CMW: The Indies

We had the privilege of attending the 11th Annual Independent Music Awards, also known as The Indies, part of Canadian Music Week. Hosted by Jeff Leake of The Verge and held at the prestigious Fairmont Royal York Hotel, The Indies celebrate Canadian Independent Music with a huge performance-filled party. While most of the awards are not actually given out during the event, seven awards were presented at the actual event. The performances are really what draw the crowd.

Desperate Union kicked off the night. They played only three songs, but they were jam-packed full of energy, ready to set the stage for a great night.

Lexi Valentine, Nadia King and French, also known as the gorgeous ladies of Magneta Lane, presented Favourite Single of the Year. The winner was Marianas Trench for “Celebrity Status.” Frontman Josh Ramsey was present to accept the award.

Vancouver’s darling, Hannah Georgas, then took the stage, performing 4 songs, including title track from her 2010 release This Is Good, and the synth-heavy “Bang Bang You’re Dead.” Georgas’ lush vocals and charisma absolutely shine on stage.

The legendary Sammy Hagar and Much Music’s Matt Wells presented two awards: Favourite Video of the Year and Favourite Rock Artist/Group of the Year.

The winner for Favourite Video of the Year was Hollerado, who also happened to be performing that night, for “Americanarama.” Frontman Menno Versteeg and drummer Jake Boyd got up on stage to accept the award, but as Versteeg was saving his voice for the performance, he kept the acceptance speech to a minimum.

As a bit of a surprise, the winner for Favourite Rock Artist/Group of the Year was Crash Karma.

The next performance was by UK’s Bombay Bicycle Club, who had actually made their first trip across the pond for Canadian Music Week. Playing 6 songs, these guys were able to win over new Canadian fans with their alternative/folk rock. Having garnered some success in Europe, pay attention to this band. Their energetic, hip-shaking tunes accompanied by enticing vocals from Jack Steadman, this band is worth your time. Check them out!

Presenting Favourite Pop Artist/Group of the Year was Aleesia, who handed Marianas Trench their second award of the night.

Hollerado took the stage next, playing 6 songs, including a new song and a cover. Versteeg thanked the fans as the reason why they were on stage, after calling out awards as being bullshit. With confetti and Versteeg’s near-tumble over the barricade to get into the crowd during “Doot The Doot Da Doot Do,” Hollerado took the performances to another level. Oh and it was bassist Dean Baxter’s birthday, so Hollerado had the crowd sing him “Happy Birthday.” When it comes to a party, Hollerado always takes the cake.

K-OS presented Favourite Urban Artist/Group/Duo of the Year to Shad (after jokingly saying the winner was Drake), also a performer that night. When he was announced as the winner, the adjoining room, where all the media and artists were waiting patiently completely, erupted. Cheers were well deserved for a man who has certainly left a mark on Canada in the past year. An in typical nice guy style, Shad shared the award with fellow nominees.

The last two awards, Favourite Solo Artist of the Year and Favourite Group of the Year, were presented by Much Music’s Lauren Toyota and Die Mannequin’s Care Failure and Anthony Bleed.

The winner for Favourite Solo Artist was performer Hannah Georgas, which also resulted in many cheers in the adjoining room. Polaris Prize long-lister Georgas had recently won The Verge’s Emerging Artist of the Year Award and it seems that she just keeps on building momentum.

Alexisonfire took home the award for Favourite Group of the Year. George Pettit was present to accept the award, though he called it bullshit, making reference to fellow nominees, Arcade Fire, and their Grammy win.

To end off the night, there were back to back performance Shad and Janelle Monae. The ever-charismatic Shad stunned the crowd with his set, and furthered his nice guy image by shouting out to his neighbour Hannah Georgas for her win.

Janelle Monae closed out the night. Not that she needed to do so, but Monae proved that she deserves all the hype around her by crowd-surfing later in her set. She dropped jaws that night and had the crowd begging for more.

All in all, it was a great event for Canadian Independent Music, highlighted by a headliner that completely wow’d the audience. What a night!

The complete list of Indie Award winners is listed below. Congrats to all the winners!

FAVOURITE SINGLE OF THE YEAR (SPONSORED BY ASTRAL RADIO)
Marianas Trench “Celebrity Status”

FAVOURITE JAZZ ARTIST/GROUP OF THE YEAR
Emilie-Claire Barlow

FAVOURITE BLUES ARTIST/GROUP OF THE YEAR
Shakura S’Aida

FAVOURITE COUNTRY ARTIST/GROUP OF THE YEAR
Carolyn Dawn Johnson

FAVOURITE FOLK/ROOTS ARTIST/GROUP OF THE YEAR
The Sadies

FAVOURITE CHILDREN’S ARTIST/GROUP OF THE YEAR
Andrew Queen

FAVOURITE WORLD ARTIST/GROUP OF THE YEAR
Delhi 2 Dublin

FAVOURITE VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Hollerado “Americanarama”

FAVOURITE ROCK ARTIST/GROUP OF THE YEAR
Crash Karma

FAVOURITE INTERNATIONAL GROUP OF THE YEAR
Mumford & Sons

FAVOURITE INTERNATIONAL SOLO ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Taylor Swift

FAVOURITE INTERNATIONAL BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
Sleigh Bells

FAVOURITE INTERNATIONAL SINGLE OF THE YEAR
The Black Keys – Tighten Up

FAVOURITE INTERNATIONAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR
The Black Keys – Brothers

FAVOURITE POP ARTIST/GROUP OF THE YEAR
Marianas Trench

FAVOURITE URBAN ARTIST/GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
Shad

FAVOURITE ALBUM OF THE YEAR (SPONSORED BY CHARTATTACK.COM)
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

FAVOURITE LIVE ARTIST/GROUP OF THE YEAR
Metric

FAVOURITE ELECTRONIC ARTIST/GROUP OF THE YEAR
Holy Fuck

FAVOURITE FRANCOPHONE ARTIST/GROUP OF THE YEAR
Karkwa

FAVOURITE PUNK/HARDCORE ARTIST/GROUP OF THE YEAR
Cancer Bats

FAVOURITE METAL ARTIST/GROUP OF THE YEAR
3 Inches of Blood

FAVOURITE SOLO ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Hannah Georgas

FAVOURITE GROUP OR DUO OF THE YEAR
Alexisonfire