Seattle’s The Head and the Heart rolled back into town last night, playing a sold-out show at the Commodore Ballroom. Eager fans of the band filled the venue to the brim and six-piece band did not disappoint.
But before The Head and the Heart took took to the stage, Seattle’s Curtains For You got the crowd warmed up with the high-energy tunes. Next was Seattle-based singer-songwriter Bryan John Appleby (I wrote him about a couple weeks back). Backed by a 4-piece band, he played a selection of songs from his album, Fire on the Vine, including “The Words of a Revelator” and one of my favourites, “Honey Jars.” To close Appleby’s set, Josiah Johnson from The Head and the Heart came out to sing backing vocals on “Glory.”
The anticipation was thick in the air as everyone in the venue waited for The Head and the Heart to walk on stage. Lights dimmed, smoke wafted in the air, and cheers erupted – Josiah, Jon, Charity, Chris, Tyler, and Kenny appeared, breaking into a rousing rendition of “Cats and Dogs” that flowed right into “Coeur D’Alene.”
Powering through the first handful of songs in their set, The Head and the Heart was on fire. The pacing was energetic and nothing like a snapped guitar string stopped the flow. To slow things down a little, they performed “Heaven Go Easy on Me” and afterwards, Jon remarked on how Vancouver was the first stop on the tour where the sun didn’t shine. How typically Vancouver, no?
The rest of the band came back on stage and momentarily after starting fan favourite “Lost in My Mind,” Curtains For You, Bryan John Appleby and his band, and tour crew members stormed onto the stage and joined The Head and the Heart in a exuberant performance. Pretty much everyone in the building, with the exception of the Commodore ballroom staff, sang and danced along joyously, and Josiah even tipped his microphone into the audience to have some lucky fans sing. This was certainly one of those moments that make a concert a great one and one that people will remember years down the road.
Certainly not ones to leave out audience participation, Jon and Josiah led everyone in a performance of “What’s the Point?” and got us all singing some “ooh-ooh-ooh’s” during the chorus. To close, the band played another fan favourite, “Rivers and Roads.” Complete with foot-stomping and some powerful drumming from Tyler, this performance had the Commodore Ballroom shaking and I’m sure that our singing could be heard from outside.
A brief repose was had by the band and then, Josiah came out to start off the encore with a solo performance of “Fire.” A fantastic performance of “Down in the Valley” ended the night on an extremely satisfying note.
The Head and the Heart played their hearts out and made sure that all in attendance would have an amazing time.
