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And the Polaris Prize Goes To…Karkwhaaa?
They actually cried.
After a CBC-mandated dramatic pause, according to funnyman Damian Abraham of last year’s winner Fucked Up, Karkwa was awarded the 2010 Polaris Music Prize on Monday night. Clearly shocked and noticeably emotional, the Montreal band near staggered onto the stage to accept their novelty oversized cheque for producing the best Canadian album of the year, Les Chemins De Verre, according to this year’s grand jury. Word around the room was that the sealed jury room was a tense, tearful battlefield this year, and it was a surprising finale to a night that most figured London’s Shad had on lock for his album TSOL. While the outcome will no doubt garner its fair share of criticism (as it would have in any scenario), one thing is for sure: the win wasn’t predictable.
Karkwa have been on a momentous wave in Montreal but were virtually unknown in English Canada until their name appeared on the Polaris shortlist (same goes for the face-palmingly quirky Radio Radio, and, in the past, Malajube). Language barrier notwithstanding—yes, the album is in French—they produced a dramatic and accessible indie rock record. We love that stuff, right? The effect the award will have on the band’s career country-wide remains to be seen, but the Toronto Public Library isn’t taking any chances.
The night leading up to the big moment was, truthfully, a treat. Even aside from the free grilled cheese sandwiches and perogies and ample opportunity for socializing under the guise of shameless music nerding, the performances—short, tight, grand—are fail-safes. Highlights included a mesmerizing few minutes from the endlessly talented Owen Pallett (who reappeared to play with Tegan and Sara, winners of the best comedians award), Shad sounding bigger than the Masonic Temple Concert Hall could hold, and the Sadies being the Sadies. Host Grant Lawrence led the room in a “Happy Birthday” singalong for birthday twins Tegan and Sara, and thankfully, the roving host schtick with MuchMusic’s Sarah “You guys!” Taylor was killed in favour of a simple podium.
When local freelance music journalist Chandler Levack described Tegan and Sara as channeling Alanis Morrissette’s PMS, nowhere in the world felt a better place to be (though maybe not for Tegan and Sara).
Till next year, Polaris, when Arcade Fire will either win, or lose to a hip-hop record, and people will be mad either way.
MuchMusic will re-air the Polaris gala this Saturday, September 25 at 9 p.m. EST.
Photos by David Topping/Torontoist