Emei’s Rabbithole concert stop at Bar Le Ritz on March 19th, 2025, could be best described as a TikTok edit of my entire dating history speed-run faster than my ADHD.
It’s hard out here for a lover girl who’s made some exceptionally questionable choices when it comes to dating.
But as someone who lost my keys despite them being attached to my belt loop via carabiner, yet somehow knowing exactly where a Quality Street wrapper in the shape of a heart I was given several Christmases ago is in my room, I was definitely in the right place.
There was pettiness, there was chaos, there was sentimentality, there were poutine recommendations (shoutout to Ashley Mehta who asked mid-set where to go), and there were so, so, so many bisexual women.
If you’re looking for a new emo indie sleaze boy to fawn over, I highly recommend Haiden Henderson. I didn’t even know I was in the market for another one until I heard him bopping around onstage.
If you like hot women, mild vampirism, a cocky attitude, boy bands, situationships, and music that feels like you should already know it, I highly recommend “K.O.” and “lovesucker,” which have both been on repeat for me since I got home.
The vibes of the concert were immaculate.
There was a yearbook-style book at the entrance of the bar where you could write a message to Emei with a variety of coloured Sharpies, and if the bass shaking the walls wasn’t enough, so many people were jumping and dancing that the floor was shaking as well!
This stop of the Rabbithole tour was also Emei’s first time playing a concert in Montréal, and it’s always so cool to know you’re the first people to see an artist in your town.
There were some technical difficulties during “Love Me Not,” but Emei started interviewing the crowd like a live therapy session, and it was easily smoothed over.
First, there was Fredrick, who’s claustrophobic and likes “711” the best out of all of Emei’s songs. Then it was Melina, who is really obsessed with ducks and has a duck tattoo.
Emei was also given a bag of White Rabbit candies, and she started tossing them out to the crowd to share her windfall.
She also shared that “Irresponsible” is about a friend’s camera with sentimental value that she accidentally dropped down a flight of stairs after it fell off the top of her luggage because she forgot to put it securely in her bag instead of balancing it on top.
She yelled out, “Guys, showbiz, am I right?!!” before restarting the end of “Cynical” and playing “Love Me Not” with the full cuntyness it deserves.
“Ginger Tea,” which hasn’t been released yet, was sung with Emei in the middle of the bar and all her fans sitting on the ground fanned out like sun rays.
She got the whole bar to be quiet and did live vocal looping for her performance, which she mentioned she’d managed to do at every stop on the tour so far.
Sandwiched between two very high-energy songs, this moment of serenity and sentimentality hit me a little too hard—especially as someone who also recently lost a grandma who helped raise me.
It just goes to show, even if you listen to and really like an artist, there’s always room to be surprised and in awe at live shows.
Later on, “Bad Advice” was dedicated to Michelle in the very front, whose outfit looked so good at VIP that Emei was still thinking about it!
She said the song is written about someone so beautiful that you’ll do anything they say.
If I could give any advice to people who love concerts, it would be two things: first, pick at least a few concerts a year at small venues like Bar le Ritz, because there’s so much passion and talent that goes into being an underdog in the industry; and two, buy yourself some hearing protection so that you don’t have tinnitus in your mid-twenties from gigs.
Also, if you’re patient and hang around after the gig, you might even get to meet the artist and tell them how much you love what they created!
Setlist:
- Cynical
- Love Me Not
- Better People To Leave On Read
- Ferris Bueller
- Late to the Party
- SUGARCOAT
- You Are Bad
- Crazy Stupid Love
- Ginger Tea (not released)
- Human Being – Demo
- Baby (Justin Bieber cover)
- Bad Advice (not released)
- That Girl
- 9 LIVES
- THE PART
- Don’t Know About The World
- Irresponsible
- RABBITHOLE
- Scatterbrain
Encore:
- 711
Review – Ashtyn Turner
Photos – Andres Amaya
