Photos and a review of The Fray at the Hard Rock in Ottawa

[Ross MacDonald took the photos and Nicoholas Wrixon-Wood wrote the review, – AC]

The Fray’s Summer of Light Tour came to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Ottawa on May 16th, featuring opening acts Matt Bazinet and Brother Elsey. Summer of Light is promoting The Fray’s newest album, A Light That Waits, their first full-length studio album released in the past 12 years and the first since Isaac Slade, the band’s former lead vocalist, departed in 2022.

Matt Bazinet opened the show, demanding the concert hall’s attention with nothing but his acoustic guitar and soulful voice. Matt’s a one-man act from Kingston, which the crowd came alive to support.

He opened with a song called ‘Mistakes.’ The song explores Matt’s regret for lost time and potential and looks back on simpler times, yearning for how that time could’ve been used to change the man he is today. With lyrics like, “I got friends that fill the big shoes,” Matt laments not knowing if he’s reached his own potential and the heartache that comes with that feeling.

He moved on with ‘South of the Suburbs,’ a heartfelt, acoustic love ballad yearning for a normalcy like what his peers knew when they were younger. The song offers a vision of the world Matt dreams of making real, one where he finds that little piece of suburbia with you to call home, sung with morose vocals and down-to-earth guitar.

Matt Bazinet ended his short set with a song called ‘Lucky Man.’ The song offers a small, hopeful glimpse into the life of a man celebrating small moments of luck and honest moments of connection with verses like, “I don’t need to understand/ why you chose me as your man. I’m a lucky man.” It was a strong way to end Matt’s set with a look forward, hopeful to better times to come, and moving on from the lament of his previous songs.

Brother Elsey followed Matt, contrasting his somber, introspective chords with their own harder-rock brand of folk. For those unfamiliar with them, the band consists of the brothers Stablein on guitars and vocals — Brady, Beau and Jack — and Dalton Thomas on drums.

They opened their set with ‘Bolt Cutter Eyes,’ an attention-grabbing rock ballad about finding hope in love and riding off into the horizon in the desperate search for a better tomorrow where love is enough.

The band introduced themselves to the audience and told us all a little bit about the difficult journey they had coming out to play for us: “We’d gone through hell and high water to make it to the show,” said Brother Elsey. “Our van broke down and we only got it back on the road thanks to four helpful, shirtless men. We got stopped at the American border and turned around — it was like being trapped in purgatory. But we made it. For you.”

Lead singer Brady brought the room together with ‘Babylon,’ a lighter-swaying single from their newest album about doomed love and the pain of watching it all fall apart at the end of that road.

They moved on to ‘Breakdown,’ a song that Brother Elsey stated in their own words to be about “falling in love losing all your money at the same time.” With a break-out performance from their drummer, Dalton Thomas, the song thumped off the walls with a beat you could feel in your chest with each heartbeat.

Next, they treated us to an unreleased single called ‘Wild Horses.’ an emotional proclamation about pursuing their musical dream and not giving up no matter how difficult the journey becomes.

Staying on theme, Brother Elsey closed out their performance with ‘Dreamer.’ The song took us through the brothers’ passionate, honky-tonk journey of striving to pursue their dreams and how they’ll continue to rise no matter how many times failure and hardship tries to break them.

When it was finally time for the headliners, The Fray walked in through the fog, backlit and wreathed in light.

Their first song of the night was the title track from their new album of the same name, ‘A Light That Waits.’ The song featured The Fray’s iconic piano work, pounding drums and ethereal lyricism. It was a terrific introduction to their new album and started the show on a high note.

They followed that strong opener with ‘Hurricane,’ driving the crowd into a frenzy with guided clapping and a glorious synth-guitar solo.

‘Heartbeat’ played next, aptly named with a bassline you can feel in your chest, bringing a rousing chorus that you just can’t help but tap your foot to.

They followed ‘Heartbeat’ with ‘Look After You,’ a song from their first album. The Fray introduced the song by letting us know that this was their first Ottawa performance in 20 years — what a delight to have been able to witness it.

‘Little House’ was introduced with a chilling spotlight on their pianist and a delicate solo that bursted into a hard rock accompaniment.

Up next was ‘Tasted Glory,’ a song about the thrill of having worked to achieve your dream and finally having the chance to savour the sweet taste of glory. The band seemed earnestly thrilled to perform the song and added a nice little nod to Ottawa, ad-libbing that “it took 20 years, but we’re finally here in Ottawa!”

Even if I hadn’t known that ‘Over My Head (Cable Car)’ was a classic, I’d have realized it in the way the entire audience sprung to their feet with the first chords. Without question, the song lived up to the hype, and nearly the entire audience sang along word for word from start to finish. This song truly highlighted the proficiency of the band not just as musicians but also as performers as they revved up the audience with some of the most entertaining stagework I’ve ever seen.

They continued the momentum of that classic with a new song in ‘Ice Cold Lakes’ and another old-school hit in ‘All at Once,’ combining the old with the new in a hard-rocking double feature.

Next, The Fray took us on an emotional and powerful journey with ‘After You, Only God,’ a song about a love so powerful and complete that should it ever end there would be nothing to follow it.

They continued with ‘Wherever You Reach for Me,’ an uplifting, encouraging power ballad. The song offers support and companionship anywhere, no matter the struggle: “I’ll be right where you are, whenever you reach for me.”

The Fray gave us a change of pace, they played ‘Love Don’t Die,’ a magnificent, high-energy, foot-stomping crowd pleaser that had the audience on their feet hollering for more.

For ‘My Heart’s A Crowded Room,’ lead singer Joe King came down into the audience to embrace eager fans. The song was great — even with all the rabid screaming of the fans giving it a unique backtrack.

‘You Found Me’ began and the screaming evolved into squeals of delight. Joe gave an emotionally charged performance of the all-time classic bringing all the passion and heaviness it’s known for.

As the lights died down and the audience screamed for more, the encore began on a down-to-earth tone with ‘Sea Level Drive.’

The audience — and myself — had been in suspense, wondering when they’d play that song. And when it finally came? The response was electric. ‘How to Save a Life’ exceeded all expectations.

The Fray bidded us goodbye with the most fitting song in their roster, ‘Bye Bye Love.’ They brought out Matt Bazinet and Brother Elsey in honour of this being their final performance together and they joined The Fray on tambourines and vocals.

The Summer of Light Tour was a terrific show from start to finish. Matt Bazinet and Brother Elsey gave us a strong start, and The Fray were as great as they’ve ever been. I can’t recommend the show enough — and their tour has only just begun!

The Fray
Joe King – lead vocals, guitar
Dave Welsh – lead guitar
Ben Wysocki – drums, percussion

Touring musicians
Dane Poppin – bass, keyboard, backing vocals
Kai Welch – piano, backing vocals

Brother Elsey
Brady Stablein – lead vocals, guitar
Beau Stablein – bass, backing vocals
Jack Stablein – guitar, backing vocals
Dalton Thomas – drums