SOUL SLINGER SIZZLES
Brampton’s Jessie Reyez is a refreshingly unvarnished breed of pop starlet,
Jessie Reyez
(out of 4) With Savannah Ré. Danforth Music Hall, Tuesday, Dec. 4. Two sold-out hometown gigs were no doubt reward enough for all the hard work she’s put in to get her career to the “next big thing” stage, but Jessie Reyez still left this week’s double-shot of shows at the Danforth Music Hall with some nice parting gifts.
The Toronto-born, Brampton-raised soul slinger had the evening’s first article of underwear, a scarlet thong, tossed at her fairly early in her set on Tuesday night, shortly after a rousing, girl-powered crowd singalong to “F--- Being Friends.” Another pair of panties would follow a few tunes later. And apparently these incidents were not limited to just her second night at the Music Hall, for toward the end of her set a beaming Reyez would walk into the wings for a moment and return with the sizable heap of bras and other assorted underthings fans had lobbed onstage at her feet during the previous evening’s performance, too. Tom Jones himself would be impressed at the haul. If tossing the contents of one’s underwear drawer isn’t already a “thing” at Jessie Reyez shows, it’s probably going to become one.
Tuesday’s Danforth date — “the last show of a 30-date, two-months-long, sold-out muthaf--kin’ tour,” as Reyez put it — was a celebratory affair all around and probably the last time you’ll see Reyez playing a 1,400-capacity venue in this town. She’s a star and it shows and, it would appear, it’s happening for her. This was one of those gigs where there was contagious sense of excitement in the room at catching a performer on the way up, and the joyous vibe was remarkably similar to the rousing reception granted fellow Toronto R&B rising star Daniel Caesar when he did his own triumphant, five-night stand at the Music Hall last December. Fittingly, he’d turned up to duet with Reyez on “Figures” on Monday night.
On this occasion, the special guest was Reyez’s exceedingly proud father, who came out onstage at one point to contribute a little acoustic guitar to the proceedings. The gesture only made the highly likeable Reyez more likeable. She’s a refreshingly unvarnished (and foulmouthed) breed of pop starlet, and her “everygirl” persona — reflected in the honest, confessional quality of her songwriting — kept the show crackling on Tuesday even when the slight sameness of the material had you mindful of the fact that her best work is probably still ahead of her.
Not that anyone in the room was quibbling with that material, mind you. From “Apple Juice” to “Saint Nobody” to “Dear Yessie,” the tunes culled from the new EP Being Human in Public and last year’s cocksure debut, Kiddo, were universally received as anthems by the doting all-ages crowd — which, while heavily tilted toward the young and the female, was uncommonly well mixed across age, race and gender lines and served as further testament to Reyez’s broad appeal. “So many different colours,” she remarked. “That’s what I think about when I think of Toronto. It’s beautiful.”
Reyez — flanked by a fourpiece band that included longtime DJ Junia-T and a female guitarist — paid tribute to her own cultural heritage after asking all the children of immigrants in the room to throw up their hands, by draping the microphone stand in the Colombian flag, and singing a sweet acoustic rendition of Being Human in Public’s Spanish-language softie “Sola.” But the “very Toronto” power of that moment couldn’t compare to her lead-in to “Gatekeeper,” a biting cut from Kiddo about a producer who wanted her to trade sexual favours for a shot at stardom.
“I want you to look to your left and I want you to look to your right,” she said. “And 1if you see someone that’s not f--king reacting to this, I don’t want them f--king here.”
Reyez’s riposte to the scumbag, who has been called out publicly as Noel “Detail” Fisher? Another rousing crowd singalong to the refrain “Suck my d--k!” The ultimate victor is pretty clear in this situation. She didn’t gloat, though. She just offered more sincere gratitude to the crowd.
“My dreams, my life purpose is impossible without you,” she gushed. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
She’s a charmer, that one. I wouldn’t worry about her future.