In 2015, Hilton
partnered with Live Nation to bring their Hilton hHonors loyalty club members
unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime experiences. The 2016 Hilton Concert Series
kicked off in February and the fourth event, an exclusive concert with Canadian
indie-pop duo Tegan and Sara, was held at Hilton Toronto on Saturday night.
Hilton HHonors members and guests were treated to the full VIP experience from
the moment they arrived. After confirming their name on the guest list, guests
were handed wristbands and laminates as they descended an escalator into the
club-like atmosphere of the private cocktail reception. The room was buzzing as
people enjoyed complimentary food and drinks, a red carpet photo op, and music
by a live DJ. However, it quickly cleared out when opening act Jr. Jr. took the
stage shortly after 8 pm.The stage was set up in one of the adjacent conference rooms, which had been converted into an intimate concert venue for the evening. There were even two large screens on either side of the stage broadcasting the performance, although there wasn't a bad view from anywhere in the room. However, the sound left a lot to be desired. As I entered the room from the back, multi-instrumentalist and singer Joshua Epstein’s vocals were all but drowned out by the heavy lows of the bass and kick drum. The crowd of fans that stood between myself and the speakers, may have also been a factor, because the sound seemed to improve as I made my way closer to the stage.
 |
| Photo by: Danielle Burton |
Jr. Jr. (FKA
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.) is a band from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 2009 by
Joshua Epstein and Daniel Zott. Their set consisted of mostly mellow indie-pop
with a few upbeat tunes that kept the crowd interested and was a great
complement to the headliner, Tegan and Sara. They played for about an hour and
occasionally took breaks to talk and engage the crowd, trying hard to build up
the excitement and maybe get a little more dancing going on. The audience’s
hearts were won when Joshua lamented that they rarely get a chance to play in
Canada and declared Toronto “a more sophisticated New York… except
maybe cleaner.” The highlights came near the end of their set, as they did a
lovely cover of the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” and
closed with their most popular single “Gone” a summery pop song
with a catchy beat and a whistling hook that was released last July. During
their second-last song, Daniel jumped into the crowd making one final attempt
to pump up the audience for Tegan and Sara. During the intermission, I spotted
him in the main hall taking photos with fans, which solidified the feeling of
being at an exclusive VIP event.
 |
| Photo by: Danielle Burton |
 |
| Photo by: Danielle Burton |
Tegan and Sara
took the stage just after 9:30 pm and were met with screams and applause from
the room full of excited fans. They opened with “Boyfriend,”
the lead single from their latest album Love You To Death released on
June 3, 2016 on Neil Young’s label Vapor. This was met with even
more screams and applause and immediately followed by a throwback all the way
to 2004, as the duo played “Walking With A Ghost.”
This was a personal highlight for me, as it was the song which introduced me to
Tegan and Sara when it was covered by The White Stripes and released on their
EP of the same name. They continued with a variety of songs spanning their
eight studio albums and twenty year long career, stopping in between to talk to
the crowd, joke and tell stories. They really seemed to enjoy engaging with
their fans and the audience was loving every minute of it, especially since the
setting was so intimate. At one point, Tegan was handed a cell phone from
someone in the crowd and had a brief conversation with whoever was on the other
end, finally telling them “Alright, listen, we’re
at a concert so I’m gonna have to let you go.” This
led to a great touring story from Sara, who was quiet during most of the show,
about the not-so-nice surprise of getting an outrageous cell phone bill. She
even threw in a few jokes and dedicated the next song to her old Motorola Razr,
which was pretty funny to anyone old enough to remember the cutting-edge
technology of the early millennium.
 |
| Photo by: Danielle Burton |
Towards the end
of the set, Tegan introduced the backing band, which consisted of Gabrial
McNair on keyboards and Brendan Buckley on drums. They sounded great and the
two will be joining them for their 2016 world tour in support of Love You To
Death. Tegan and Sara, although both play guitar and keyboards, were simply
standing front and center with two microphones and lots of room for dancing. To
the crowd’s delight, they played the classic “Back In Your Head,”
which the people standing around me were already chanting for. They closed the
night with the hit single “Closer,” from
their last album Heartthrob. There was no encore, but guests were
treated to one last surprise as they were handed a free poster for the event
before exiting the hotel into a warm, summery Saturday night in Toronto.
Tegan and Sara will be back in Toronto on October 28 at Massey
Hall. There are still a few tickets available at www.ticketmaster.ca.
For more information on the 2016 Hilton Concert Series, check
out http://news.hiltonworldwide.com/index.cfm/misc/concert.
Article by Danielle Burton, Louder Than That's newest blogger
Article by Danielle Burton, Louder Than That's newest blogger
