Charlie Puth’s Nine Track Mind Tour made its way to a sold-out crowd in Toronto on Monday evening at the Virgin Mobile Mod Club. Sophie Beem warmed up the crowd followed by Phoebe Ryan who brought her brand of quirky pop to the stage. It was the night’s main attraction though that had the youth filled crowd chanting, “CHAR-LIE! CHAR-LIE! CHAR-LIE!” as a piano was rolled into position on centre stage.
Charlie Puth’s demeanor and presence is a juxtaposition to his stage set-up. Flanked by a three-piece band and an impressive lighting set-up, the young man is oddly casual sauntering onto stage in ripped jeans and an oversized white t-shirt. He is humble and reserved between belting out tracks including “Marvin Gaye” and “Left Right Left”, both which encapsulate Puth’s pop-meets-R&B-vibe. The twenty-four-year-old New Jersey native released his first full length album, Nine Track Mind, in January and wasted no time running through the majority of the tracks during his set. Taking a brief break from sitting behind his piano, Puth opts for an acoustic break mid-show featuring “Then There’s You” and “Up All Night” much to the crowd’s delight.
Impressively, this was Charlie Puth’s first performance in the “land of Drake and Shawn Mendes,” as he so lovingly referred to Toronto as, and the fans showed up in droves. From the balcony of the already intimate venue, to the back corners, the group of admirers were eager to catch a glimpse of the rising star. Which goes to say that Charlie Puth is a certified heartthrob. If his lovelorn lyrics weren’t enough to begin with, a line like, “I’ve never been in love but I want to be,” when introducing a song is enough to make anyone swoon. The genuineness seeps through in between songs as a fan holding a sign towards the front the stage catches his eye. After a brief interaction the visibly excited, yet lucky girl gets scooped up on stage to sing alongside Puth at the piano.
The night wouldn’t be complete without the biggest tracks of Charlie Puth’s career thus far: his current single “One Call Away” and the Furious 7 soundtrack hit by Wiz Khalifa “See You Again” in which Puth carries the hook. While the entire experience felt brief and fleeting, it will most certainly not be the last time Toronto sees Charlie Puth.
