REVIEW: City and Colour at First Avenue 11/7/2015

The man behind City and Colour, Dallas Green, and his backing band showed up to play for a sold-out crowd Saturday in the Mainroom at First Avenue. Overheard before the show: “Judging by the name, it’s probably EDM.” Oh, sir. How wrong you were.

Green’s smooth guitar and velvet vocal stylings met a full room of concert-goers, transcending us through time and beating into us a heavy 12-song set full of that raw emotion that Green wears on his sleeve so well. Taking from a decade’s worth of material, the songs Green played resonated with the crowd just as well as they did the day he released them.

It didn’t take long before the audience started to sing along, hanging on Green’s every word. With pieces of random confetti occasionally floating through the air–no doubt left over from concerts past–coupled with a hypnotizing light show and wall full of stars set behind the band for the duration of the show, Green sang songs about leaving, loving, waiting and wondering. For “Hello, I’m Delaware” off of 2010’s Sometimes, you could feel an emotional and intimate connection with everyone in the room–it felt otherworldly at times. By the time “Lover Come Back” rang out into the room, the occasion turned into a sing-along–if your friend snapchatted you from the show, it was probably during this one.

Green also made a special shoutout to First Avenue and the one’s who work tirelessly to keep the venue rocking. The band played “We Found Each Other in the Dark” off of 2011’s Little Hell to honor infamous Twin Cities music vet Billy Sverkerson who passed away in 2013.

“There’s something special about this place and the people who work here,” Green said. “It’s rare to find a place where you feel at home.”

In true great-performer-fashion, Green came back onstage after the band’s main set for a solo acoustic four-song encore. The full band rejoined Green halfway through “The Girl” off of 2008’s Bring Me Your Love, and proceeded to close out the night with a full-band rendition of “Hope for Now.”

Posted 3 years ago