Vance Joy comforts a sold out Edmonton crowd

A simple wave with a sparkling smile, Vance Joy casually walked onto stage and dove right into his set opening with “Missing Piece” to a beaming receptive crowd.

The weather had warmed up a bit this week in Edmonton, but the winter chill still permeated as Spring starts teasing us with hints of what’s just around the corner. The Winspear Centre was a glow with Vance Joy’s happy feel good music as many voices filled the air and joined him on harmonies. His “In Our Own Sweet Time” tour brightened up our dreary end of winter night. It felt more like a summer night sitting around a campfire with that friend we all have that plays guitar and induces the sing alongs and there were plenty this night

The former coffee shop resident musical host has come along way since “bursting” on the scene with his debut EP “God Loves You When You Are Dancing” from 2013. “I spent a lot of time playing music in a café back home (Melbourne Australia) and the owner kept asking for cover songs. I kept playing my originals and we soon parted ways.” Singer songwriters and coffee shops go hand in hand. Monday the Winspear was turned into a giant café as we enjoyed a heartfelt and soul warming evening.

“I worked at a bottle shop (liquor store) for a short time. The holiday schedule came out and I was rostered in to work the entire two weeks leading up to Christmas. I went to the boss and said I was hoping to go to the beach with my family for holidays. They said you should have let us know earlier. So I wrote a Christmas card and sent it to them saying “Gone on holiday.” Such a laid back approach to life has led the same attitude on stage. There is no pretension with Vance Joy. No level of entitlement. He’s very appreciative of his audience stating so many times throughout the evening. “I really appreciate you coming to see me tonight,” to which someone shouted, “We appreciate you.” This resulted in a huge round of applause.

His set was littered with familiar favourites sprinkled with a sneak peak at his next album, “I’m finally putting the finishing touches to my third full length album. I spent a lot of time during the lock down watching TV. I watched all of the Sopranos and even moved into Emily In Paris and I finally said enough is enough and I came up with “Every Side Of You.”

The sing along ”Saturday Sun” lifted everyone’s spirits and their bums out of their seats to join in as one big voice. It seemed like the party was in full roar and then the band walked off and left Joy alone with his acoustic guitar. A very introspective moment with a couple of his softer songs, “Way That I’m Going and “You.” The band then rejoined him for “Looking At Me Like That” before bursting into “Fire And The Flood” again getting people out of their seats and they stayed dancing and singing along for the rest of the set even matching Joy’s high notes on Catalonia”

By the time he broke into “Riptide” the crowd was going full force. Joy then turned the Winspear Centre into a disco as he wrapped up the rocking party with the Abba dance favourite “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!.” A growing trend is the dropping of the ‘encore.’ We know the artist is coming back, they know they are returning for one or more songs. He said, “Here’s the bit where I pretend to walk off stage and you cheer and I come back. This is getting tiresome so I’m just gonna leave you with this.” ‘This’ was another stunning vocal performance capping off a incredible concert that felt like a big warm hug. “Lay It On Me” was the perfect ending leaving the walls of the venues absorbing his powerful voice and adding it to the many that have been ingested over the years. No pretension, no fan fare, just a simple show with a lot of love. Exactly what we needed to break the chill of winter. “Thanks for taking the blues away on a Monday night.” No, thank you Vance for making us feel all cozy inside.

Fellow Aussie, Jack Botts joins a long list of singer songwriters from down under that have recently graced our fair city. Musically solid, uplifting lyrics, my only complaint was the length of his set. It was far too short and left me, and others wanting more. Edmonton is known for arriving to shows late and I often feel bad for openers who play to sparely filled rooms. Jack Botts had an almost full house and his music reached many ears. There must be something in the Australian air as his laid back approach was just what we needed to kick off the night. He talked about busking to make ends meet and then said, “You don’t busk here do you? It’s far too cold for that.” Speaking to him after the show, I said, “Yeah, we have lots of buskers in the winter time.” He said “No way mate, it’s too cold for that.” From busking to a big stage he seems comfortable in the spotlight. Hopefully we will see him again soon enough.

Two months into 2023 and the Edmonton music scene has been vibrant. We’ve had a few Jubilee Auditorium shows, several smaller theatre sets around the capital region, a few Rogers Place concerts and the crown jewel of our venues, the Winspear Centre has had a variety of voices echoing around the chamber making this a memorable year thus far. The Vance Joy show  ranks up there as one of the best of the year… so far.