By: Mehek Seyid (@whatthemehek) –
Jessie Ware. (Photo: Stephen McGill/Aesthetic Magazine Toronto)
Jessie Ware’s debut album Devotion gives you a lot of reasons to like the UK-native. The album explores the intricacies and levels of love and relationships, covering everything from flirtation to self-sacrifice against a backdrop of reverberating, fast tempo electronic notes and ‘90s inspired R&B melodies. It’s where she bares her passion and a range of vocal talent, going from wispy and sweet one moment to bold and powerful in another. Masterfully balancing soulful confessions and poppy anthems, she manages to connect with her audience on talent and emotion alone.
This relationship is only enhanced when you see her live. At last night’s show at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto, Ware’s sweet and genuinely nice nature took center stage, allowing audience members to meet her not just as a performer, but as an person as well. She spent a large part of her time on stage sharing anecdotes, dancing with fans, and making quips between songs. This kind of personable presentation made everyone in the audience wish they could have her over at their homes for a cup of tea, probably one much better than the one she sipped throughout her hour long performance.
Arriving on stage dressed in waist-high velvet pants, a slicked back ponytail and the most adorable smile, Ware began the night with performance of “No To Love”, “Still Love Me” and “Night Light”, the latter two of which received not only a favourable reaction, but also a comment from the songstress about how different her North American audiences preferences are compared to the ones back home. But as the night progressed, it appeared that she could do no wrong in any choices she made, especially since she continuously leaned over to each fan to sing with them, wink at a few, throw her hands in the air to mirror others, even pausing mid-song to ask one fan if she was doing okay.
Ware was just that inclusive and concerned about the experience that she was providing. “I did send out an invitation to your mayor,” she joked. Despite his absence and having accidentally taken Nyquil instead of Dayquil, she charged through performances of “Running” and “Sweet Talk”, as her smooth singing supplemented with her snapping fingers and twists around the stage so that she could groove with her back-up band, a trio who subtly enhanced the sounds of Devotion perfectly.
There was nothing that was short in supply, including her vocal delivery. Whether it was during the quietly warm “Devotion” or the dance-party inducer “If You’re Never Gonna Move”, she was consistently strong in her performances. In fact, highlights “Taking In Water” and “Wildest Moments” found Ware pushing her sound in ways larger than what’s heard on the album, which induced a surreal and powerful experience that only enhanced the positive image of the person that Toronto met last night. She made a powerful impression, the kind where you hope you will get to meet her again some day soon.
The Invisibles flew in from London to replace Mikky Ekko as the opening act for the Canadian leg of Ware’s tour. Their half an hour set was packed with moody electronic rhythms, laden with staccato percussions and some fast-tempo guitar chords. It was particularly enjoyable to watch lead singer Dave Okumu perform as he was completely absorbed by the sounds around him, nodding his head in quiet agreement, ignoring the sparse crowd in front of him. Okumu produced Jessie Ware’s debut album and later appeared during her performance, adding another layer of intimacy to the show.
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