PHOTOS: Johnny 99, Elliott BROOD @ The Hollywood Theatre - June 03, 2022

Johnny 99, Elliott BROOD
The Hollywood Theatre
June 03, 2022

>Read Kirk’s recap here<

Christine McAvoy Photography

Elliott BROOD @ Hollywood Theatre -- June 03, 2022

It’s been a minute since the last time Toronto’s Elliott BROOD were in Vancouver, but after they released Keeper in 2020 — their first new album in three years — they were hitting the road with their “Out and About” tour, with a stop at the Hollywood Theatre.

Opening the show was Johnny 99, which was kind of fitting, as John Sponarski’s first live show as a solo performer was opening for Elliott BROOD in 2013! Joined by Scott Smith on pedal steel and Kendel Carson on guitar & violin, and also backing vocals, Johnny joked he would “soft-rock us to sleep” with a collection of country-tinged love songs. Playing off his recently released album, Words Left Unsaid, he did just that, pouring his heart out over his twangy guitar, with highlights including the incredibly catchy “I Wanna Go With My Boots On”.

It wasn’t long before the three members of Elliott BROOD hit the stage, the voices & guitars of Mark Sasso and Casey Laforet blending together perfectly, with Stephen Pitkin’s drumming holding everything up.

Their set of dark-folk-rock started on the calmer side — for them, anyway — with songs like “Dig a Little Hole” and the rollicking “Out Walkin’”, as well as some newer tunes. But as they went on, they slowly grew and built the intensity. Favourites like “Without Again” and the soaring “Northern Air” ramped up the energy before breaking with the boot-stomping “Oh, Alberta” and going non-stop to the end.

They got the crowd joining in, first with “This Valley Town” and then the ultimate singalong “Write It All Down For You”, shouts of “hey! hey! hey!” filling the room, before they ended off the main set with “The Banjo Song”.

But as you would expect, they were back moments later for a few more; first a cover that they put out last year, yet another big singalong, “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” originally by Gary Portnoy — and best known as the theme for Cheers. And finally, they capped off the night and sent everyone home with “The Bridge” off their debut full length Ambassador.

I always love a live set that feels like it has a “flow” or sense of progression, and this show was a great example of that. As they took their leave, they promised they would be back sooner than the last time, and I certainly hope that’s the case.

PHOTOS: Anyway Gang @ Biltmore Cabaret - May 19, 2022

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Biltmore Cabaret
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Christine McAvoy Photography

PHOTOS: Dan Mangan @ The Vogue Theatre - May 11, 2022

Dan Mangan
Vogue Theatre
May 11, 2022
Christine McAvoy Photography

Click here to read Kirk’s recap.

Dan Mangan @ Vogue Theatre -- May 11, 2022

This is a show that's been over two years in the making. Originally scheduled for April of 2020, this show has been postponed and rescheduled and postponed and rescheduled and... until finally landing on May 11th & 12th of 2022, luckily still at the Vogue theatre.

I caught the tail end of the opening act, Georgia Harmer, just her and a guitarist on stage. With a voice and talent that belies her age, she played stripped down versions of songs off her recently released debut album Stay in Touch, like the catchy “All In My Mind”, and finished off with “Top Down”.
I’ve been meaning to pick up her album, and from what I saw, I’ll need to do that sooner rather than later.

Not long after, the lights dimmed and Dan Mangan took the stage with his backing band, kicking right off with “Which Is It”, for a set that spanned his entire discography. From “Road Regrets”, which saw Dan's voice soaring over the theatre as he belted out the chorus, to the laid back “Lay Low”, a song about bailing on plans and staying home -- which Dan joked he now really regretted writing now.

Early on, Mangan said he wasn't going to talk too much, as he wanted to pack in as much music as possible, but with an effortless charm, he still told stories about the songs, bantered with the crowd, and gave out his ‘band cell’ number so everyone in attendance could text in for a recording of the evening's show.

Part way through the set the band took a brief break and Dan played a few songs solo, including a requested cover of Neutral Milk Hotel’s “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea”, and was joined by Georgia Harmer for a lovely rendition of “The Indie Queens Are Waiting”, before the band returned for a huge singalong to “Robots”, Dan standing at the front of the stage, completely off mic, leading the crowd.

Other highlights included the charming “Pine for Cedars”, the raucous “Vessel”, and the intensely bombastic “Post-War Blues”, which ended off the main set.

But we didn't have to wait long before Dan was back out, on his own at first for the absolutely heartbreaking “Basket”, with more soft singing along (and I'm sure a few tears) from the audience. Then it was time to bring out ‘The Hammer’, a large lighting rig that syncs with the finale of the set, “So Much for Everyone”. In the past Dan has waded out into the middle of the crowd with this contraption, but since it's probably not wise to do that these days, he and the band -- as well as Georgia Harmer -- crowded around a single microphone, with Dan leading a choir of voices to send everyone off with their hearts full.

Sometimes you get a musician and venue that just "fit" perfectly together, and I think that's Dan with the Vogue. From the first time he played there in 2010, to the last time — as documented by All Together Now — he just feels at home there. And as I’m sure I’ve said before, he manages to make the full theatre feel like an intimate living room show.

setlist
Which Is It
Cold in the Summer
Road Regrets
Troubled Mind
Lay Low
Rows of Houses
Kitsch
Fool For Waiting
The Indie Queens are Waiting
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea [Neutral Milk Hotel cover]
In Your Corner (for Scott Hutchison)
Robots
Peaks & Valleys
Oh Fortune
Pine for Cedars
Forgetery
Vessel
Post-War Blues
(encore)
Basket
So Much for Everyone