I love the crowd at City and Colour concerts. It’s such an eclectic and entertaining crowd. You’ve got the metal heads who are wearing their Alexisonfire t-shirts to prove their metalness and that they’re not here for the feelings. And then there’s the groups of girlfriends that are definitely there to feel feelings. The whole gamut from sorrow to longing that comes with Dallas Green’s Broken Hearts Club Band. There’s a very slim sliver in the Venn diagram of their musical interests, but here they are thrown together.
Before we get to that, there was Ruby Waters. The Canadian indie-folk darling came out with some immediate recognition. The metal crowd took the opportunity to fill up on beers, but the feelings crowd was definitely all-in, singing along to songs like Sweet Sublime and Quantum Physics. It’s impressive when someone in an early slot, with such a laid-back sound, connects with an audience the size of Place Bell, a huge task, but Waters and her band pulled it off admirably.
Next up was Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, who could almost be considered a co-headliner. They were certainly greeted as such. From the opening trio of songs, Suffer Me, Intro and I Need Never Get Old, the crowd were on their feet. We even got to see the metal crowd dancing and having fun, but don’t tell anyone!
Rateliff is a fantastic performer. His blend of soul and rhythm is incredible. You get the impression that the musicians are actually having fun like they love their jobs. Maybe it’s the fact that Rateliff almost quit music before he hit it big, but their appreciation of the crowd and the road seemed genuine. If you follow Rateliff’s Instagram, he seems to be showing lots of love to Canada and the opportunity to tour it extensively, so much so that he’ll be back in April delivering a tribute to Leonard Cohen.
After slowing things down a bit with some tender tunes, the band left the stage swinging, most notably with the ubiquitous S.O.B. that had the entire crowd singing some “whoas” and moving their heels. This band definitely steps it up a notch live.
And now for the main event. In the ring, hailing from St-Catherine’s Ontario, weighing in at a combined weight of 3 tonnes of heartbreak, City and Colour. Let’s get ready to crumble!
Green steps onto the stage and tells the crowd, “Let’s get emotional,” and every girl in the vicinity screams like it is 1963 and the Beatles wants to hold their hand. Any Andrew Tate following alpha males out there who think women don’t respect men who show emotion, I got news for ya, Dallas Green can scientifically destroy your worldview, peer-reviewed.
On the opening line of opener Meant to Be, the two girls in front of me clutched hands like Thelma and Louise, without words saying strap in, we’re about to dive off a cliff of moment of heartbreak we ever had. Looking to my right, it was a mother and daughter doing the same. One thing that really stuck out to me was how few people were on their phones, just living the moment; it was pretty awesome. Well, either they were in the moment or there was a pact I wasn’t aware of that we’re all gonna ugly cry and none of this is going on socials.
At the beginning of Thirst, I got a good chuckle when Green said, “Get your dancing shoes out for this one.” All I could think was, “Dude, we were listening to S.O.B. 20 minutes ago; you’re going to have to come a little harder than that. Stick to your lane.”
The setlist was missing a few of the hits in favour of some of the newer material, but that was okay, as the new material does have a little more pep and translates well to the larger venue. This act has come a long way since it was just Green and an acoustic.
The one oldie that made its way in was Hello, I’m In Delaware, which got a huge reaction. He also encouraged us all to hug our neighbour and be nicer to each other for “We Found Each Other in the Dark,” a nice sentiment and at this point a lot people needed a hug.
The encore stepped up the emotions even higher, starting with “The Girl” and “Comin’ Home,” which had a few audience members fanning each other off. The latter finished off with the chorus of Alexisonfire’s This Could Be Anywhere in the World, as a little tip to the metal heads, saying he appreciates them too. Then, the country twang of “Lover Come Back” brought us close to the climax.
It was then time for the last song. I thought to myself, “I’ve done it.” I was ready to head to the merch booth and claim my “I sat through a City and Colour show and didn’t shed a single tear” t-shirt, given to those brave enough to undertake the challenge. But pride, they say comes before the fall. “Sleeping Sickness,” the duet with the late great Canadian icon Gord Downie. Would he bring in Rateliff for Gord’s part? Nope, he just put the microphone out to the crowd and let them fill in. 6000 voices strong, and I swear one of them was Gord’s singing along with us. You broke me. Son of a bitch… get me a drink.
Review – Richard Brunette
Photos – Eric Brisson
