Concert Review: Katie Gavin, April 25, Massey Hall

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: Katie Gavin, April 25, Massey Hall

Posted on

26 Apr 2025

by

Paul

Taking to the stage at Massey Hall for the first night of a two night stand alongside tourmates Lucy Dacus and jasmine.4.t, Katie Gavin greeted the packed house with a simple, “Hi, babies” before launching into “Casual Drug Use” off her debut solo album What A Relief, released late last year on Saddest Factory Records. She would go on to play much of the new album over the course of the evening, along with an unreleased track, “She Gives Me Feelings,” which gave off a bit of a Waxahatchee vibe.

Mentioning that she’d already played a Toronto show in support of the new album back in December, Gavin noted that this show seemed a little more special, largely due to the feelings of camaraderie between herself and her tourmates, adding that being out on tour with Lucy and Katy was “the best.” The close connection between the tourmates was on display when Gavin invited jasmine.4.t onstage to join her for a duet on “As Good As It Gets,” returning the favour from earlier in the evening when Jasmine invited her onstage for “Guy Fawkes Tesco Dissociation.”

Gavin has described What A Relief as “Lilith Fair-core” and it’s a rather accurate assessment, with the album’s sound hearkening back to the late ’90s heyday of the Sarah McLachlan-founded festival, when the likes of Jewel, Shawn Colvin and Meredith Brooks ruled the airwaves and countless editions of those Women & Songs CD compilations could be found in record shops across the nation.

Taking influence from folk, pop, and country, Gavin’s solo debut is a warm and assured sounding album, with tracks like “Aftertaste” and “Inconsolable” standing out as particular highlights. Live, those tunes sounded great, with Gavin and her band putting on an impressive performance that saw her moving from guitar to keyboards to fiddle to shruti box over the course of the evening.

Katie Gavin is on tour with Lucy Dacus and jasmine.4.t over the next couple of weeks, with the tour wrapping up on May 15. Check her out if you get the chance.

PrevPreviousConcert Review: Soft Play, Babe Haven, April 24, Axis Club

NextSong of the Day: Scowl – FantasyNext

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.