« Bastille at the Air Canada Centre, October 15th, 2014 »

I first saw Bastille just over a year ago, at a fairly small club in Toronto called The Phoenix, and just reread my initial review of their show. Here is part of what I wrote in September 2013:_ At the end of the night, I knew I had witnessed some early magic. This is a band going places, and I predict they will be huge a year from now if they stay on this path and there is any justice in the musical world. _ I’m not sure they are huge yet, but they did return to Toronto to play the Air Canada Centre Concert Bowl, which has a seating capacity of over 8000-10000. Not a bad prediction on my part.

How to compare the two shows, a year later? Grizfolk, the LA group opening for them, were enjoyable to listen to: their lead singer’s voice evoked Bono of U2, but their sound was more in a folk-rock vein. The Bastille set differed slightly from their previous Toronto show, in that they remained on stage for over an hour and a half, adding a few more songs from their older catalogue and giving a couple of previews from their next release. Musically, they sounded as clear and strong as the had in the smaller venue, and Dan Smith’s voice has remained rich. They now have a proper backdrop for their larger shows, which is essentially their triangular logo with a video screen filling the inside space. The band plays with the same energy and competence that impressed me the first time, right down to Dan’s lap around the floor during the song “Flaws.” I was hoping yet again to hear “Daniel in the Den” and was once more disappointed, but did enjoy the performance in its entirety. I’m getting used to the cliché of lit cellphones during slow numbers (in this case for “Oblivion”) and would still like to scream at the amount of people who come to shows and chat through the entire set. I suspect I am fighting a losing battle in both cases.

The bottom line? I liked the first concert much more, if only because it was a smaller, more intimate venue, but I think I’d go again to catch them if their next album is as rich as “Bad Blood” was.

Concert photos courtesy of Austin Ziegler.