The first glimpse we catch of JADE is her hand. It darts out between two drapes and gesticulates as she sings, “You always think you know me best, you don’t,” the opening lines of album opener “FUFN.”
The hand vanishes, replaced by a bedazzled leg. “IT’S JUST HER LEG!” screams the man next to me. Finally, the curtains fling open to reveal a glittering black catsuit, swinging nipple tassels, and an enormous mane of curly hair. Within seconds, Jade Thirlwall has teased the crowd into a feral frenzy.
In many ways, this show feels like a long-awaited catharsis. That’s Showbiz Baby!, also the name of her debut album, is JADE’s first headline tour in North America. Her previous girl group, Little Mix, abruptly cancelled their US Salute dates in 2014 and never announced a North American headliner again during their decade-long run.
“It’s been 84 years,” she jokes after shimmying her way through “Before You Break My Heart” in an extravagant silver fringed coat. “I’ve waited so long for this, so you’re getting the whole album tonight!”
She is met halfway by the Montreal crowd, who by 8 pm have already packed up the 2300-cap venue for the opening set with London-based DJ Adam Theo. It folds seamlessly into Thirlwall’s performance, where she creates space for euphoric dance breaks that feel like a nostalgic hearkening back to pre-smartphone clubbing.
“Plastic Box” sends the thousand-strong concert-goers into a pulsating dance trance; “Headache” becomes a frenzy of shouted lyrics and waving arms; and a fifteen-minute medley that samples Kesha, Rihanna, and Miley Cyrus, and Little Mix track “Wasabi,” pays tribute to iconic and powerful women in music.
Entertaining without the company of her bandmates and in venues much smaller than the Little Mix stadium runs is no issue for the singer. In fact, she seems comfortable, uninhibited, and completely fearless, a relentless performer attacking the stage armed with just two back-up dancers, a drummer, and a guitarist.
Against a backdrop of high-energy choreography, JADE delivers flawless vocals. Whether crawling across the floor or leaning backwards in a chair so far that the top of her head meets the ground, her voice soars and somersaults with pure control, the entire set an infectious blitz of disco lights and theatrical drama.
But going solo has also unlocked a more vulnerable side. Fans hold up signs during “Unconditional,” which she shares is about her mother’s terminal illness and was “the hardest song to write for the album.” She is moved to tears by one fan sign, which reads, “Montreal loves you, we will always hold your hand,” and takes it for her scrapbook.
Credit is due to her team, who have curated a seemingly limitless creative vision with fashion-forward costumes, set pieces, and masterful lighting. A particularly impressive mid-set quick change has her rising like Botticelli’s Venus in a crimson robe against a backdrop of breathtaking light beams, in Renaissance shades of turquoise and gold, crooning the yearning opening verse of “Natural Disaster.” When she flings off the robe to reveal a red gothic minidress underneath, the room erupts into screams that compete with the sound system for decibel dominance.
Towards the end of the set, Thirlwall reflects that “there are many things I don’t like about the industry, but there are many parts that I love.” It is the only reference she makes to her former label, Syco, although singles like “Angel of My Dreams” and “It Girl” include not-so-subtle barbs aimed at label head Simon Cowell: the latter track closes on his signature line, “It’s a no from me.”
What emerges most vividly is Thirlwall’s sense of connection, and her profound appreciation for lineage runs as an undercurrent throughout the show. “This song is about sexual liberation. This is your safe space,” she declares before embodying movie star glamour for “Fantasy,” a dazzling homage to her idol Diana Ross. And with much voguing, twerking, and not one but three stage-talk references to RuPaul’s Drag Race, JADE nods to the monumental queer influence on pop.
“I’m not just blowing smoke up your arse,” she says towards the end of the night, eliciting laughs. “You have genuinely been one of the best shows of the tour, of my life.”
She even throws in another quick change in the final minute of her closer, “Angel of My Dreams.” The set fades to black; when the lights come on, she is standing on a platform at the back of the stage, donning white feathered wings that tower above her and clutching three Cupid’s arrows sticking out from her chest. She hums a final angelic swan song before folding into a balletic collapse on the stage floor.
JADE has returned as a master of showbiz indeed, with the makings of an enduring pop artist. If audience loyalty is anything to go by, it’s definitely a yes from Montreal.
Review – Irene Wang
Photo Credit: Conor Cunningham
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