Sound of a Woman

Singer Kiesza has been blowing up ever since her viral video Hideaway hit Youtube. For the Pan Am games, she had a 6:30 head-liner slot on Saturday (at Pan Am Park) and an 8:30 opener slot on Sunday (at Nathan Phillip Square). I decided to check out both shows. Her demographic definitely skews younger as the front by the stage were packed with young teen girls. Some even waved signs. There were some unusual fans including a teenager with a wispy goatee, dressed all in black, who seemed a more natural fit at a Metal concert.

Since she mostly sang dance songs, the whole show was tightly choreographed: not just with the 2 dancers, but with the rest of her band, and even some of the stage banter. In that sense, it was more like watching musical theatre. It was exhausting just watching them on Saturday with the 40-degree sun beating down. The cooler weather and later time slot on Sunday gave the tech-hands a chance to play with the fancy stage lights.

It's not easy to sing and dance on almost every song whether slow (So Deep) or fast (Giant In My Heart). But to be honest, Kiesza was a bit "dorky" with her movements. Compared to her smooth dancers, there was a touch of gangly awkwardness in her execution. All that dancing make her superfit though, as her mid-riff baring tops showed off her flat belly and abs. With full sets, she also included collaborations including Teach Me (Joey Bada$$) and Take Ü There (Diplo/Skrillex). Kiesza did have quite a set of pipes though on cover Human Nature (Michael Jackson) and her ballad Sound of a Woman. Of course, Hideaway closed out her set both nights to huge cheers.

On Sunday, prior to her set, Pupy Y Los Que Son Son and La Bottine Souriante brought cheerful Latin music and foot-stomping Quebecois folk to the packed square.