“For Fuck’s sake, let there be love, eh?” Matt Mays laughed as he introduced his newest single to a fervent crowd at Vancouver’s Vogue Theatre near the end of his performance. Fans had been hollering “I love you, Matt” intermittently throughout the show, so it seems a fitting title from perhaps the most beloved rocker in the entire Great White North.
The evening played out like a hard rock sandwich with Mays playing a handful of acoustic tunes in between Skye Wallace’s opening set and his own boisterous plugged in performance.
It was a treat seeing Skye Wallace so soon after her CD release party at the Wise Hall in July. She has been touring much of the time since then and it shows in her live performance, which was pretty freaking good to begin with. She made the most of the large stage and spent a good chunk of time jamming with her band mates, telling stories, thanking people, and generally enjoying herself.
She certainly is stepping into stardom gracefully.
Matt Mays began his performance seated alone at a bright red keyboard, illuminated by a single light bulb on his right. He sang “Howl at the Night” solo before moving front and centre where he was joined by a fiddle player as they eased into “Drive On”. Each new song brought a new band member on stage until there were eight musicians, including Mays.
I particularly loved hearing “Ola Volo,” which featured a ukulele and an endearing anecdote about meeting the world-famous muralist who inspired the song.
Halfway through “Travelin,” Adam Baldwin casually left his seat at the keyboard and marched to the front of the stage, tossing a guitar over his shoulder on one easy motion. Right on cue the rest of the band rose from their seats, and the crowd followed suit. Suddenly, the show was a fully plugged in party. Bangers “Building a Boat” and “Indio” kept the energy building and had everyone in the audience singing along.
Mays and company plowed through the second half of the set, encouraging everyone to clap and sing as they churned out hit after hit. “City of Lakes” may have had the best reception overall, but for some reason “Take it on Faith” hit home the hardest for me that night.
Mays was clearly in his element. He sang the last few songs holding a stage light in one hand and a microphone in the other so that when he moved to the front of the stage, the fans in the back could still see his face.
“You guys make me feel safe!” Mays repeated several times as he paced back and forth across the stage, often leaning out over the audience as if to ensure everyone in the room knew and understood.
The encore featured a bluegrass version of “Tall Trees”, which I was very excited to hear. However, Mays saved the best for last, bringing out Skye Wallace and all her bandmates for the final song of the evening “On the Hood.” The sentiment of the song was there in the moment, with a theatre full of people howling like a pack of wolves about keeping it real.
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