Concert Review: Gary Louris, April 22, Hugh's Room Live

Skip to content

Home
About Us
- Derek
- Gary
- Halley/Celeste
- Paul
- Ricky
- Vik
Concerts
Reviews
- Albums
- Venue
- Movies
- Year End Reviews
Festivals
Contact Us

Menu

Home
About Us
- Derek
- Gary
- Halley/Celeste
- Paul
- Ricky
- Vik
Concerts
Reviews
- Albums
- Venue
- Movies
- Year End Reviews
Festivals
Contact Us

Concert Review: Gary Louris, April 22, Hugh’s Room Live

Posted on

23 Apr 2025

by

Paul

Early on in his Tuesday night set at Hugh’s Room, Jayhawks frontman Gary Louris mentioned that he doesn’t normally write from an autobiographical perspective. but said that in the case of his latest album Dark Country, he definitely took a lot of inspiration from his wife, referring to her at one point as his muse. Dark Country is a solid collection of tunes, many of them about love, and Louris played several off the album, with songs like “Getting Older”, “Two Birds” and “Couldn’t Live A Day Without You” standing out as some of the highlights.

Another highlight and one of my personal favourites off the new album was “Living On My Phone.” Some might hear a title like that and assume it to be an anti-tech screed about how we’re too attached to our devices and only living on our phones. But in Louris’s hands it instead took the form of a sweetly romantic number about how that tech was actually a lifeline that kept him and his wife connected through those early days of COVID when he was still living in the States and a border divided them.

The things that keep Americans and Canadians divided also came up in a different form during the show when Louris invited Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy onto the stage to sing a version of his recent tune “We Used to Be the Best of Friends.” That version saw Louris adding his own modified lyrics from the perspective of a disillusioned American to Cuddy’s tale of a wounded Canadian wondering how things went so wrong. And of course when they came together on the harmonies, it sounded fantastic.

Voices coming together in song was also how the evening ended, with Louris inviting the crowd to join him as he closed things off with the Jayhawks classic “Blue.” And while the harmonies may not have been quite as tight as when he and Cuddy sang together earlier, it’s always great to hear a room full of people coming together to sing a beloved tune. So yeah, in its own way, that sounded fantastic too.

PrevPreviousSong of the Day: Ribbon Skirt – Earth Eater

NextConcert Review: Soft Play, Babe Haven, April 24, Axis ClubNext

SEARCH

Search for:

THE PAST

Tags

British Music Embassy (10) Canadian Music Fest (11) canadian music week (20) cmf (10) cmw (42) concert (9) el mocambo (9) fringe (26) Great Lake Swimmers (10) guelph (9) horseshoe tavern (23) hot docs (103) jazz (12) Joel Plaskett (10) jukebox the ghost (15) lee's palace (27) marina and the diamonds (10) Massive Attack (10) mod club (12) NXNE (94) of monsters and men (11) Phoenix (15) play reviews (11) Pulp (11) Roskilde Festival (16) rural alberta advantage (10) sharon van etten (10) suede (12) summerworks (34) SXSW (479) SXSW 2022 (11) SXSW 2024 (11) SXSW Online (18) the antlers (11) the cure (9) the national (10) the xx (11) Tokyo Police Club (9) Toronto (25) toronto fringe (14) Toronto Jazz Festival (55) turf (13) tweeview (10) Video (9) zeus (10)

We are a collective of individuals bringing you the latest in concert reviews, indie, britpop, Canadian, twee and all sorts of other music, movies, tv and everything else you like. Follow the manual to live a pleasant and fulfilling life.