Advertisement

Concert reviews Music

Blood Orange recreated the even-keeled tone of Freetown Sound at the Danforth Music Hall

BLOOD ORANGE at Danforth Music Hall, Wednesday, September 21. Rating: NNN


Dev Hynes’s third Blood Orange album, Freetown Sound, has the free-flowing feel of a mixtape, and his return to the Danforth Music Hall played out similarly. Backed by a four-piece band and two backup singers, the English musician’s show evoked the album’s New York atmosphere and identity themes thanks to audio clips of spoken-word poetry and videos of cityscapes projected on two rectangular screens.

Within that setting, the elegant and controlled slow-funk of Freetown Sound contrasted with Hynes’s sometimes hectic presence. He often darted around the stage between instruments, finishing a quiet ballad on keys and then racing to his electric guitar or cello like an actor attempting to hit his mark. When not playing an instrument, he sang and danced like Michael Jackson fresh from a modern dance class.

After a clip of poet Ashlee Haze lauding Missy Elliott as a feminist hero, the band launched into the propulsive rhythms of Augustine. More plaintive melodies, sighing woodwinds and buttery harmonies from Freetown followed until Time Will Tell – off 2013’s Cupid Deluxe – perked up the sold-out crowd.

Often it felt like Hynes was attempting to recreate the perfectly even-keeled tone of the album. Although he can shred, he kept the guitar showmanship to a minimum, picking up his axe almost as an afterthought to play an outro.

He ceded the mic to singers Ava Raiin and Eva Tolkin for Freetown standouts Hadron Collider and Best To You, garnering a big response from the crowd that morphed into obnoxious chatter as Hynes sat solo at the keys to play Freetown closer Better Numb. He paused the song as fans shushed one another.

The moment suggested the audience wanted more than the vibe-y, romantic melancholy Hynes was willing to give, and at the end he finished with the jaunty Uncle ACE, which finally gave the band a chance to riff and go a little wild.

kevinr@nowtoronto.com | @kevinritchie

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Recently Posted