Allan Reid, the man behind the Junos, on conspicuous and mournful absences

This year’s Juno Awards, broadcast from Vancouver’s Rogers Arena on Sunday (CBC, 8 p.m.), will be notable for those absent from the event as much as for those actually there. Last year’s comedian co-host Russell Peters, whose off-colour wisecracks distracted from the proceedings, won’t be around. Instead, the affable Vancouver-born superstar crooner Michael Bublé will serve as host, no doubt less controversially.
(Globe and Mail)

Canada’s Metalocalypstick Fest Will Celebrate Women in Rock While Giving Back

Taking place on Canada Day weekend (June 30 and July 1) in Lone Butte Community Hall, with on-site camping in the quiet volcanic-neck town of Lone Butte, British Columbia, Metalocalypstick was set up three years ago as a nonprofit to support woman in metal, punk, hardcore and heavy genres. The organization describes itself as a foundation “all about gender equality, yet we want to promote how awesome it is when females and males work together and celebrate our differences.”
(Billboard)

Metric’s big concert films debuts in theatres across Canada this week

Metric’s concert film, Dreams So Real, will have a theatrical release before it ends up on DVD/Blu-ray this week. Fans will have a chance to see it in 24 theatres across Canada (and one in Australia) starting Wednesday. The whole thing was funded by a Pledge Music campaign, too.
(A Journal Of Musical Things)

Tickets without barcodes: Concert venues experiment with new systems

It could be an early sign that the days of the barcode are numbered as technological improvements allow companies to replace them with more secure digital tickets with codes embedded in a fan’s phone or a Wi-Fi connected wristband that lets them track consumers for both security and data-collection purposes.
(CBC News)

And Finally

Metric, Live In Sydney 2012