It’s not all that common to see an artist come out on stage before their show starts to personally introduce the opening act, but that’s just what happened Saturday night when Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold walked out to introduce opener Uwade. Starting off by mentioning how great it was to be back on tour and specifically back at Massey Hall (I believe he said it was their fifth time back at the venue), he also took the time to sing Uwade’s praises before bringing her onto the stage. It was a nice moment that illustrated the admiration Fleet Foxes hold for their tourmate and also helped to hype her up to the crowd a bit, Though based on the strength of the songs she played during her set, she might not have needed much hype anyways.
During her brief opening set, Uwade put on a solid performance that showcased her strengths as a songwriter, with the highlight of her set being “The Man Who Sees Tomorrow“, a touching tribute to her late father. A charming performer with a penchant for asking the crowd questions as a way of introducing her songs, Uwade’s set seemed almost too brief, though happily she wouldn’t be gone from the stage for too long, joining Fleet Foxes on stage for their opening track “Wading in Waist-High Water.”
Touring behind their 2020 release Shore, Fleet Foxes put on an impressive show with a setlist that spanned their entire career and also included, oddly enough, a Hoobastank cover. Yes, in response to a fan shouting out a request for Hoobastank (there were a lot of people shouting out a lot of random stuff all night), Pecknold actually sang a bit of “The Reason,” which, somewhat surprisingly erupted into a bit of a singalong on the chorus before he cut it short. Who knew there was such an overlap between each band’s fandoms? Not I.
Speaking of covers, another memorable moment in their set came in the form of a beautiful version of Judee Sill’s “The Kiss”, which Pecknold described as “a holy song for this holy place.” Other highlights included “White Winter Hymnal” (jokingly referred to as a Pentatonix cover), “Can I Believe You”, “Blue Ridge Mountains”, “Montezuma” and “Mykonos,” a song which Pecknold called the bane of his existence as a singer, though he added that this night’s performance may have been the best he’s ever done it.
The band ended things off for the evening with “Helplessness Blues”, thus closing out a show that felt like a cool, comforting breeze in contrast to the oppressive heat outside. OK, I guess the AC probably played some part in that too, but you get what I’m going for here.
