Carley Rae Jepsen at Meridian Hall

Meridian Hall was the place to be on Saturday night. Carley Rae Jepsen is touring in support of her latest album, Dedicated.  In spite of the seated venue, her fans came out en force, ready to sing and dance.  

Show opener, Ralph, was a joy. She bounded onto the stage to join her 2 man band wearing a white top and the happiest pair of pink party pants ever. Possibly sewn from feather boas, their shimmying mirrored the energy that Ralph put into her show – which was a lot. Her music is upbeat and cheeky, and she had some very devoted fans in the crowd. Hailing from Toronto, she bantered easily with the audience – praising the bliss of sleeping in her own bed the night before. Her entire set was imbued with a sense of fun that acted as a perfect amuse-bouche before the main course.

It was a short wait before Carley Rae Jepsen appeared.  The Mission, BC singer is a masterful pop songwriter and has cultivated a dedicated following. The fanbase is beautifully diverse with the LGBTQ community leading the charge. The audience was also peppered with young kids, parents, and groups of friends making the most of their night out. Jepsen’s songs speak of universal human emotions that resonate easily.  She writes the kind of lyrics that beg to be sung out loud.

The show itself was sleek. Her band was dressed in all white, serving both as musical accompaniment and set design. Jepsen came out in a neon yellow top, blue evening gloves and the fringe-laden white pants that grace her album cover. Starting with No Drug Like Me, Jepsen had the whole room standing from the very first note. She gracefully skated from one song to the next with fans singing every word. Jepsen knows how to tease audience participation moments from her very hook-driven songs.  As expected, Call Me Maybe got a wild reception, but in fact, most of the other songs did too. The music that Jepsen has put out in the last few years has had commercial and critical success, a rare thing. If you weren’t paying attention, Jepsen’s nomination for the 2016 Polaris prize might have raised an eyebrow. But Jepsen’s sound has grown from bubblegum pop into something more meaningful and avant garde. The combination is irresistible.

The night featured one single costume change which had Jepsen in a brightly patterned skin tight romper.  Again, against the backdrop of all white, there was no doubt about who you should be watching on stage. Displaying a sense of humour, about half way through the show, the whole band, including the two back-up singers ducked off stage, only to return all wearing platinum blonde “Carley Rae” wigs like the ones used in her recent video. The joke was appreciated as they launched into Too Much, the lead single from Dedicated.  By the time the main set ended with Party for One, everyone was high on pop music and endorphins. 

Jepsen and her band left the stage for just a brief moment before returning for the three song encore. The last song of the night was Cut to the Feeling, a tune that raised the energy to the stratosphere. Carley Rae Jepsen delivered what the crowd wanted – a  fun, music filled party that made people happy.