Alessia Cara kicks things off in the Capital.

The National Arts Centre was buzzing, with a different than normal crowd, Saturday night when the reigning Best New Artist Grammy winner from Brampton Ontario stopped by to kick off her “The Pains of Growing Tour”. The NAC’s Southam Hall was filled with people of all ages, but mostly screaming tweens and their parents, excited to see one of their idols.

Starting things off was 19 year old singer-songwriter, Ryland James. Well, the screams when Ryland walked on stage were really what kicked things off for the night. Ryland played a short 25 minute set of pop music which set things up perfectly for the night. Even though the girls in the crowd went wild when he walked on stage, and kept the cheers going through the whole set, you could still hear how impressive his voice was.

When the lights came up for the main show, the stage was set up like a small apartment, which living room furniture on one side and a bedroom set on the other. Alessia started on the couch and opened with the title track to her new album, “Growing Pains”. I don’t know if the crowd was in shock or awe when she started singing because, surprisingly, the screams weren’t as loud as they were for Ryland. That quickly changed when she jumped up and moved right into singer two of her big hits “Here” and “Wild Things”.

Almost immediately the crowd rushed the stage to get as close as they could. I’m sure this isn’t common for shows at the NAC, but there’s really no stopping a determined crowd of superfan teens! The energy in the venue was so electric I event found myself fanning out and wanting to sing along to these massive hits!

I think one of the best parts about this artist is how versatile and relatable she is. She doesn’t shy away from the tough stuff like heartbreak either. Alessia picked up the guitar to sing a song about heartbreak and asked the crowd to sing along if they knew the words. I don’t think I saw a single person not singing, so clearly her new album is already a big hit! As I watched the crowd sing and dance along with Alessia I couldn’t help but notice a very crafty sign way in the back that said “Can I please sing with you?”. It was pretty hard to miss because it lit up, and don’t worry Alessia didn’t miss it either. With what was easily one of the coolest moments of the show for this young fan, she ran up and hopped on stage to sing with her idol!

For many fans that I heard say this was their first concert, I’d say they chose a good one! The energy that Alessia brings to the stage is electric and you can’t help but love her positive spirit. She’ll be continuing her tour around Canada for the rest of the month before heading South to the United States, so if you have the chance to see her live, don’t pass it up!

For a full list of tour dates and tickets visit www.alessiacara.com

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