The Beginning of History

On Monday evening, I headed over to the new 2500-capacity East-End venue called History. Located at The Beaches which is an out-of-the-way location (though not as much as Sound Academy/Rebel), I wouldn't normally bother going to these venues. So what happened?

A few years ago, with the rise of Asian female musicians like Japanese Breakfast and Mitski (and the smaller impact of Jay Som), I came across a U.K. singer named Rina Sawayama. I liked her songs online enough to get a ticket for an April 2020 show at the smallish Mod Club. Then came 2 years of pandemic where Sawayama's star rose (including a remix with Elton John). She was now in hot demand so the post-poned concert moved to a bigger venue. I'm renting a sublet in the East-End and not living in the West-End. And we both found ourselves at History.

This was a huge, spanking-new club with enough corporate money (including Drake) to hire a lot of staff. So even though I joined a line that wrapped around the block and heading off toward the lake, I made it to doors within 5-7 minutes. It was mostly standing room as the balconies and mezzanines only had a smattering of leather lounges for the VIPs.

The opening act was a DJ which was a lost opportunity for some local up-and-coming act. As far as I could tell, he wasn't even doing much live mixing/sampling and was simply queuing tracks with a bit of transition. Sawayama played a high-energy set with a guitarist/keytarist and drummer to supply live elements to backing tracks. She also had two dancers. There were some tracks (like STFU) that employed heavier rock sounds but it was primarily power pop (Comme Des Garçons, Dynasty, Love Me 4 Me).

It was perhaps a more-than-usual memorable concert for Sawayama. First, she remarked that it was a much larger audience than the last time she played Toronto for 300 people. Second, for her Mom's birthday tomorrow, Sawayama recorded everyone singing Happy Birthday. Finally, during her ballad Chosen Family, a Pride flag was thrown on stage (which she picked up and brandished) and signs saying "I heart Sawayama because ..." with hand-written reasons were held aloft. This left her emotional for a few moments at the end of the song.

I've been to shows where fans knew the lyrics. But to be at an all-ages concert of a relatively mainstream pop singer is a different beast. They didn't just know the songs but sang them with gusto. Some seemed to be almost overwhelmed with emotion as they reached out to their idol. This was a moment that changed someone's life.

On my way home, I was pleasantly surprised to see Little India hopping with people. Ramadan already ended on Sunday. So unless it was just post-Holiday celebrations, this area is the place to go if you want some late-night nosh in the East-End.