It's not quite winter yet in Toronto on Thursday though there was apparently a glorious sunset. Here in Ottawa, there was snow on the ground. I normally miss The O'Pears' annual Christmas show (except for 2017 and 2018), but they were live-streaming this year.
Their stage, in a living room or basement, looked too big to be inside a typical semi-detached house in Toronto. They must be ensconced somewhere out in the country. It looked cozy and welcoming, even the plastic partitions between the singers were decorated with garlands. At first, I was skeptical watching this over Zoom; a show early on with Sara Slean was only so-so. With a small "crew" handling multiple cameras and a professionally mic-ed set-up, it was much better tonight. Video quality could probably be HD on a different platform but it was reasonably crisp and audio quality was superb. The big advantage was that we could watch other viewers and the band could see our faces. Since many included friends and family of Lydia Persaud, Jill Harris, and Meg Contini, the ladies were quite emotional at various points in the evening.
An O'Pears show is all about those glorious harmonies and they delivered in spades. From beautiful originals like Morning Song, Lady Winter to covers (Joni Mitchell's River, Have Your A Merry Little Christmas), they wrapped the audience in layers of sonic warmth. Having a full band was also a treat especially tonight. Steve Lavery (drums), Joshua Van Tassel (piano), Ben Whiteley (bass), and Christine Bougie (slide/electric guitar) all played on The O'Pears sophomore album. But this was the first time they were together as a "real" band. Some proceeds from tonight was benefiting grass-root organization Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction. The O'Pears also took the time to highlight emergencies that has come to the forefront this year including the BLM marches, homeless encampments, and Indigenous reconciliation.
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