James Bay with Joseph
The Fillmore
Detroit, Michigan
October 4, 2016
In the time since his debut album, The Chaos and the Calm, was released in March of 2015 I will have, by the time I return home from this shoot, travelled over 24000 kms to catch 9 James Bay gigs. This, of course, not including the 1500km move that landed me back in Toronto and thus afforded the opportunity to shoot his TURF performance. That being said, I can by no means be counted amongst the avid fan girls the Hitchen native has been accumulating since his explosion on the world stage. Rather, I am the mother of a young man who is a massive fan of his and have been fortunate enough to be able to drag him around the country to many of his shows as well as having made a connection that enabled me to shoot several of his non-Canadian dates. In the process I have developed an appreciation for his sound myself and more so I have had the pleasure of seeing him grow into an incredibly adept showman.
Opening the show was Portland, Oregon folk trio Joseph, who captivated the crowd with incredibly haunting harmonies paired with eldest sister Natalie Closner’s acoustic guitar. Any of these ladies would be considered a vocal powerhouse on her own but together their combined skills are explosive. Expansive song writing coupled with and ethereal almost other worldly sound made for a spell binding performance.
From the moment Bay took the stage the sold out crowd would not be quieted, an excitement that was spurred on by his cheeky flirting with the crowd which is becoming seemingly as much of a trademark as his hat. From a purely technical standpoint on the audience side the show was as near to perfect as you can get, even at center stage in the pit there was no issues with vocals being lost and at no point during the set did the bass or drums drown out everything, two issues those of us who rush the barrier are all to familiar with.
Accoustics and sound engineering aside, the band gave a tight performance while still managing to look like they were genuinely having a great time together. James gave an energetic performance that included much more jamming than I remember from early shows this tour that adds a freshness to the show with multiple attendances. On a personal note would have liked to see Clocks Go Forward on the set list, but all in all it was a fantastic production from a team that seems incapable of putting on a bad show even under less than ideal circumstances.
I also have to give kudos for the handling of the encore, a silly tradition I have long been opposed to. Rather than a long, drawn out ego stroking during which the crowd is left to practically beg an artists to come play their big hit it was merely a quick t-shirt change and back on stage. Over the past 18 months I’ve seen James and his band perform in venues small and large, on festival stages as both a mid afternoon act and the evening’s headliner and each time I am always left impressed by group of young men who give each performance, no matter the size or number in attendance, their all. Tuesday’s gig at the Fillmore Theatre in THE music city, Detroit, was no different and, as is par for the course with Team Bay, was the best performance I’ve seen to date.
Setlist:
Collide
Craving
If You Ever Want To Be In Love
Need The Sun To Break
Let It Go
I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You (Elvis) / Scars
Move Together
Best Fake Smile
Get Out While You Can
Incomplete
Piece Of My Heart (Janis Joplin)
Hold Back The River
Connect with James Bay online: Website Facebook Twitter Instagram
Connect with Joseph online: Website Facebook Twitter Instagram
All photos by B Hartling
©2016. Please DO NOT copy or use without permission.
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