Unplugged, emotional, intimate
Dallas Green is only playing two live shows this year, and one of them was at the Sasktel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival on Saturday.
“This is my favourite festival in Canada,” he said from the stage after kicking off his acoustic show. “Don’t tell anybody that.”
Green’s affection for Saskatoon is incontrovertibly reciprocated.
Green calls his solo act City and Colour because his first name is a city and his last name is, well, a colour. On Saturday night, the city was Saskatoon and the colour was the darkening blue of the sky over the Bessborough gardens.
Saskatoon fans are a sure thing for Green. There is a palpable anticipation in whatever venue he visits, and Saturday was no exception. And this performance, despite the fact it was “a steady diet” of “quiet and sad songs” according to Green, proved why residents want him to keep coming back.
He is now an undeniable success on the international level, having completed an album with Pink, and establishing himself as an accomplished producer as well as performer. This did not stop him from making his way into the crowd to watch the opener, and cheerfully take photo after photo with elated devotees.
Above all else, it is about that voice. He has a vocal delivery, that in its high range, makes you shiver; with pleasure, sadness and memory.
A highlight of the night was his cover of Nutshell by Alice In Chains, who Green refers to as his favourite band. It was City and Colour standards, however, that got the crowd singing. That Girl was a pleaser, as was a version of Coming Home that morphed into a tribute to the Tragically Hip. For the final song of the encore, Sleeping Sickness, Green asked that the crowd help him get through the piece he had created with his friend, the late Gord Downie.
For most of the show, it was just Green and a guitar. He was joined on stage by the talented Matt Kelly, who layered on backup vocals and keyboards that enhanced the headliners’ performance. Opening act Ben Rogers also came out to create a trio for a compelling song about the “Highway of Tears” in British Columbia.
Rogers has enough country in his alternative sound to feel right at home in front of a Saskatchewan crowd. His smart and brooding lyrics set him apart and show he is a fine student of Dallas Green.