This past Tuesday X Ambassadors, as well as some supporting acts, stopped by Vancouver’s Orpheum Theatre to perform live in concert. This performance was a part of their Joyful Tour which they are putting on to promote their new album Joyful which is set to come out very soon.
The band came to Vancouver with as much energy as is required to match the opulence of the grande Orpheum Theatre, keeping the crowd on its feet for the entirety of their performance. With an energy level that never dipped below maximum and a light show that dazzled the senses, X Ambassadors left everything out on the stage for their audience.
Starting off strong with ‘Ahead of Myself’ and ‘Jungle’, both crowd favourites, front man Sam Harris jumped around the stage, stirring the crowd into a frenzy. On ‘Don’t Stay’, Harris got to stretch his legs and show his fans just how talented he is as a singer and frontman, also his vocal performance throughout the show was outstanding.
On ‘Lowlife’ and ‘Unsteady’ the audience was given a chance to see the talents of Adam Levin, whose drumming was so loud and percussive that it reached to the back rows of the theatre as well as being extremely technically proficient with his instrument. Casey Harris was also given his chance to shine, although he seemed to shine throughout the entire show. Casey, who has been blind since birth, might be the most charismatic performer I have ever seen. Throwing his body back and forth, his performance on the piano was almost violent, but he did a great job expressing the joy inherent in X Ambassadors songs to the audience.
Opening for X Ambassadors were two bands I had never heard of before the concert.
Coming on stage first was Shaed, a mostly electro-pop three-piece fronted by singer Chelsea Lee, whose voice stood out during their performance. Their keyboard/electric drum combo left a little to be desired in the way of affecting real feeling with their sound, but this could also come down to opinion. But the three-piece is not to be written off, on their song, Just Wanna See a guitar was pulled onto the stage, and the band’s sound really started to come together.
After Shaed, Jacob Banks and his band took the stage. Jacob Banks’ live show was a bit different than Shaed’s live show. His band rocked, they were loud and epic. But like Shaed, Banks’ voice drove the performance. Gruff and determined, banks carved out a large chunk of the stage for himself. Banks’ band shows a lot of influence from R&B, Pop, and rock music but where they really shine is when they get into a blues jam, like on the song, like on Unholy War.
A lot of Jacob Banks’ songs convey a certain amount of pain, but a lot of the power of his songs rest on Banks’ shoulders and his ability triumphs over the pain in his own voice.
The most exciting part of X Ambassadors performance had to be ‘Renegade’ and ‘Joyful’. Both songs were very empowering, and both lifted the crowd back up after a long night of music. It was impressive to see the stamina of the various members of X Ambassadors, who were still performing as hard as they could after nearly a dozen songs.
If I had to give a critique of their performance, I might have criticized the aforementioned energy levels. Although their high energy may feel like it could only be a positive but because they played each song at maximum intensity it all started to feel the same and unfortunately, a little generic. But this is just one critique in an otherwise thrilling performance, which did feature Sam Harris running through the crowd, being chase down by fans and all the while keeping up with the performance, so can you really complain?
For a Tuesday night, you could do much worse.
By Conor Graham
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