Billy Bragg & Alice Phoebe Lou
October 12, 2022
Danforth Music Hall, Toronto, ON
Canadian Beats Passport
On Thursday, October 13, 2022, at Toronto’s illustrious Danforth Music Hall, Billy Bragg and opening act Alice Phoebe Lou played a tremendous show to a sold-out crowd.
The Berlin-based South African singer-songwriter Alice Phoebe Lou has released three EPs and four studio albums, finding great success in 2017 with her song “She.” Lou is an up-and-coming indie songstress who made the trek over to Toronto after performing her first headlining show in Montreal earlier in the week. The Danforth audience was fortunate to have Alice Phoebe Lou begin this evening of song.
Lou, who usually plays with her own backing band, occupied the grand old Danforth stage on her own with an acoustic set. Her lineup was composed of love songs, self-proclaimed “anti” love songs, new songs not yet named, and doleful songs played in an environment that gave permission to cry. Lou’s jazzy guitar riffs, smooth vocal performance, and charming disposition proved that even while bandless, she is spectacular.
English activist and folk/punk musician, Billy Bragg, headlined. Bragg is currently on a USA & Canada tour, promoting his latest album The Million Things That Never Happened, a uniquely mellow political album released late last year. Before leaving the stage, Alice Phoebe Lou described Bragg’s music as “a beautiful weaving of bangers and education that is so inspiring,” and this sentiment perfectly described the set to come.
Bragg played a carefully constructed set comprised of songs from the new record, which included “Mid-Century Modern,” “Freedom Doesn’t Come For Free,” and “I Will Be Your Shield,” as well as those older songs from the 80s that looked forward to where we are now. Bragg also paid homage to the now long-passed Woody Guthrie with his beautiful cover of “All You Fascists Are Bound to Lose” and finally ended the show with popular songs “New England” and “There Is Power In a Union.”
Billy Bragg demonstrated beautiful simplicity, playing old and new songs with just as much dulcet fire and passion as ever.
Catch a Billy Bragg show as he continues on his tour here.