Concerts Reviews
LIVE REVIEW: Role Model Lets Loose With Vancouver Crowd on Chuck On Tour
There are few things more revealing about a concert crowd than how quickly they abandon any sense of self-consciousness. By the time Role Model took the stage at Vancouver’s Freedom Mobile Arch on September 12, that line had long since disappeared. The audience was there to dance, scream, sing and, every so often, erupt into a “Chuck!” chant that seemed to spread through the venue on instinct.
For Tucker Pillsbury, better known as Role Model, this is the kind of room his music was made for. The Vancouver stop was part of Chuck On Tour, the world tour supporting his newly released third album, Chuck Timely & The Hourglass. The record marks another step forward for an artist who has steadily evolved from the confessional, genre-blurring pop of his 2022 debut Rx into something warmer, more expansive and increasingly comfortable in its own skin.
That evolution was evident throughout the set. Opening with “Chuck’s Mantra” before launching into “High Hopes 3000” and “Song Is All You Get,” Pillsbury established the playful, loose energy that would carry through the night. The newer material sat naturally alongside fan favourites, with songs like “Look at That Woman,” “Superglue,” “Good Thing” and “The Dinner” keeping the momentum moving.
But the defining feature of the night wasn’t any individual song, it was the audience. There was essentially no downtime between songs before someone was dancing, shouting or belting out a lyric. And not polite, restrained dancing either—the kind where you throw your inhibitions out the window, sing at the top of your lungs with your best friends and let the music take over completely. Freedom Mobile Arch became one giant group singalong, with the crowd seemingly determined to match Pillsbury’s energy note for note.
That sense of community was especially apparent during “Joy,” a buoyant highlight from Chuck Timely & The Hourglass, before the set moved through tracks including “a little more time,” “Old Recliners” and “The Longest Goodbye.” The newer songs gave the performance an emotional range that kept the night from becoming simply a pop spectacle; underneath the dancing and shouting, Pillsbury’s songwriting remains rooted in vulnerability and the complicated messiness of relationships.
And then came “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out.” The viral Kansas Anymore standout has become one of Role Model’s defining songs, and in Vancouver it landed exactly as expected: as a massive communal release. The crowd knew every word, turning what could have been a straightforward performance into something much bigger.
The set ultimately closed with “Harmony,” bringing Chuck On Tour’s Vancouver stop to a fitting conclusion.
Role Model has spent the past few years growing his audience without losing the intimacy that made his music resonate in the first place. After the success of the No Place Like Tour, which sold more than 90,000 tickets worldwide, Chuck Timely & The Hourglass feels like the next natural chapter rather than a reinvention.
At Freedom Mobile Arch, that progression was reflected back at him by a crowd that clearly feels invested in the journey. For a couple of hours, there was nothing complicated about it: the music came on, the dancing started, the Chuck chants broke out, and everyone gave in.
Opening the night, Samia brought a sharp, intimate energy to the Freedom Mobile Arch, setting the tone for an evening built around big feelings and even bigger sing-alongs. Her confessional songwriting and effortlessly expressive vocals gave the crowd a chance to settle in before Role Model took the stage, with plenty of fans already singing along to favourites from her catalog.
Check out our favourite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery!
ROLE MODEL
SAMIA
All Photo Credit: Kelli Rothwell
Concerts Reviews
LIVE REVIEW: Rachel Chinouriri Takes Paris by Storm at Sold-Out Headline Debut
Ahead of the release of her sophomore album “I Think I Spoke Too Soon” next October, the rising star Rachel Chinouriri took over Paris last Friday for a sold-out show. After having opened for Sabrina Carpenter’s tour back in 2025, this was the singer’s first-ever headline concert in the capital, to the joy of her long-term and newer fans alike.
The night started with Heidi Curtis, whose appearance could only be described as reminiscent of Stevie Nicks and Florence & the Machine. Heidi’s songs are a nice mix of classic rock and folk. The singer told us she’s a fan of all things folkloric, which we can definitely hear in her song “Siren”, about the dark love story between a siren and a sailor.
She then performed her soon-to-be-released “Summon”. Having never been played acoustic before, the song hadn’t originally been planned as part of the setlist. Nonetheless, its last minute addition was a brilliant decision, as it for sure caught the audience’s attention, getting the loudest cheers of the crowd during and after its performance. Heidi Curtis then played “Lost and Found”, and, despite the crowd not knowing the lyrics, they clapped in rhythm all along. Finally, she closed her set with “Undone” before exiting the stage with flowers and a Polaroid gifted to her by fans, as well as a belated happy birthday chant.
Heidi Curtis was, without a doubt, the perfect choice as an opener, and it’s clear that she gained new fans in Paris.
It was then time for Rachel Chinouriri to perform and, from the moment she stepped on stage, it was clear she belonged under the lights. She immediately captivated everyone’s attention, locking eyes with everyone in the room and waving and smiling to people in the front, the back and the sides of the room alike.
Starting her set with “One Song Away from Crying”, the lead single off her new album, Rachel then performed the unreleased “AAAHHH!!!” whose lyrics were already known by some dedicated fans.
The setlist was a masterful mix of songs from her entire discography, as the singer then performed “My Everything” and “It Is What It Is”, two songs off her debut album, before performing “23:42” from her EP Little House.
Although her latest single, “Make Believe”, was released the day of the concert, her fans had come prepared knowing the full lyrics to sing along and carrying signs in honor of the song.
The mood calmed down a little for an emotional moment with “So My Darling”, during which the crowd raised blue lights as a fan project, before things picked right up with “Can We Talk About Isaac”. Rachel then performed “The Hills” with a French flag signed by fans before playing two unreleased tracks off her next album. Leaning into more of a disco sound than her previous body of work, the entire room was dancing and partying, transforming the pit into a night club.
The night ended with Rachel performing the two most famous songs off her first album, namely “All I Ever Asked” and “Never Need Me”, to the loud singing of the audience. There being no encore clearly left the fans wanting for more, as they kept dancing to the venue’s playlist long after the singer was gone.
Hopefully, Rachel Chinouriri will be back in Paris for a new headline show soon, but in the meantime she will be opening for Gracie Abrams for her US tour.
Words by Manon Pothin
Concerts Reviews
LIVE REVIEW: Weezer Turns Vancouver’s Rogers Arena Into a Backyard Party on “The Gathering” Tour
There was something almost too fitting about Weezer calling this tour The Gathering. At Rogers Arena on September 12, the band brought together multiple generations of fans, three decades of songs, a few long-forgotten favourites and enough ridiculous stage antics to make the whole thing feel less like a standard arena concert and more like a very expensive backyard party.
“All are welcome” is the tour’s tagline, and the crowd made a pretty good case for it. There were longtime fans who grew up with The Blue Album and Pinkerton, younger fans discovering the band through TikTok, and plenty of people somewhere in between. Weezer has somehow become one of those bands that can belong to several generations at once.
The evening started with Silversun Pickups, who wasted little time getting the arena moving. Brian Aubert’s distinctive vocals cut through a set built around the band’s thick guitars and driving rhythms. “Panic Switch” and “Lazy Eye” were obvious highlights, but newer material fit comfortably alongside the classics.
The Shins followed, and their set felt like a completely different kind of nostalgia trip. James Mercer and company sounded remarkably polished, working through songs from across their catalog, including “Caring Is Creepy,” “New Slang,” “Sleeping Lessons” and “Simple Song.” The crowd did plenty of the singing on the bigger songs, turning the arena into something far more intimate than its size would suggest.
Then it was time for Weezer. The stage setup immediately made the arena feel strange in the best possible way. A suburban house sat at the centre of the stage, surrounded by the sort of backyard details that should look ridiculous inside Rogers Arena but somehow worked (this seems to be trend these days with Noah Kahan and J Cole also having houses in their stage production). The whole thing was built for the band’s particular brand of geeky humour and absurdity.
Weezer opened with “Shine Again,” from this year’s Gold Album, before launching into “Surf Wax America.” From there, the set moved all over the band’s history. “Hash Pipe,” “The Good Life,” “Beverly Hills,” “Pork and Beans,” “My Name Is Jonas,” “Undone – The Sweater Song,” “Say It Ain’t So” and “Buddy Holly” were all there, but the set was far more interesting than a greatest-hits parade.
The band pulled out “Keep Fishin’” and “Slob” from Maladroit, with the latter making its first appearance in the set since 2005. “No Other One” returned after several years away, and “Lonely Girl” was another welcome deep cut. For a band with this many hits, Weezer clearly didn’t feel obligated to play it safe.
The Pinkerton portion was another highlight, fitting for the album’s 30th anniversary. Six songs from the record made the set, including “Falling for You,” “Pink Triangle,” “Tired of Sex” and “El Scorcho.” The latter got a Vancouver-specific lyrical tweak, a small touch that made the performance feel like a show rather than a reproduction of an old setlist.
The best part, though, was when the band stopped behaving like a conventional rock band. During the acoustic section, Rivers Cuomo moved to keyboards, Patrick Wilson picked up an acoustic guitar and Brian Bell played clarinet. Cuomo later moved behind the drum kit for “Pork and Beans.”
Silversun Pickups bassist Nikki Monninger returned to the stage for three songs with Cuomo, including “We Might as Well Be Strangers,” “Go Away” and “I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams.” The latter two have found a surprising second life with younger listeners thanks to TikTok, giving the show another generational crossover that probably would have seemed absurd a decade ago.
And that is what made The Gathering work. Weezer could have built this tour around nostalgia alone. Instead, the band used nostalgia as the foundation and then kept messing with it.
There were hits. There were deep cuts. There were instrument swaps, guest appearances, jokes and plenty of Cuomo’s familiar antics. Most of all, there was a sense that the band understood exactly what its audience wanted without letting that dictate the entire night.
Weezer may have spent much of its career figuring out where it fits. In Vancouver, it looked pretty comfortable exactly where it was: somewhere between the past, the present and a suburban backyard that somehow ended up inside Rogers Arena. That’s a pretty good gathering.
Head here for The Gathering tour dates and ticket information.
Check out our favourite photos of the night below or head to our Facebook page for the full gallery!
WEEZER
THE SHINS
SILVERSUN PICKUPS
All Photo Credit: Caroline Charruyer