Steve Lacy @ Place Bell▪

The best stretch of the night came when Steve Lacy stopped singing. Midway through show you me he turned to his second guitarist and the two of them traded parts back and forth, the band given room to play past the vocal sections, and for a few minutes Place Bell felt like it was watching a musician rather than a production. He is a skilled player, and the decision to let that show was the right one.

Lacy brought the Oh Yeah? tour to Laval behind his third album, released in July on RCA. There was no opening act, and the show ran as two sets: the new record played front to back, then an older half built from the catalogue and audience requests. He moved between singing and guitar all night, and came across as someone happy to be spending the evening with the people who had paid to see him. The playing was never in question.

Something else was missing, though. There was no big screen carrying close-ups of Lacy to the back of the room. The production leaned on lighting and smoke, with the musicians often tucked into the dark behind him. I can respect the choice to keep things simple, and there is something appealing about an artist trusting the songs to carry a show. In an arena, the space felt a lot bigger than what was happening on the stage.

Visually, the show went a little stale as it went on. It played like a theatre production moved into an arena without much added to meet the size of the room, and I kept waiting for a few more moments that would make me sit up.

Musically, there was more to hold onto. After the Oh Yeah? run, which closed on bebe, the second set opened up the back catalogue: Only If, C U Girl and Basement Jack from the Apollo XXI era, Uuuu getting its first live outing, Cody Freestyle, In Lust We Trust… and Thats No Fun making their first appearances on this tour, and a cover of The Smiths’ This Night Has Opened My Eyes. From there he worked through Static, Helmet, Mercury, N Side and Infrunami before Bad Habit and Dark Red, the two songs most of the room had come for, and a reprise of oh yeah? and the feeling to close. Thirty-two songs over two hours is a generous way to cover a catalogue, especially for fans hoping to hear more than the current record.

That crowd has changed since Gemini Rights took off on TikTok in 2022, and Lacy’s last tour produced a few viral clips of him snapping at fans who crossed a line. None of that was in the air at Place Bell. Some of the best moments were the smallest: he accepted a piece of clothing a fan in the front row had made for him, and took the time to sign a record for another. Neither needed a production budget. Both made him seem like a likeable guy.

My son and his girlfriend were there and both really enjoyed it, and I can see why. Lacy has the songs, the musicianship and an easy way of connecting with his audience. For me, the visual side never quite caught up with the music. Maybe I have been spoiled by too many shows, but I left Place Bell wishing this one had given me a little more to look at.