Music

R.I.P. The Wedge: We say goodbye to our favourite music show ever

by Mark Teo

While details are still sparse, host Damian Abraham and the show’s Twitter account confirmed it: MuchMusic’s The Wedge is no more. For the second time.

It, after all, was cancelled back in 2010, successfully putting to bed MuchMusic’s biggest ties to the Canadian and international music underground. It was a huge loss, but it was one that was rectified a year later when the show was resurrected and the charismatic Fucked Up singer Damian Abraham—himself known for being a big-time music nerd, even beyond punk and hardcore—was brought on as its new host.

But despite the excellence of The Wedge 2.0 (and really, its team should be commended), the writing was on the wall: The show quickly got pushed back to 2 a.m. They purportedly struggled with ratings. And today, they got cancelled again. This time, it’s likely final.

We’ve been through this before, of course, but it doesn’t make it suck any less.

That’s because The Wedge was a unique concept: For multiple generations of music fans, it was a much-needed gateway into lesser-heralded music. Beginning in the early ’90s—even before its most recognizable host, DNTO‘s Sook-Yin Lee, was helming it—the show championed musical discovery. It provided a conduit into independent music before we discovered campus radio, before we started digging around local record shops, before we went to shows, before we obsessed over record labels, and before we discovered filesharing (KaZaa, stand up!).

It, in short, shaped the tastes of countless Canadians—talk to anyone creating music, selling music, or even criticizing music, and they’ll all get misty-eyed over The Wedge. Right down to its iconic, Sook Yin-era theme song, the Doughboys “Shine.”

But beyond introducing us to our first Pavement videos, The Wedge also quietly introduced us to local musical communities. As adults, we forget how intimidating it was to participate in a music scene, but The Wedge was there to ease us in—they took the show outside of MuchMusic’s studios and into record stores, venues, and alleyways. As kids, they made these places feel accessible. They weren’t only a gateway into underground music—they were a gateway to the places that music lived. It opened up the city to half-grown suburbanites who, while sitting in front of a TV, had little access to it.

It’s something that the show continued throughout its existence. Take, for instance, when the red-haired Lee introduced Another Joe’s “Eat At Bernie’s” from Active Surplus—the Queen St. West junk shop that, legendarily, was guarded by a stuffed gorilla.

Abraham-era Wedge wasn’t any different, even if they favored King Krule and Mac DeMarco over Jane’s Addiction and Our Lady Peace. Take, for example, when he brought Black Lips to Vapor Central, a Yonge St. era weed emporium. Note, too, the interview smarts of Abraham—like, did he just draw a line between touring and colonialism? In a show meant for, by all intents, for kids?

We could wax poetic about our favourite Wedge moments, but there would be too many; it was smart, often fearless, and certainly playful programming. But it was also a throwback to when MuchMusic—once structured like a chaotic alt-weekly—produced segments that flew in the face of its commercial programming: The Wedge, along with Loud, RapCity, and, arguably The Punk Show, were shows that had lesser-known music at their core.

As an editorial decision, these shows were focused on niches, discovery, and very specific audiences. They, when the rubble settles on MuchMusic’s legacy, will be what the station is loved and remembered for.

Most importantly, it also allowed Canadians to champion our own. Because without shows like The Wedge, how many television shows would play a video by Lethbridge garage-punk act Fist City?

Or interview the Inbreds?

Or create features about Flashlight Brown?

Indeed, whenever any cantakerous Canadian complains that “MuchMusic doesn’t play music anymore,” they’re pining for an era when The Wedge headlined their programming. R.I.P., the Wedge.