August 21, 1995
Aglukark Delivers Northern Reflections

Three huge banners proclaiming, "It's Party Time!" provided a surreal backdrop for Susan Aglukark's mostly solemn performance at the CNE Bandshell last night.

 Introduced as "Canada's Northern Star" - cute, given that the singer who bagged Juno Awards this year for Best New Solo Artist and Best Music of Aboriginal Canada Recording hails from Arviat, N.W.T. - Aglukark gave a decidedly low-key, nice show.

 But here's where that juxtaposition kicked in. Much of Aglukark's material is deeply personal and introspective, thus making for slightly uneasy listening if you're not battling the same demons she seems to be sparring with.

 Take Still Running, which deals with her experience of being sexually abused by a relative when she was little. "What I needed were arms to hold me but you stole my dignity, you took away my innocence," she sang.

 Then there was Breakin' Down, with its lines: "It's mind over matter, which way do I go? And do I trust myself enough to journey alone?"

 Hurtin' songs, to be sure, and ones made more poignant when they're delivered with a voice as pure and clean as the Arctic air.

 Accompanied by a six-member group, Aglukark's country-inflected pop seem to cast a spell of sorts on the approximately 5,000-strong crowd. The only noise came from a posse of fans up front who applauded enthusiastically throughout, and waving their hands during her hit, O Siem.

 With its anthemic chorus, "O Siem we are all family, O Siem we're all the same," the song captures the feel of a Susan Aglukark show. "Don't you agree (with the chorus)?" she asked rhetorically. "We're all the same. There ya go!"

 Or how about, "We have a lot more in common with each other than we realize," and telling us she'd swallowed a couple of bugs while singing.

 "But back to the heavy stuff" - her words. See, even she admits this isn't easy listening.

 Pond Inlet was inspired by an old Native woman who lives in the big city and yearns for the traditional way of life knowing she won't taste it again.

 And then there was Casualties Of War. "The time was long ago in a land that so few know. And fewer still could comprehend the ways to tear their hearts from home and a way of life that they had known," goes the song.

 It hints at the tragedy of forced relocation many Natives have experienced, but this was the only song that wasn't prefaced with an introduction.

 Like I said, it was one of those nice shows.

 SUN RATING: 3 OUT OF 5