Pit sweat and drug checks: Dispatches from the JUNO Red Carpet

On second thought, the double-helping of afternoon coffee might’ve been a bad idea. They don’t warn you, upon arriving at the press check-in for the JUNO Awards, that you’re better off arriving with an empty bladder. Or a catheter. Either one, really. Beautiful people in immaculate outfits? The JUNOs has plenty of them. Politicians preening for attention? Those too. But bathroom access? Forget about it—not once you’re on the red carpet. When Nelly Furtado is in a room, your bladder can wait.

The 2024 JUNO Awards Ceremony kicked off in Halifax on a typical Nova Scotia Sunday—which is to say, a day marked by wind and rain that caused widespread power outages across the province. A tree fell down near the corner of North and Robie streets, knocking power out across the neighbourhood. It could’ve been seen as an omen. More prescient minds might’ve taken it as such. Alas. This Coast reporter showed up to the JUNO credential pick-up at 4:15pm, as requested, and then waited until 6:45pm before the first artists started strolling the red carpet. Two hours on a press row with no bathroom? No problem. Four hours, by the time the last artists had walked the red carpet? Now that’s a kind of discipline worthy of its own JUNO.

The awards afternoon started with a frantic run down Rainnie Drive. Parking spaces in Halifax’s downtown were at a premium on Sunday. Or the free ones were, in any case. A more experienced reporter might’ve had the good sense to pack extra deodorant for the evening. Or at least wear a dark flannel shirt. Maybe a jacket. Something flashy, like the gold number Gary the Unicorn wore to the red carpet. Or a crown of antlers, like “Breakthrough Artist of the Year” winner TALK.

By the time rapper TOBi stopped to speak with The Coast, fresh off a pair of JUNO wins for his album PANIC, it seemed an appropriate word for the moment. Armpits? Full sweat.

As they say in the business, though, the show must go on. Here are all the highlights from the red carpet.

Rambo, the drug-sniffing dog

“Everyone! I need you to listen!!” The voice rang throughout the Halifax Convention Centre. It was two hours before the red carpet opened, and reporters—delinquents and miscreants we are known to be—needed to undergo a drug check. Or a weapons check. The security officials didn’t really say. In groups of five, they ushered us to bring our gear—cameras, tripods, knapsacks, purses—and leave them in a pile on the floor. A German Shepherd named Rambo had his turn with the bags and recording gear next until he seemed satisfied there wasn’t any contraband to be found.

He seemed like a good boy.

The dog, that is.

The security guard didn’t need to raise his voice. We all heard him just fine.

Halifax’s artists roll deep for the JUNOs

It was a big weekend for the likes of Gary Beals, Reeny, Jah’Mila, JRDN, Classified and Jenn Grant. All of the Halifax-area artists stopped to chat with The Coast on their tour of the red carpet.

“It’s been a whirlwind,” Halifax-born R&B artist JRDN told The Coast. “We started with the Block Party with Classified … And then I went to Toronto last night and performed [there]. And now I’m back.”

Fresh off a performance at the JUNO Awards Opening Night, reggae artist Jah’Mila called the weekend “a fairy tale.” Her debut album, Roots Girl, earned a nomination for “Reggae Recording of the Year.”

“It means the world,” she said. “And it can only get better from here. So I’m grateful for all my blessings.”

Grant spent her Saturday afternoon performing a free rooftop show at EDNA to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“I felt like it was the best thing that I could have done with what I have to offer,” she told The Coast.

Elliott Page loves Trident

Pageboy author and Halifax-born-and-raised actor Elliott Page stopped for a chat with The Coast. The Juno and Umbrella Academy actor was in Halifax to present a Humanitarian Award to pop duo Tegan and Sara for their LGBTQ+ advocacy. (The sister duo’s Tegan and Sara Foundation offers scholarships for LGBTQ+ summer camps and grants for Black-led LGBTQ+ organizations tackling systemic racism.)

“I have looked up to them and admired them for a long time,” Page said. “The work they’ve done with their foundation is incredible and deeply impactful and far-reaching. So it’s an absolute honour to be here and present to them.”

Turns out, if you want to find Page when he’s in Halifax, the best place to go is Hollis Street’s Trident Booksellers & Cafe.

“It’s my favourite coffee,” he says.

Maestro Fresh Wes gets his flowers

Thirty-five years after Scarborough rapper Maestro Fresh Wes debuted “Let Your Backbone Slide,” the 55-year-old emcee became the first hip hop artist inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. No-one was more excited for ‘Stro on Sunday than Classified, who came to the JUNOs wearing a necklace adorned with Maestro’s 1989 Symphony In Effect tape cassette.

Class calls the honour for his “Hard to Be Hip Hop” collaborator “way, way overdue.”

That sentiment was echoed by rappers Kardinal Offishall and TOBi—the latter of whom described the honour as “a beautiful first step” for hip hop.

“That’s how we all build together—once we start acknowledging each other,” he told The Coast.

And Maestro? He was smooth as ever on Sunday.

@MaestroFreshWes on his induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame—a first for a hip hop artist in Canada:

“It’s about time for the genre.” #JUNOAwards pic.twitter.com/vc2EuSyIiF

— Martin Bauman (HELL OF A RIDE out now) (@martin_bauman) March 25, 2024

“There’s a lot of artists who came out after me who are doing international things,” he told The Coast. “It’s about time for the genre. I’m just glad to be the first one.”

Pro tips from the press row

If you want to find the JUNO veterans among the red carpet reporters, look down. They’re sitting cross-legged on the ground. Three hours is a long time to be on your feet with a microphone in hand, and the experienced ones, I gathered very quickly, have learned how to pace themselves. Next time, I’m going for a wearable chair.

Politicians love a camera

Name this boy band: Mike Savage, Tim Houston and Jagmeet Singh. All three were on hand for the JUNO red carpet—but not all of them garnered the same interest from the reporters. I’ll leave you to guess who looked the most out of place around a room full of musicians. (It wasn’t Savage.)

Speaking of the Halifax mayor, he met with reporters to talk about the JUNOs heading to Vancouver in 2025 and left with a classic soundbite.

“They’ll rock the shit out of it,” Savage said. “I don’t know when the awards will be back in Halifax, but I know I won’t be mayor.”

An old Coastie gets a JUNO nod

Longtime Coast readers will remember Stephen Richardson. Back in the days of yore, he would write album and concert reviews for this very paper. Now? He’s a JUNO nominee. Richardson was announced in February as one of the “MusiCounts 2024 Teacher of the Year” nominees and flew in from Yellowknife to take part in the ceremonies.

“It’s very surreal,” he told The Coast. “I feel like I’m in my own musical Seinfeld episode. It’s just incredible that music—and my students loving music—has brought me back home to Nova Scotia.”

Good on you, Stephen.