Concerts

Photos and a review from the current City and Colour tour (with support from Nathaniel Rateliff and Ruby Waters)

[Ross MacDonald and Karen Coughtrey caught a City and Colour show in Ottawa. -AC]

If the residents of Ottawa were looking for a great way to kick off their late February weekend, they found it Friday night at the Canadian Tire Centre where City and Colour brought their Canadian winter tour through town supported by Colorado’s Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats and Toronto’s Ruby Waters.

Ruby Waters presented the arriving crowd with a powerful performance. It was impossible to ignore her commanding and compelling voice as she opened with ‘Rabbit Hole’.

She held the crowd’s attention through her recent hit single ‘Open Arms’ and ´Sweet Sublime’.

Her music packs a punch and she spoke little to the audience in order to fill her set time with as much of her musical offerings as possible and much too soon her set was ending with ‘Adult Swim’ and ‘Quantum’.

In the last year Ruby has played the intimate Saw Gallery venue, took on the outdoor stage at City Folk Festival in the fall to now opening the stage here at the CTC arena. She has clearly earned a following in Ottawa and shouts of “I Love You Ruby” could be heard as she left the stage.

Ruby warmed up the crowd but Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats amped them up. It was a short work week for many following the family day holiday but those short weeks have a habit of feeling extra long, especially when combined with the strange energy brought on by an upcoming full moon; so Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats were a ray of sunshine and provided a much needed jolt to the evening.

Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats combine the feel and sound of 70’s rock with modern folk and that retro feel was completed by the backdrop to their stage, which was a sepia toned picture of semi translucent overlapping translucent shapes, like something you might see when looking through a microscope while also bringing to mind sea coral and anemone, or flames and smoke.

They kicked it off with ‘Suffer Me’ and ‘Intro’ and had the crowd hand clapping, toe tapping and dancing on their way down the stairs back to their floor seats. That energy would continue through ‘I Need Never Get Old’, ‘Survivor’, and ‘Look It Here’.

Nathaniel spoke highly of his tour of our beautiful country, even suggesting he might hope to be welcomed here if things don’t go their way in the next US election. He took to the keyboard on ‘A Little Honey’ and the crowd was treated to a groovy saxophone solo by Andy Wild on ‘Cooling Out’.

In another more intimate moment of the night, Nathaniel took the opportunity to speak about his own struggles and the common struggle among humans in today’s world:
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“The record is dealing with my own personal anxiety and insecurities and how it is to be a person in the world nowadays and fighting with your own insecurities. This next song is written for a friend of mine who passed away and I think sometimes whether it be your insecurities or your own anxiousness that drives you to it, we get lost in it and there doesn’t seem to be a way back. This is for Richard Swift, I love you Richard.”

The following performance of ‘And It’s Still Alright’ was truly special and one could tell the audience was all in it, feeling the struggles and emotions, reaching out to their companions and soaking in the positivity offered in the lyrics.

They then brought the energy right back up with ‘Hey Mama’ and ‘S.O.B.’, the latter of which featured a stellar trumpet solo by Wesley Watkins. There was also much crowd participation, singing loudly on that song which should be no surprise since they also announced that ‘S.O.B.’ is about to go quadruple platinum in Canada and the second record to go gold.

They wrapped up their set with another clear audience favourite ‘Love Don’t’; its big sound and long instrumentals showcasing their talents the perfect way to end off.

While Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats created the ultimate Friday night party mood, City and Colour was up to the task of providing the perfect night cap.

The stage was black, a wail of “never, never will I..” grabbed the attention of the crowd and with a sudden transition to a disco groove and a flash of light Dallas Green and the band took the stage.

A series of scenic muted colour artsy videos plays in the background as even in a venue known for acoustic challenges patrons couldn’t help but comment about how Dallas’ beautiful voice rings clear through the space in a mesmerising tone.

City and Colour opened with the haunting tribute to Dallas’s friend ‘Meant To Be’, then moved right into ‘Run Away’ as the search light spots danced over the audience illuminating the adoring crowd.

The band was looking dapper with most sporting wide brimmed hats. Dallas was dressed full cottage core in a very comfortable looking mutli patterned & striped cardigan and jeans. Guitarist John Sponarski (also known as Johnny99) was in a Canadian Tuxedo complete with bandana neckerchief, and with his 70s style glasses created a striking look to say the least.

The whole set was like one long lullaby and the lights, gently sweeping curtain like over the crowd, or swinging gently around as if slow dancing, and the perfect background visuals of forest scapes or the galaxy or candle flames really added to the calming effect of the beautiful vocals.

‘The Love Still Hold Me Near’ featured tinkly piano bits that had the audience slowly swaying together. Before ‘We Found Each Other In The Dark’ Dallas took the crowd to church of sorts (the backdrop of stained glass windows hitting that idea home) as he talked about being kind to one another. He at first berated the crowd for not being enthusiastic enough about the idea, an experience not just had in Ottawa, the city known for being more subdued, but apparently a tour wide experience and he continued to say:

“This next song is simply about trying to be a little kinder to one another. What do I mean by that is that everyone in this room woke up today and tried to figure out this ridiculous thing called life but we’re all here together so if I could ask you for these next few minutes while we sing this song hold a little kindness in your heart for the stranger standing next to you, sing it with them, and if you can’t get down with that there are illuminated signs at the back of the building that show you where to go.”

Dallas, like Nathaniel Rateliff, also spoke about the tour and how it’s been great travelling across this difficult place. He said he’s always trying to get American bands to tour up here because it’s worth it because of the beautiful people and places and he declared Nathaniel and band honorary Canadians and dedicated his performance of new song ‘Underground’ to them.

The next time he spoke to the crowd he insisted they turn on their cell phone lights and create a starry sky. “Even those with low battery” he said, “You gotta give in this moment” and even suggested that someone would order you an uber if your phone dies. Some old school, real lighters could be seen among the crowd on the floor but most of the audience complied creating that coveted magical mood and they swayed and cuddled up closer to those they came with. The band really tested those cell phone battery lives though as they added long instrumental interludes to the song ‘Astronaut’.

They played one of their first songs ‘Hello, I’m in Delaware’ dedicating it to the fans who had been with him since the beginning, particularly anyone from the small crowd that had watched them perform at the small Ottawa venue, Mavericks. The lighting effects were noteworthy during this performance too as they appeared like fingers reaching out to the crowd willing them to get closer.

They concluded the main set with ‘Bow Down to Love’ which included not only an instrumental interlude showcasing the band’s excellent musicianship but also really showcased the astounding vocal range of Dallas and his phenomenal ability to hold and stretch a note.

They did not leave the stage for long before returning for a 4 number encore. Dallas was first to return to the stage and played an acoustic version of love song ‘The Girl’. He was then joined on stage by Erik Neilson on bass and performed ‘Comin’ Home’ which concluded with the chorus from Alexisonfire’s song ‘This Could Be Anywhere In The World’.

The full band returned to the stage for ‘Lover Come Back’ and ‘Sleeping Sickness’ whose last lines “Someone come and save my life, could it be this misery will suffice?” were an apt way to end a night punctuated by conversations of personal struggle, insecurities, and the need for more kindness in our modern world; and hopefully provided a little jolt of optimism for anyone there that might have needed it.

City and Colour
Dallas Green – Vocals, guitar
Matthew James Kelly – Keyboards
Erik Nielson – Bass
John Sponarski – guitar
Graham Jones – drums

Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
Nathaniel Rateliff – vocals, guitar, percussion
Joseph Pope III – bass
Mark Shusterman – keyboards
Patrick Meese – drums
Luke Mossman – guitar
Wesley Watkins – trumpet
Andy Wild – saxophone

Ruby Waters
Ruby Waters – vocals, guitar
Marcus Ramsay – guitar
Stu Mein – drums
Leena Rodriguez – bass

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 39665 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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