Photos by Randall Vasquez.
UK ensemble Florence and the Machine returned to Toronto just one year after their initial celebration of their third album How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful at last year’s Bestival. As it happened, their show occurred on the eve of this year’s Bestival.
While Florence and the Machine shifted to the Molson Amphitheatre this time around, opening act Of Monsters and Men made the concert event pack a one-two as if it were an actual festival. Romanticizing aside, Of Monsters and Men shared an exceptional hour-long performance that coincided with the first anniversary of their highly successful album, Beneath the Skin. They could have easily satisfied as a one-off for the evening, but complimented Florence and the Machine in a way that found their place with even the newest of fans in the crowd.
The headliner themselves approached the evening with what can be described as a hybrid persona of whimsical-rockstar. As lead singer and forefront star Florence Welch ran through the Molson Amphitheatre early in the evening and later sunk into the standing pit in front of her during the thunderously excellent “What Kind of Man”, locking eyes with glittered faces and touching her head to theirs, there seemed to be a certain aura of connection on her end, and devotion on the other side. It’s this type of ethereal presence that runs through their catalogue, heightened by the intensely poignant and chill-inducing vocals of Queen Florence.
Like Ceremonials, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful is a few steps away from the band’s dizzying debut Lungs. Performances from those works , including “What the Water Gave Me”, “Mother”, “Ship to Wreck” and “Shake It Off”, catered to the attending wider audience that they’ve grown over the course of their skyrocketing career and left deep impressions. Amongst messages of love and losing themselves in the moment (Florence convinced the audience to tuck their devices away for “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful”), a strikingly stripped down version of the Calvin Harris-collaboration “Sweet Nothing” came out as a surprising highlight.
Though the subtle changes in creative direction have allowed for bigger sonic moments, there was nothing quite like the booming drums, daringly flightiness and, as per Florence’s tales, youthful nature of songs from Lungs. “Cosmic Love” and “Dog Days Are Over” were punched with levity that caused the right amount of shakes, while “You Got The Love” remains to be their joyful essence. Good thing they’ve got lots of that, and heart, to share.
