LOSS OF WELL-KNOWN ARTISTS MADE 2016 A SOMBRE YEAR
The sound of silence was deafening. The passing of so many music greats gave the last year a grey tone that even the bright spots couldn’t illuminate. Similar sentiments are being expressed by scribes looking over everything from politics to public trends
The “me” generation that once proclaimed “hope I die before I get old” is now both old and dying.
Many grew up idolizing pop stars as role models. Taking cues about everything from fashion to values from contemporary artists makes the loss of some resonate personally.
Having both David Bowie (who died Jan. 10) and Leonard Cohen (who died Nov. 7) close off their careers with works of genius at least meant we were treated to parting gifts. Bowie’s Blackstar and Cohen’s You Want It Darker also were two of the late musicians’ best chart performers, countering the ideas that the album is dead and they had their finest works behind them.
Reports of the final shows Prince performed before his accidental overdose (April 21) suggest that he, too, might have been working on another great album after years of releasing what were perhaps working templates. There is no question that the Purple One’s chameleonic crossover chops were reflected in two of the year’s biggest releases — Beyoncé’s Lemonade and Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo.
Both albums were launched in a unique way; expect the non-traditional album release to be the new normal moving forward. Beyoncé’s triple-play of a great performance of Formation at the Super Bowl 50 halftime show on Feb. 7, a Formation World Tour advert that ran during the game and a 60-min movie of the album that premiered on HBO on April 23 generated a social-media monster. While it may not rescue the Tidal streaming service from its inevitable demise, Lemonade is likely the album of the year for the mainstream and certain to clean up at the upcoming Grammy Awards held on Feb. 12.
West’s seventh studio album premiered at Madison Square Garden as part of the Yeezy Season 3 fashion show. Also initially released through Tidal, the album has undergone multiple alterations since its release. This on-again/off-again approach carried over to the Saint Pablo Tour, which experienced many cancellations. West finally cancelled the remainder of the tour on Nov. 21 after he was hospitalized with stress and exhaustion. Anyone fortunate enough to see the spectacular Oct. 17 show at Rogers Arena knows the exhaustive, high-energy performance the rapper delivers.
Canadian rock bid farewell to two of its enduring acts in 2016. Vancouver’s Spirit of the West held court for three nights at the Commodore Ballroom from April 15 to 17. With singer John Mann’s early-onset Alzheimer’s disease making it progressively more difficult to perform, as well as Vince Ditrich’s kidney disease sidelining the drummer for some of the final run, the time had come for the Celtic rock unit to wind down. The concerts were guest-filled affairs with friends such as Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy, Colin James and Paul Hyde sitting in on songs that brought tears to the eyes of audiences as they sang along loudly.
The same can be said of the stadium love-in at the July 22 opening night of The Tragically Hip’s Man Machine Poem Tour in Victoria. With singer Gord Downie’s diagnosis of terminal brain cancer, the Kingston, Ont., crew headed out across the country one last time, ending with a jam at Rogers K-Rock Centre in the band’s hometown. The 30-song set was broadcast by CBC across multiple platforms, and viewership was estimated at 11.7 million, almost one-third of the Canadian population. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in the stands.
We discovered that when it came to major music festivals in the Lower Mainland, there was only room for one.