Thirteen Canadian rock bands of the 1970s and 1980s rolled back the clock on Thursday as they were inducted into Canadas Walk of Fame with a night chock full of good memories and even greater radio hits.

Glass Tiger, Loverboy and Trooper were among the bands toasted at Torontos Massey Hall as part of a mega-induction ceremony dubbed Rock of Fame, which celebrated a time when the countrys rock pulse was pounding.

Between a packed lineup of live performances and acceptance speeches, the night was loaded with laughs about time passed, hair lost and the follies of aging.

Were all here on the same ride tonight, Loverboys Mike Reno proclaimed early in the ceremony.

His sentiment was shared by many of his fellow inductees on the pre-show red carpet, where they described the familiar faces they passed backstage.

Were certainly among friends here, noted guitarist Al Harlow, who was honoured as part of Vancouver rockers Prism.

So were just saying, Well, hi! How are the grandkids?

Chilliwacks bassist Ab Bryant said that with the combination of summer music festivals and casino gigs, many of the honourees see each other quite often.

But its fantastic to have everyone come together and all be honoured in the same place, the inductee added.

Even with so many Canadian musicians of the era together in one place, there were still notable absences, Bryant added. In the Vancouver bands case, several former Chilliwack members died in recent years.

You think about them when you get here, he said.

Onstage, the notion of mortality peeked through the festivities every so often.

Rocket Norton of Prism led the crowd in a defiant and expletive-charged chant against cancer, a fight hes been waging in recent years.

Rough Trades Carole Pope addressed leaving a positive impact for the 2SLGBTQ+ community after drag queen Brooke Lynn Hytes commended Popes bravery during the Toronto bands induction.

Ive always been out, Ive always been myself, said the High School Confidential singer.

So I just encourage everyone to be themselves.

Among the surprises, former The New Music host J.D. Roberts made a live video appearance from Washington to trade memories with the evenings co-host Jeanne Beker, who used to work with him on MuchMusic.

I know that weve lost so many great artists along the road, but to see so many artists play tonight just warms my heart, said Roberts, who now goes by John Roberts on the Fox News Channel.

For all the talk about legacies, Max Webster bassist Mike Tilka said the night was more about seeing friends and having a good time, than worrying about his Toronto bands spot in history.

Legacy is something that other people impart on you, he said.

Im just happy I got to be in a band -- and that I got to play in a good band.

Other honourees of the night included April Wine, Platinum Blonde, the Parachute Club and Lighthouse, as well as solo female rock singer Lee Aaron and Montreals Michel Pagliaro.

Organizers say the rock inductions are part of bigger plans to mark the Walk of Fames 25th anniversary.

The music-themed bash will be followed by the annual induction ceremony set for Dec. 2, when hockey superstar Connor McDavid and satirist Rick Mercer will be among the honourees.

Metallica have been playing two shows in every city throughout 2023, and at each stop of their North American leg so far, theyve opened with Creeping Death one night and Whiplash the next. During a new interview with The New York Times, Lars Ulrich described what makes a good opening song for concerts.

Both tracks are oldies in terms of Metallicas discography, as Whiplash is from their 1983 debut Kill Em All and Creeping Death is from 1984s Ride the Lightning. Ulrich considers the latter a fan-favorite, and explained why he likes opening with that song in particular.

This is one we would call a fan favorite, and its not one that we always play. Its got really good energy in the riff, and it sits in a kind of an up-tempo place without being so super fast that it just becomes, like, an indistinguishable roar, the drummer said [via Metal Injection]. But its got good accents, good dynamics. Its got a breakdown after the second chorus and the guitar solo, where it goes to a shout-along part where James [Hetfield] gets everybody pretty engaged.

Setlist.fms Tour Statistics page notes that Creeping Death is actually Metallicas second most-played song ever, having been played at over 1,600 concerts. Theyve played Whiplash around 961 times, thus its their twelfth most-played track.

As far as what the rocker thinks makes a good setlist opener, he said that different people will have different opinions since their preferences vary.

But after a while, you start figuring out instinctively that this song maybe works better than this other song, he added. Often when you are touring on the back of an album, the default is to open with the opening track off the album that youre touring with. I wanted purposely to not do that, just to sort of challenge ourselves.

The North American leg of Metallicas M72 world tour — which features support from Mammoth WVH, Pantera, Ice Nine Kills and Fiver Finger Death Punch — continues tomorrow night (Aug. 18) in Arlington, Texas. See the rest of the upcoming dates at this location.

Two Regina teens recently had the opportunity of a lifetime to showcase their musical talents.

15-year-old drummer Marshall Brooks and 17-year-old guitarist Jaxon Hicks were chosen for this year’s School of Rock All Stars program – putting their skills on display across North America.

The School of Rock is a franchise with hundreds of schools across the world.

Every year, a call is put out for high school aged students to audition for an opportunity to travel and team up with other All Stars, performing shows all over the United States.

“Less than one percent of the kids in all of the schools make this, so it’s pretty prestigious,” said Greg Mildenberger – co-owner of School of Rock in Regina.

“They’ll practice 10 to 12 hours a day and learn some songs, and then they’ll play venues in that area.”

Having two All Stars from the same program earns some bragging rights, according to Mildenberger.

Less than one per cent of the over 62,000 students who apply make the cut. On top of this – Brooks and Hicks were two of the four Canadians chosen this year.

Both musicians had some serious highlights from their time touring around Texas and New York respectively.

While travelling and seeing some new sights is certainly a perk – the All Stars explained that the appeal of music comes in its ability to bring people together.

“Meeting new people, getting to play at these places I’d never have gotten to play at,” Hicks told CTV News.

“Music is a way to find people like minded to me. Like Marshall for example, I never would’ve met him if it wasn’t for music.”

For Brooks – the experience is the real prize.

“Just to have the experience, play with new people, play with people better than myself so I can know how to grow and where to grow,” he explained.

“Just be able to see places I don’t usually see. Here, there’s always somebody for somebody. Everybody makes friends.”

A portion of ticket sales and donations from the tour go towards The Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide – which is an organization dedicated to helping youth, educators and parents have the proper skills to help kids in crisis.