Ry X at The Great Hall

Australian singer-songwriter Ry X played his first ever show in Canada at The Great Hall in Toronto, on Sunday October 23^rd.

Opening band was Montreal Based band, Ghostly Kisses; this was also their first show in Toronto. Ghost Kisses is an Indie-Electronica band consisting of three people. Vocalist Margaux Sauvé graced the audience of The Great Hall with her fluid and stunning vocals, with a voice similar to Sarah Mclachlan. Not only did she have a beautiful voice, but she is also an excellent violin player. Each band member perpetuated emotion and passion into every song as it was visible in how they played, and the expression on their faces. They closed their set with a more raw cover of “Back To Black” by Amy Winehouse, in which the audience enjoyed and sang along.

After about an approximate half hour wait, the lights dimmed and The Great Hall was completely pitch black and silent. Light entered the room as the stage door opened, and audience members began to cheer. Ry X entered the stage and began the set with playing “Shortline”. Following this song, Ry explained how this was his very first show in Canada and how he felt so welcome coming to Toronto. Furthermore, he spoke about how he loves the energy and culture in the city. In the beginning of the set, audience energy really wasn’t that great which was shocking and unfortunate however, as the show went on more and more people began to immerse themselves into the set.

What makes Ry X such a successful artist is his belief in not utilizing laptops for live performances that have an electronic style to them. He has always had hints of electronics within his music however, more-so with his new album. His band only comprised of 3 people, and they did not utilize any sort of pre-recorded sounds; every aspect of the performance was raw.

The performance of “Sweat” was perhaps one of the best throughout his set. It included an epic build-up halfway through the song with soft percussion and electronics, which slowly intensified and created something truly beautiful. Before the performance of well known song, “Berlin” Ry explained how certain areas in Toronto reminded him of Berlin, and spoke about how Berlin is a place that is extremely significant to him as he has spent quite some time of his life living there. This was also a very intimant performance, and audience was completely silent and intrigued by the beauty of the song. Furthermore, another favourite moment during the show was the performance of “Howlin” which had a chill but fun vibe to it.

This was such a well done and put together show. Although it may not have been as long as people were expecting it to be, he played a great variety and range of songs, including an encore with “Only”.