JUNO Week 2024 Night One Recap
WRITTEN BY: KATIE GORDON // photos by: mitchell jodrey // THE BOOM AT NOON
JUNO Kick-Off Concert Powered by Support4Culture on Thursday, March 21.
(Photo: Mitchell Jodrey // The Boom at Noon)
After 18 long years, The JUNO Awards have officially returned to Halifax. The first event of JUNO Week 2024 was the free JUNO Kick-Off Concert Powered by Support4Culture which took place in a tent on the Halifax waterfront. In true Canadian fashion, crowds rolled into the tent in their parkas ready to get the party started. It was a particularly windy day in Halifax and everyone was happy to get inside and start things off with a bang. Performing at the event were New Brunswick-based City Natives, Prince Edward Islands’ Joce Reyome, and homegrown, Nova Scotian talent Reeny, Classified and Skratch Bastid.
Leading up to the JUNOS, The 2024 Halifax JUNO Host Committee travelled across Atlantic Canada for the “Wavemakers” tour and crowned five ambassadors who would win a trip to the JUNOS and get to perform during JUNO Week. Opening the show and setting the tone for the evening was the award-winning hip-hop group City Natives, who won the Fredericton JUNOS Wavemakers competition. Things are taking off for this trio, who earlier this month opened for Ice Cube and Xzibit when they played Saint John, New Brunswick. You can also catch City Natives performing at The Marquee Ballroom on Saturday, March 23 for JUNOfest.
Originally from Massachusetts, Joce Reyome now calls Prince Edward Island home where they have been taking the East Coast by storm and captivating crowds with their incredible talent. Joce was named the winner of the Wavemaker tour competition in Charlottetown and in addition to performing at the Kick-Off, Joce and their band also have a set at Dartmouth’s Sanctuary Arts Centre on Saturday, March 23 for JUNOfest.
Powerhouse vocalist Reeny Smith was the third act to take the stage and the first Nova Scotian artist to perform at the event. Reeny, alongside her sister Hailey Smith and cousin Micah Smith, beautifully serenaded the crowd and reaffirmed that the Nova Scotia music scene is alive and well. Reeny even brought out a special guest - JUNO-nominated Gary Beals. Catch Reeny and Hailey Smith each have a set at JUNOfest on Friday, March 22 at ROX LIVE and Gary Beals has a performance on Saturday at the Sanctuary Arts Centre.
JUNO award-winning, Nova Scotian rapper and producer Classified brought his "Welcome to the Maritimes" set to the waterfront where he performed many hits and special guests JRDN, O'Sound, David Myles, Quake Matthews, GhettoChild, Breagh Isabel and four-time JUNO Award-winning rapper Choclair. Classified closed out his set by inviting everyone back on stage to perform his 2020 hit ‘Good News’ featuring Breagh MacKinnon and O'Sound.
Closing out the opening night was International Ambassador for DJ Culture, Nova Scotian born, Skratch Bastid. Despite it being a chilly, Thursday night, he kept the party going. Miss his set? Catch him at The LOFT as part of JUNOfest on Friday, March 22.
Read our Guide to JUNO Week 2024.
