire (what else would you wear to a Do for Leonard Cohen?), we feasted on chicken and steak and salmon, and glugged a few gallons of champagne.

Afterwards, we piled into cabs and '64 Ramblers to catch some of the multitude of gigs that Music '91's Labatt's Canada Live Festival had booked into the Town Pump, Commodore and 86 Street for the week. (I had to use surreptitious means to get into some of those gigs - my name was stroked off the guest list at the sold-out Tragically Hip show Friday, presumably because I've questioned some of Music '91's dealings.)

The Labatt's Live Fest was a mixed success. There were some great shows (Barney Bentall and the Legendary Hearts, Kashtin and the Tragically Hip, all at the Town Pump), though the attendance for some gigs wasn't quite what Music '91 had anticipated: Juno winner Celine Dion, for example, had to move her showcase from the Orpheum to 86 Street.

The big problem I had with the Labatt's Live Fest, though, was its concept. Big Bad Bruce Allen, loud manager of Bryan Adams, has taken me to task for questioning the provincial government's $300,000 to $400,0000 subsidizing of the Junos, 'cause it offered locals a chance to "rub shoulders" with the powers that be in the Canadian music biz.

I hate to be logical, but putting big-name national acts in every major venue in Vancouver throughout the Juno period virtually ensured that no local acts had the opportunity to "rub shoulders" with Mr. and Ms. Big through a live showcase. D-U-M-B.

Bearing that in mind, I'd have to say the highlight of the entire Juno week was an "anti-Juno" underground superjam Sunday night at the Smash Gallery featuring some of our city's finest unsigned talent (Chris Houston, Howard Rix, Herald Nix, Alex Varty, Ziggy Sigmund, Brian Goble, Jon Card) and the legendary Randy Bachman. It was raw, it was raunchy, and when former DOA and Subhuman Goble howled out the lyric to American Woman over top of Bachman's classic riff, it was one of the great moments in Canadian rock history.

Hey, and it didn't cost the government one cent.