Early on in her Saturday night set at The Cameron House, UK-based indie singer-songwriter Lande Hekt addressed the crowd, noting that she was enjoying her time in Toronto before going on to ask that people not talk too much during her show.
Aside from the fact that it’s not great concert etiquette to talk during a more stripped-down solo set, she explained that it’s also a bit of a distraction for her, as she tends to want to listen in on whatever people are talking about and then forgets the words to her songs. She added that there’s plenty of places around the city where everyone is talking all the time, so they could just go there instead. This was all said, of course, in the nicest, most polite way possible.
Hekt was in town for the first show of a very brief two-date Canadian tour in support of her latest release, Lucky Now, with the other date happening the following night in Montreal. And though she may not have been playing many shows, it sounded like she took the opportunity to turn it into a mini-vacation of sorts as well, even finding a connection to her own home while across the pond.
Hekt mentioned that she had recently moved to the town of Scarborough back home in England and was delighted to learn there was a Scarborough in the Toronto area as well. The observation prompted one audience member to tell her not to bother going, but it sounded like she was determined to make the pilgrimage regardless.
She also gave a shout-out to another Ontario city while giving a bit of a sales pitch for the merch table. Explaining that the t-shirts had been printed in Kitchener, Hekt urged the audience to buy them because she simply didn’t have room in her luggage to take them home, especially since she also had to bring back stereotypically Canadian souvenirs for friends and family. Little bottles of maple syrup shaped like maple leaves were singled out as a particular burden. When one audience member shouted, “It’s a rip off!” Hekt immediately agreed. “I know. But promises were made.”
Of course, she wasn’t just here to buy novelty bottles of syrup and visit the hometown of Mike Myers. No, she was here to play, and she put on an impressive and intimate show, with songs like “Lucky Now” and “A Million Broken Hearts” standing out as highlights. She introduced the latter as one of the few overtly political songs she’s written in recent years, describing it as being about “trying to rid our country of fascism.”
Keeping things seasonally appropriate, Hekt also performed “Rabbits,” a song inspired by the summer solstice. The introduction included a story about travelling alone to Glastonbury Tor to mark the occasion, only to find herself surrounded by dancing hippies celebrating the longest day of the year. An unusual experience for sure, but hey, she got a cool story to tell out of it, not to mention a pretty spiffy song to boot.
In a city full of places where everyone is talking all the time, Hekt gave the Cameron House audience a reason to listen with a thoughtful, charming, and captivating performance. Hopefully she sold a few t-shirts, too – after all, she’s got to make room for all that maple syrup.
