Cut To The Feeling

Perhaps Carly Rae Jepsen's management finds her career in a strange spot. Obviously she's a money maker, with critically acclaimed pop albums (Emotion and Emotion: Side B), and a devoted fan-base. She could sell out mid-size venues, but she lacks the wider popularity to sell out arenas. In any case, whether by choice or from corporate advice, she has only ever toured as an opener for larger acts like Hedley.

But thanks to the Canadian Sesquicentennial celebrations sponsored by various levels of government, there was a one-off show at Roy Thomson Hall on Saturday. I quickly snapped up some tickets though I wasn't sure about sitting in a chi-chi venue listening to Jepsen, backed by the Toronto Symphony, as opposed to dancing to synth and percussion. The sold-out crowd wasn't sure either and spent the night alternating between standing up dancing and sitting down.

It was Jepsen, and now and then her long-time guitarist, front and centre. She sang through every song on Emotion, this was the ostensible reason for tonight, but also her big hit Call Me Maybe and Tug of War, a "deep-cut" for her fans. Stripped of the dance-y percussion and augmented by cinematic strings, quite a few numbers revealed the hurt and longing in her lyrics. The evening was padded out with two instrumental interludes: Debussy's Clair de Lune and an abridged version of Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet. It was quite an enjoyable evening though I'm still holding out hope for a Jepsen show in her natural element.