Concert in Toronto
The Toronto show was the second on the Childstar tour. The show was technically sold out, as only VIP tickets and resale tickets were available, but the venue was not filled to its 450 people capacity. People lined up outside the venue hours before general access opened at 7 PM. About 30 of them had VIP tickets and were led in at 6 PM. The VIP guests were treated to two songs where Grace was accompanied by her co-writer Eren Cannata on guitar, and a short Q&A where Grace answered questions from the audience. Among the questioners were two young girls who were not (as one might have expected) just fans of Ukulele Grace. One girl (around 11 years old) had flown from Wales in the UK with her dad the day before just for this show (it was her birthday present). She had watched the Childstar Final Act video repeatedly – and had had her dad watch it too. Another young girl (around 12, I guess) said that she loved all of Grace’s unreleased music. Most of the general audience for the show were in their twenties. All in all, it seems that Grace has the right (albeit still small) audience now.
The openers, Gabrielle Bee and Alina Adams fitted the audience - and Grace – well, and both gave solid performances.
Grace’s show was flawless, and she appeared relaxed and having fun. Even though the stage was really small, she and her dancers made it work as if there were no constraints. She did not have a band but sang to a background track. The lack of a band was not really an issue as Grace and the dancers provided lots of live action on the stage. It would also have been impossible to fit them on the small stage (and added to the costs of the tour, of course). As she often does when she sings live, Grace avoided some of the highest notes and replaced them with lower ones. This fitted the background vocals Grace had recorded for the backing track and must have been planned all along. (Grace has previously talked about how she often writes and records songs that are difficult to sing live).
Even though the set consisted of 12 songs, Grace’s part of the show only lasted 50 minutes. It didn’t feel short, though, as there was so much going on. But the short show may have been another reason to have openers (and in this and a few other cases, two openers).
The show was included in the program for the Toronto “Departure” music festival. Where Grace and Eren Cannata were interviewed on stage the day before, for the conference part of the festival.
The venue
The Great Hall in Toronto opened in 1890 to house Toronto's West End YMCA. Originally it featured a swimming pool in the basement (some traces of the deep end still remain), a gymnasium, a bowling alley, a library, and a raised running track. It was also the site of some of the earliest basketball games ever played. Anti-alcohol fraternal organization the Royal Templars of Temperance took over the space after the YMCA moved, and renamed it the Royal Templar Hall. The Polish National Union purchased the hall in the 1940s. In the mid-80s, when it turned into a hub for the city's artistic scene. By the end of the 90s, it was more well known as a rental hall for private events than a cultural space. The Great Hall has experienced a revival in recent years. BlogTo.com
People lined up outside the Great Hall from 4.30 PM, about 30 of them for the VIP event, the rest for the main event, where doors would not open until 7 PM For the small VIOP crowd, Grace performed two songs accompanied by her co-writer, Eren Cannata, and did a short Q&A. The song part was called a “sound check,” but the real sound check had taken place long before.
Visit to Sirius XM in Toronto
Only a short clip of the interview has been made available without a subscription to SiriusXM.