Live Reviews

Valley at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver – Live Review

Published

2 months ago

October 25, 2024

Hunter S.

On October 23rd, 2024, Canadian indie pop band Valley brought their Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden Tour to the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver. It was a night filled with hits spanning across their catalogue since 2018 and a showcase of their new album’s great songwriting and lyricism. After being in America for the first half of the tour and Vancouver being the start of the Canadian cities, Valley expressed their love for the city and gratitude for being back home in Canada.

Renforshort
Canadian singer-songwriter Lauren Isenberg performing as renforshort, opened the show and brought the energy to the awaiting crowd. The Toronto-born artist began posting her songs online when she was only 14. After gaining popularity and releasing music as an independent artist, she signed with Geffen Records in 2019 and adopted the name renforshort. She mentioned to the crowd at the beginning that she was nervous. As the show continued, she began to loosen up and the crowd matched her energy. She performed a cover of Chappell Roan’s “Red Wine Supernova” and had the whole crowd shouting the chorus back at her.

Valley
At 9:05 pm the lights dimmed and the crowd erupted awaiting the band to come on. Blue lights started to illuminate, showing off Valley’s aesthetic stage design matching the cover of their new album, with grass and flowers covering the stage. The band opened with “Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden,” the title track of their new album and instantly had the whole crowd jumping and singing along.

The band is from Toronto and consists of lead vocalist Rob Laska, bassist Alex Dimauro, and drummer Karah James. The band formed in 2014 after the members of two other bands accidentally got double-booked for the same time slot at a local recording studio. The band has seen great success being nominated for two Juno Awards and a Socan Songwriting Prize.
In March 2024, guitarist Mickey Brandolino announced his departure from the band to pursue full-time music production. Leaving the band as a trio left uncertainty for the future of their music. Their new album is truly a showcase of the growth of the band and the songwriting of both Rob Laska and Karah James.

The band’s versatility and talents were on full display as the members switched instruments during the night with drummer Karah singing and playing guitar and Rob playing the piano during more acoustic songs. As the night winded down, Valley played hit songs such as “Swim,” “Like 1999,” “hiccup” and “There’s Still A Light in The House” which had the entire venue singing along and dancing.

Wednesday’s concert was a great night of indie music for die-hard Valley fans and first-time listeners. Playing their biggest hits and showcasing their new album, definitely had concert goers adding a few new songs to their playlist after the show.
Catch Valley on their Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden Tour across Canada from October to December!

Check out our favourite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery!