ANDRA DAY at the Mod Club, Thursday, March 17. Rating: NNN
Backlit by burgundy lights and jazz club smoke, San Diego native Andra Day arrived onstage at the Mod Club looking like a modern-day Billie Holiday stepping out of a painting by pop artist Fab Ciraolo. Her ensemble – satin pajamas with a fur shrug, door-knocker earrings and her signature silk headscarf – hinted at what was to come: a luxuriously scattered night of powerhouse vocals.
Silencing the crowd with Forever Mine, the first track from 2015’s Cheers To The Fall, nominated for best R&B album at the February’s Grammys, Day quickly took charge of a packed room that had been rowdily grooving to opening acts Montreal’s Voyce and Australia’s Conrad Sewell. But rather than take us deeper into her own work after the room-lifting intro, she delved into an array of eclectic covers that felt like a self-indulgent distraction.
Not that a few of them weren’t powerful. Her version of Nina Simone’s Mississippi Goddam felt relevant, considering the political climate stateside. And ahead of a soulful remix of Kendrick Lamar’s No Makeup, she confessed that she used to fear leaving the house without wearing makeup and then proceeded to remove all of hers. (One eager fan asked for the wipe she used to remove her lipstick.)
The focus on other people’s work made it seem like Day was less interested in her own. Album songs Only Love, Rearview and Red Flags were quickly run through, followed by a Michael Jackson medley that would’ve been fine for a lesser artist, but not one with so much rich material of her own to explore. And despite her thrillingly gigantic voice, her band sometimes drowned out her words – though her captivating jazz scatting riffs more than made up for that. (Day could easily put out a successful a cappella album: the most moving moments often came when she was accompanied only by piano.)
It wasn’t until returning to the stage after a quick break that Day found the focus that had been lacking, diving into Mistakes, Goodbye Goodnight, Rise Up and City Burns with riveting fevour. And despite all the cover songs, ending with Queen’s I Want It All left a huge impression. Dropping to her knees, she owned every moment of it, and we all left the show certain that she deserves all the success that’s come her way.
music@nowtoronto.com | @chakavgrier
