Dermot Kennedy In Ottawa:  Luckiest Way To Spend Friday The 13th

Friday the 13th might be considered the most unlucky or spookiest of days especially when occurring in October but this edition had the music loving residents of Ottawa trying to channel the luck of the Irish.

 

Many put on their best green to take in Irish singer Dermot Kennedy at the Canadian Tire Centre Friday night. Luck was on their side and the crowd made up of people of all ages were in for an exceptional night. British born artist, who now calls Edmonton home, Martin Kerr, was first to take the stage. He’s a gifted songwriter, troubadour of sorts and his heartfelt lyrics and British accent had the arriving crowd’s attention. Known as the only artist to play 400 live shows during the pandemic thanks to his “Stay Home Street Concerts” in which he performed in the alley outside the balcony of the fan who gave him the idea, he is happy to be back on the road performing in front of large audiences and this crowd was happy to have him and loved his music and humorous banter.  The audience was lucky to hear live his new single ‘The Good Stuff’ which just dropped that day and Martin even stuck around to mingle with the crowd after. 

Toronto’s Valley brought their contagious energy to the stage next and the techno vibrations of their brand of pop music could be felt throughout the arena. Although the music at times overpowered their voices they were succeeding in getting the party started and it certainly didn’t stop rabid fans from yelling I love you at their favourite band members. Valley opened with the title track of their latest album ‘Lost In Translation’ and helped the not yet fans to realize that they were in fact familiar with their music when they played the single from that same album ‘Break For You.’ They also played the single off their 2019 album Maybe ‘There’s Still A Light In The House’ and finished with their popular 2021 single ‘Like 1999’, Their break-up song ‘Have A Good Summer (Without Me)’ and 2020 single ‘Hiccup.’

 

The crowd went wild as soon as the room went dark, anticipation was built by flashes of white pixelated shapes on the back drop screen and a beeping as if someone was trying to communicate through Morse Code. Dermot Kennedy was finally welcomed to the stage to massive applause and he opened with ‘Blossom’ and had the crowd on their feet immediately when he followed it up with his mega hit ‘Power Over Me.’ It is a mystery that Dermot Kennedy is not better known and this should have been a sold out show. He has a voice like no one else and it was clear from the fans in attendance how much his music and lyrics speaks to people and truly means to people in a way that one doesn’t always see, even with our favourite artists. 

 

Dermot’s voice has a way of going straight to your soul, he packs a ton of emotion in every song and it was clear the crowd was all in their feels right along with him. The emotion was palpable for most of the night but especially in his performances of ‘Better Days’ and ‘After Rain.’ A fan held up a sign reading ‘An Evening I Will Not Forget’ which happens to be the title of what was clearly a crowd favourite. One could tell by the crowd reaction as the first notes were played that were somehow at once devastated yet incredibly pleased and this was an evening more than just that one fan with the sign will not forget. 

 

There were moments when it felt as if we were attending the church of Dermot Kennedy. ‘Glory’ had the crowd nodding and swaying while uninhibitedly singing the word glory, ‘Dreamer’ featured an interlude of a recording of an inspirational message and when sitting at the piano to perform ‘Rome’ he asked the audience to turn on their cell phone lights “Let that light represent whatever memory you can think of right now that feels most special to you.” He shared a special memory of his own before the other keyboard number of the set, explaining that writing ‘Innocence and Sadness’ had caught him at the right time. Dermot told the audience he would never tell them what to take from his music but he wanted to share what it meant to him: “So much of this music is all about the passing of time and how much that scares me and whether I kind of pretend or not but it’s also the most important thing I have because it keeps me saying the things I need to say and helps me live in a purposeful way so if there is anything you take from it, if you’re lucky enough to be here with someone you care about, if there’s somebody you miss, if you have love, or have had love just constantly try to be so grateful for that and cherish whoever you care about because that’s all this music is for and that’s why it exists.”

The crowd, clearly moved by his words, could be seen reaching for the special person or people they’d chosen to attend the concert with and a similar thing would occur as couples could be seen kissing during ‘Kissing Me’ another very soul stirring number. No one was ready for the night to end but all good things must come to an end and this night ended on an emotional high as the audience put their all into singing ‘Something to Someone’ and there is no question that Dermot and his music is something to, nearly if not, every single someone in that room. 

The Sonder Tour moves on to London, Ontario tonight followed by stops in Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton before heading to Australia in November. Catch them if you can!

https://www.dermotkennedy.com/

https://www.martinkerrmusic.com/

https://www.thisisvalley.com/

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