This past Wednesday, I saw Vance Joy’s Fire and the Flood Tour at the Beacon Theater with a few friends. I’ve been getting really into Vance Joy over the past few months, and the concert definitely met my expectations. The music was performed well and we had a great time.
Vance Joy is a relatively new singer-songwriter from Australia. He released his first EP, "God Loves You When You’re Dancing," in 2013, and his first full-length album, "Dream Your Life Away," in 2014. His single “Riptide” became immensely popular throughout the world and went platinum in various countries. It gave him widespread visibility, including among other musicians, and he was the opening act for Taylor Swift’s 1989 Tour. After this, he released a new single, “Fire and the Flood,” and began a tour of his own.
Part of the appeal of Vance Joy is that he has a very distinct voice and style, an indie-folk sound that separates him from most pop musicians. According to his website, the release of “Fire and the Flood” did an excellent job of “reminding the world that Vance Joy does a subtle vocal tremble, an insistent thump and a building, euphoric climax better than anybody.” His more popular songs, like “Riptide” and “Fire and the Flood,” are uplifting and upbeat; however, much of his other work is quiet, thoughtful, and emotional, drawing inspiration from love and heartbreak. This shows through when listening to his album, Dream Your Life Away, and his live performance.
In concert, the audience truly gets to see what a talented musician he is — he sounds as good live as he does on a recording, and he can play guitar as well as he sings. His stage presence adds to his appeal. To say that he’s not unattractive would be an understatement, and to an American ear, his Australian accent is adorable. He has a certain kind of charm in the way he talks: a combination of kindness, intelligence, and humor. This personality carries through on stage, yet he’s still very low-key. Unlike many artists, who use elaborate special effects and background dancers in their performances, he’s not flashy at all — his concert highlights just him and the music.
One of my favorite parts of this concert was how he chose to introduce each of his songs. We got to hear about his humble beginnings, his first open mic night in Melbourne, when he made the mistake of drinking a glass of white wine onstage to calm his nerves. He explained the stories behind many of his love songs — “Redeye”, for example, is about visiting a long-distance lover, and “From Afar” is about loving someone he couldn’t have — and hearing him tell these stories made the songs all the more relatable. Some of his other pieces had more unique inspirations behind them, and this is where Vance Joy’s subtle sense of humor showed through. He drew the inspiration for “Snaggletooth” from his EP "God Loves You When You’re Dancing" from stalking Sia’s Wikipedia page, and the first draft of his lyrics for “My Kind of Man” was taken from an uncle’s Facebook post. This commentary made his performance all the more enjoyable, and I only wish there was more of it.
Vance Joy’s Fire and the Flood Tour just ended on April 1, and although he hasn’t announced anything yet, he’s likely working on his next album right now. Vance Joy is an up-and-coming artist, and definitely someone you should keep an eye out for.
