THE 2023 JUNO AWARDS

Wow, I can't believe it's been a week already since I've been to the Junos!

So just to fill you all in, Skull Fist's album 'Paid in Full' was nominated for Metal/Hard Album of the Year at this year's Juno Awards in Edmonton, Alberta. Zach and Casey decided not to attend so I took one of their spots along with JJ and his partner Rae. I've worked on albums that were nominated (Danko Jones 'Power Trio', Big Wreck '..but for the sun', Monster Truck 'Furiosity' and Cancer Bats 'Bears, Mayors, Scraps and Bones') and one that won (Protest The Hero 'Volition') but had never attended.

On Friday, March 10, I left for Edmonton. We got a snowstorm in Toronto that day but thankfully my flight was only delayed about an hour and I arrived at Edmonton airport around 4:30 pm. JJ's flight wasn't so lucky, being delayed about 4 hours on the tarmac. They didn't get into the city until about 7:30.

After I checked into my hotel, I grabbed some dinner at the downstairs restaurant, then went and picked up some groceries from Save on Foods. I then sped off to catch the Junos Comedy Show at Rapid Fire Theatre, featuring this years Juno Comedy Album of the Year winner Jon Dore, Courtney Gilmour, Matt Wright and Zabrina Douglas. Due to some address confusion, I barely got to the show in time after wandering around downtown Edmonton asking people on the street where to find the theatre. After the show I zipped back to my hotel and got some much needed rest for the next days Opening Night Ceremony.

Saturday I got up, went out and got some Timmys (if you know me, it's a must have) and went back to the hotel to get ready. Our red carpet time was 4:45pm at the Edmonton Convention Centre so we took an Uber over there and scanned our tickets for entry. I've never been on a red carpet before so it was pretty interesting. Basically, everyone stands in line and when it's your turn the staff member asks who you're with and they usher you in front of one set of photographers who tell you to smile, look at the camera, strike a pose, etc. Then you move onto the next set of photographers and repeat the process.

We then made our way to the hall where everyone mingles for cocktail hour, has some drinks, takes some photos until the main event starts. The place was bustling with activity. So many faces and cool outfits, people were really dressed to the nines.

Around 6:00 the big doors open to the main hall where everyone finds their seats. We got a great table sitting really close to the centre stage with a bunch of folks from Sakamoto Agency. They served wine and fancy plates of food, you know those ones where everything is arranged on a fancy board like a food sculpture. From then on we took in the night, making small talk at the table and enjoying the performances, speeches, and applauding the nominees and winners. It's really something. I think when a lot of people think of the Juno's they only think of the broadcast, but really the Opening Night is where it's at. There are SO many nominations. Everything from comedy to jazz and classical, childrens albums to metal albums. It truly is a celebration of Canadian Music. The whole evening was just stunning. It was really exhilerating when our category was announced. We didn't win, but being nominated alongside heavy-weights like Voivod and Cancer Bats is enough of a win for me.

After the show we got invited to the Sakamoto Agency after-party at Union Hall featuring a solo performance by Aaron Goodvin and then The Washboard Union. A great end to an amazing night.


Sunday was a bit of a day off but I decided to fill it up with some activities, so I decided to head out to the Old Strathcona Antique Mall (I love looking at old stuff, you never know what you're going to find). It reminded me of Freelton Antique Market: two floors of vendors, everything from old clothes, oddities and antiques on the floor level; and 90s nostalgia on the upper level. If I wasn't going to come home with a Juno then I was definitely coming home with some vintage Batman collectibles!

After a couple hours at the market I walked over to Goth Unite, a small store that sells Tripp pants and all things goth. Not exactly the kind of stuff I wear but it was really convenient because everything was within a 5 minute walk of each other so from there I ran over to Save on Foods and picked up a few things before I ubered back to the hotel.

I got back and grabbed some dinner at the hotel restaurant. JJ and Rae wanted to hit up Beercade before the Cancer Bats show that night so I ran back upstairs and got ready before heading out again.

Now, after I booked my flight to Edmonton, I tried to get tickets to this Cancer Bats show with Trench and Mint Club, but it had JUST sold out. I was bummed. This was the place to be that night and there was no way in hell I was missing out. I must have reached out to every single person I knew to try and get a ticket, I even had someone try and scam me a ticket but when I asked them to confirm their identity on video call they blocked me haha!

I decided to message the venue The Buckingham. Their social media guy, Shaun, said he would ask the manager. This was the only response I had gotten from anyone at this point so I wasn't too hopeful. I followed up a few days later and he said the manager Sandy was going to send me a message... he's a part owner and also plays in Royal Tusk. I was like "whoa, Sandy? Tell him it's Chris Snow, we worked together on TUSK II!" and he's like, "he knows! He's gonna send you a message today" (Shaun also plays in a band Old Wives, check them out)
What a stroke of luck. Sandy sends me a message and is like "dude I got you man, no worries." Thank you so much Sandy, you made my night and it was so great to see you again!

So we head to the bar after playing some games at Beercade. The place is packed. Mint Club is on, it's just bustling. Trench blows the place away with a quick and aggressive set. Next up it's Cancer Bats. I worked on BMSB and a bit on Psychic Jailbreak but haven't seen the guys play probably since 2010. I'm stoked. I stood as close to the front as I could without being in the pit (I'm not interested in moshing these days). It was INSANE. People going nuts. Circle pit in this small club. What a night.

And then I bump into my buddy Jordan Gauthier of YC Drum Company. He's there teching drums for Alexisonfire. He comes up to me mid-Cancer Bats set and says "hey man, you wanna go see Billy Talent for a bit?". So of course I'm like, "hell yea dude lets go!" So we uber over to the Midway Music Hall and catch a few songs. I've never seen them live before and it just sounded great. Near the end of the show Jordan and I split an uber and we part ways with a drop-off for me back at the Buckingham where Wade MacNeil is DJ'ing the after-party and Jordan heads back to his hotel for an early lobby call the next day. Thanks again brother!

Monday, day of the broadcast. I get up and do my Timmy's run. We have to be at the red carpet event for about 3:30. This is the fancy red carpet at. We arrive at Rogers Place and get in line. There's tons of people taking pictures, doing interviews. We get led through, taking it all in. JJ does an interview and we make our way to the lounge where everyone is socializing, having cocktails and appetizers. It's absolutely rammed. We hang out there until showtime, about 5:45 pm and make our way to our seats. Four rows from the front, they're great seats. We entered the 50/50 draw for something like $30k. We didn't win but it was worth a shot! Watched a topless protester get removed from the stage during Avril Lavigne's speech. The performances are amazing, the audience is on edge and you can feel the heat from the pyro. Alexisonfire kills their performance of Sans Soleil and Nickelback ends the night with a medley of hits after being inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. It was also really cool to see how they run the show behind the scenes for the live broadcast.

Afterwards, we went back to the lounge for more drinks and food. The show ended pretty early, around 8pm, so we hung out and waited until about 9:30 when they closed the bar. We heard there was a Universal Music after-party next door so decided to go see if we could get into that.

So we get into this place, you walk in and there's a big staircase leading upstairs and to the left of that there's a bar. We're hanging out in the bar, it's kinda busy but we're like.. "this doesn't seem like much of an afterparty"... then we see all these people going upstairs. There's security checking tickets and a guestlist... one that we're not on. So JJ and Rae start to scheme and try every angle to get in. After several failed attempts they see an elevator in the bar that heads upstairs. Its blocked off with an "out of service" sign in front of it. Is it really out of service? I leave for the washroom and come back to see them sneaking onto the elevator! JJ texts me "dude come upstairs!" I'm like, "I dunno man, I'm gonna get caught and get kicked out of this industry party haha!" Maybe I needed a drink to make me more adventurous. I hung out at the bar for a bit, made small talk with the bartender and told him I was looking for a way into the party upstairs. He says to me "if I were you I'd just take that elevator over there". Okay, so I've got the green light from the bar staff and I'm waiting for an opening but I think the security has caught on to the ruse and was floating around the elevator. I felt like I was in a video game, utilizing my stealth skills, learning their route and waiting for an opportunity to slip inside... but it never came. Not much of an exciting end to a story but I ended up just heading back to my hotel room. We had to check out and fly home the next day so I figured it wasn't meant to be and should probably get a good sleep anyways. I think I made the right call because when I saw JJ and Rae the next day they were so hungover I was glad I was not in that boat with them! Honestly, I hate flying and need to be in a good state of mind when dealing with airports so I'm glad I was well rested and mentally prepared.

Tuesday's flight went without incident. The usual minor delays, they never have enough overhead for everyones carry-on bags, there's always something going on. Just over 3 hours later we land back in Toronto, glad to be home in a slightly warmer province and back to my own bed.

Overall, it was a great weekend. A good chance to do a short stint to Edmonton, see the city, meet some people and take in the experience. It's definitely inspiring to see all those people working their asses off and getting some recognition for it. Even if the nomination wasn't for me I still felt incredibly honoured to be a part of it and to get some recognition for an album that we put a lot of blood and sweat into. To stand among the ranks of those folks was an accomplishment for me and an experience I'll never forget.


As always, if anyone has any questions please don't hesitate to reach out. I only added a few pictures to this post because it involved a lot of custom CSS which I'm still figuring out so if you'd like to see more just check out my instagram!