Vance Joy at Kool Haus – March 7, 2014

Vance Joy an Australian singer/songwriter brought his smooth vocals and easy listing tunes as the opening act before headliners Young The Giant hit the stage. Vance Joy is the pseudonym for James Keogh who performs with a three-piece backing band. They opened with the heartfelt Emmylou with the impossibly uplifting chorus “You are loved, you are loved, you are loved” that repeats over and over again. Keogh has a great pop voice with his Aussie accent just slightly visible when he sings that separates him from other folk-pop vocalists.

Vance Joy’s music takes the life affirming pop styling’s of a Jason Mraz and mixes it up with the folky earnestness of Ed Sheeran. Snaggletooth is a heart wrenching ballad about his love for his woman and possibly about her giving birth. The mood was slowed down to a sexy crawl. While Vance Joy’s music was very different than the band they were opening for, people seemed to cheer quite loudly after every song and enjoyed his performance. One minor quibble was when Keogh would speak to the audience between songs, he spoke so softly and mumbled a bit I couldn’t understand what he was saying.