It wasn’t exactly a repeat of Kanye West’s snit at the 2004 Grammys, but Ben Rispin of Hamilton/Burlington rock band St. Alvia Cartel gave it a good try.
The Kanye moment came near the end of Saturday’s 3-1/2 hour Juno Award gala dinner when Finger Eleven was announced as winner for Rock Album of the Year.
As the Finger Eleven guys approached the microphone to give their acceptance speech, Rispin jumped up on stage and announced that St. Alvia Cartel “made the better record.”
Finger Eleven lead vocalist Scott Anderson shrugged Rispin off and then told the audience at the Calgary Convention Centre: “I’m blown away, man. This is awesome. Let’s go party. Thanks.”
Later, Anderson told reporters that he was expecting a prank from St. Alvia Cartel, which was also nominated for top honours in the rock category. The members of Finger Eleven, which also had its origins in Burlington, are old friends with the Cartel guys.
“Ben’s a friend of ours and he’s pretty loaded,” Anderson said. “He came over to the table and you could tell his buddies were kind of egging him on. He said ‘I want to do a Kanye joke. And I said, ‘Ben, this may not be our crowd. It may not work …But he committed to the scene and I thought, Okay, Good on you.”
Finger Eleven guitarist James Black said rockers from other bands were stopping by the Finger Eleven table all evening. "Pride Tiger left a note on our table. I think it said 'Youz guys are toast.'"
no troubles bubbles
Posted by: SnaX | April 06, 2008 at 05:09 PM
Sorry, I must have been drinking from Ben's bottle. thanks for pointing it out. cheers, Rockinhammer
Posted by: Rocky | April 06, 2008 at 04:27 PM
it's rispin
Posted by: SnaX | April 06, 2008 at 03:16 PM