Year In Review – Best Tour of 2016 nominees

2016 is one for the record books but not before we reflect on the amazing accomplishments of some of our Canadian artists who happened to be nominated this year and our Canadian Beats awards. There were some pretty amazing tours that took place this year, and these five were among our favourites at Canadian Beats.

Hedley (Photo Credit: Nicole Wolfe)

2016 for Hedley consisted of a cross Canada Tour starting in St. Johns and ending in Vancouver. The tour was called Hello World Tour after their sixth album release entitled Hello, and had 28 stops in total. Hello World Tour was a full arena show and had Carly Rae Jepson and Francesco Yates as openers . Ever since the release of Hello in November 2015, Hedley has been climbing the charts with radio plays and iTunes downloads for their singles “Lose Control” and “Can’t Slow Down” in 2016. Hedley was nominated for a Juno for Group of the Year this year, and they also got the chance to be headliners of the post-Queen’s Plate concert held at Woodbine Racetrack. Hedley has had a very exciting year and we can’t wait to see what 2017 brings them!

Arkells (Photo Credit: Orest Dorosh)

In many ways, 2016 saw the Arkells beginning to feel the weight of their own success as they were forced to turn away fans from their sold out shows on a few occasions. The band began 2016 by promoting their previously released album, High Noon to packed houses. While they toured early in the year, they began to tease their fans with songs from their new album. On May 6th, the band released their first single, “Private School” from their new album. Then in August, they released the full album, Morning Report. The band worked with four producers on this album and it shows – the band is continuing to develop their sound as much more than simply accessible pop-rock. While keeping much of their original garage rock sound, the band’s music has evolved into a much more sophisticated listening experience.

Johnny Reid (Photo Credit: Linda Heldman)

With 2016 coming to an end there’s a lot to reflect on Johnny Reid’s accomplishments. Johnny joined a lineup of Sarah McLachlan, Holley Cole and Jordan Smith at Massey Hall on December 19th for “Together For The Holidays”. In February, Johnny had a three day triple sell out at the TCU place in Saskatoon. Nominee for fans choice award at the CCMAs 2016, as well as male artist. He performed “I feel like going home” at the CCMA Awards as well. November 20th saw Johnny co-host and perform at the 112th Annual Santa Claus Parade. Johnny Reid is the recipient of the 2016 SOCAN National Achievement Award. This is one of the biggest awards that SOCAN presents each year and is selected by SOCAN Board of Directors members. What Love Is All About has been nominated for Adult Contemporary Album of the Year. Johnny was announced as a performer on Canada’s Walk of Fame televised broadcast. The show took place at the Sony Centre in Toronto.

The Tragically Hip

2016 was a momentous year for Canada’s perennial and iconic rock band, The Tragically Hip. After consistently delivering hit records over the past 3 decades, the band was set to release their newest album “Man Machine Poem” in June. Unfortunately, the release of the new album was overshadowed by the news of Gord Downie’s terminal brain cancer diagnosis. Despite the unfortunate news, the band announced that they would be going on tour for the summer to promote the new album. The tour became the band’s swan song and proved to be an emotional event for Canada.

The Trews (Photo Credit: Nicole Wolfe)

The Trews have had a pretty quiet year but not for touring.  They have gone on a Canadian tour in 2016 as well as an acoustic tour.  They have released their first single “Beautiful and Tragic” off their new album, Time Capsule, which came out in September.