REVIEW: Vance Joy
Revention Music Center
Houston, Texas
May 03, 2018
If it seems like ages since Vance Joy performed in Houston, that’s understandable. In actuality, though, it’s just been a little over two years since Joy (born James Keogh) brought his “Fire and Flood” tour to this very same venue (in March 2016). Visiting the Bayou City, this time around, to promote his newly-released second album Nation of Two, the 30-year-old Australian aptly demonstrated that an entire evening of his acoustic guitar-based folk indie folk-pop could be just as exciting to witness as any overwrought special effects-heavy concert spectacle on the road today. He doesn’t need to be harnessed to a rig and flown over the audience to elicit excitement, instead Joy simply delivers his heartfelt musical compositions (overflowing with lovelorn lyricism) with genuine conviction and infectiously rapturous, shall I dare say, joy.
For those who happened to catch Vance Joy’s opening sets in football stadiums, large arenas and baseball parks throughout the planet on Taylor Swift’s massive 2015 world tour (he would play at the Astros’ home at Minute Maid Park in September of that year) his acute ability to thoroughly mesmerize upwards of 50,000 people a night should’ve not have come as any great surprise. Much like a rookie batter, Joy would hit one lucky homerun after another every night on Swift’s 2015 jaunt, but now, on his third solo road outing, he has graduated to the big leagues. And, if his show at the Revention Music Center is any indicator, Joy is performing like a seasoned pro standing front and center at the World Series, and, on this night, he batted a thousand with each-and-every song.
Backed by a five-piece band of stunning musicians Joy opened his roughly 80-minute show with “Call Me If You Need Me,” from his just-released second effort Nation of Two. Possessing an undeniably catchy melody and featuring easily some of the most intricate guitar-picking Joy has ever composed, “Call Me If You Need Me” perfectly showcased the more musically adventurous, full-bodied sound (evident throughout the current album from which it is taken), that the Melbourne-born singer/songwriter has begun to compose. It was an ideal choice to set the tone for an evening filled with precision playing and note perfect vocal deliveries. Simply put, Joy had the audience under his spell from the word go.
He and his band would follow up the opener with “Mess Is Mine,” a song from his four-year-old debut record Dream Your Life Away. Clearly a favorite among audience members, the song would be the first of countless times his assembled fans could be heard singing along with Joy throughout the evening. Vacillating between tunes from his two studio albums during his set (with slightly more emphasis on the newer material), with this particular song Joy was (more than likely) sublimely signaling to his fans that they could expect a concert featuring both his familiar and the soon-to-be well-known compositions.
A perfect example of this wise technique of mixing the old with the new would be his next three songs, a triumvirate of tunes from Nation of One - “Like Gold,” “Take Your Time” and “Alone With Me.” While each of the songs bear hallmarks of his new sound, they are far from being carbon copies of one another. While all three songs are declarations of love, they all take different lyrical approaches. More importantly, the are quite musically diverse. In particular, the undeniably upbeat rhythms of “Take Your Time.” A jaunty acoustic number, Joy added horns to the proceedings (as he does on several of the newer songs) and pure elation was the result of this more soulful instrumental approach. It was one of those incredibly ‘cool for cats’ moments (a term from the jazz music lexicon denoting its hip and appropo nature).
For his next song, Joy reached back to his first album to play the hit “Fire and Flood.” He scored another point with the devoted crowd. He followed it up with the yearning balled “I’m With You” (from Nation of Two). And, when he wholeheartedly crooned the song’s chorus to the crowd – “I'll swing for the fences, I'll run to the line, and it's high time that you love me, ‘cause you do it so well to see you shine. I'll swing for the fences, I'll run to the line, and it's high, high time,’ listeners absorbed each lyric and were notably moved by every word of the song’s romantic declaration. And, it’s no coincidence that Joy’s sentiments in the lyrics echoed those of a MVP ball payer going to bat in the name of love. By the end of the song there was very little doubt he had hit the proverbial ball way out of the park, proving to the one who stole his heart that he would go the distance to preserve the feelings they held for one another.
“Little Boy,” another new song, was next in line before Joy readied the audience for a double-header of tunes from Dream Your Life Away – “Wasted Time,” a lamentation about feeling unworthy of one’s love, and “Georgia,” a lyrical homage to the complexities of love and its seeming contradictions. Joy gives a subtle nod to the Godfather of Soul, Ray Charles, in the song but it is not a reinterpretation of the classic “Georgia On My Mind.” Stylistically, the intricate guitar chords and song structure is closer to John Mayer than Ray Charles, but clearly it’s a Vance Joy composition. Deducting from some of the loudest applause of the night “Georgia” is a song that Joy devotees expected and loved to hear during this concert featuring the universally-loved handsome heat-throb.
Joy would perform another duet of new songs, “One of These Days” and “Bonnie & Clyde,” before taking the audience by complete surprise by offering up a sublime musical mash-up of two cover tunes (that on paper seem like polar opposites). However, when Joy began his medley of Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long” and Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” the mix of the two was seamless, like a marriage made in dance heaven. With the irresistible reggae/calypso vibe of “All Night Long” combined with the samba feel of “Sorry” the uncontrollable urge to move your feet, sway your hips, clap your hands and sing along in blissful abandon overtook every member of the audience. Seemingly, the crowd had coalesced into a singular troop of exuberant revelers anxious to show off their grooving abilities to one another.
The funky party continued with “We’re Going Home” (from Nation of One), before Joy grabbed his ukulele and commenced playing the song everybody had come to hear, his gargantuan star-making hit, “Riptide.” With its unshakable pop hook and and highly relevant narrative, “Riptide” would become a gargantuan worldwide success when it was released in 2013. “Riptide” went multi-platinum not only in the United States (2x which denotes over two million copies sold in the territory), but also Australia (5x), Canada and Sweden (4x), Netherlands (3x), Norway, Poland (2x) as well as the UK, Germany, Italy and Ireland. The single would turn gold in Finland, Denmark, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, South Africa and Greece. Nearly everyone on the planet feel in love with “Riptide,” which would transform Joy into an overnight sensation. As Joy began to strum the all too familiar opening chords of “Riptide” on his ukulele the already deliriously jubilant concertgoers metamorphosed into a singular mass of euphoric bacchanalians, drunk with complete exaltation.
Usually, when a performer plays his signature song they often exit the stage afterwards so that crowd will continually cheer in hope the artist will return for several encores. But, as witnessed throughout the evening, you should expect the unexpected from Vance Joy. Instead of pausing to interrupt the intensity of the proceedings, Joy and his band flung themselves into a pair of final tracks from Nation of Two. Joy and company began with the sanguinely horn-laden power-pop of “Lay It One Me” and finished up with his current single “Saturday Sun.” Gauging by audience participation during its presentation, the buoyant and optimistic ukulele-drivin’ “Saturday Sun” is destined to become another best-selling hit for Joy. It was a fitting close to perfection as any evening packed with countless well-executed and awe-inspiring performances could aspire to be.
Although many of his detractors may dismiss the power and validity of Vance Joy as a mellow indie folkster, gleaned from casually few listena to his two albums, much like Ed Sheeran (to whom he is often erroneously musically compared to) there is no denying that Joy (much like his Atlantic Records label mate Sheeran) is a powerhouse live performer. The impeccable brilliance of his records is undeniable, but what is also irrefutable is Joy’s mastery in evoking even more magic from each song he delivers to a venue filled with devoted adoring, appreciative music-lovers. To know Joy’s music is to appreciate and adore it. To see him exquisitely perform it in concert is a chance to fall, head over heels, in love with every facet of his artistry. It’s an experience you must undergo at least once in your lifetime. Try it, you won’t be sorry.
Vance Joy’s North American leg of the “Nation of Two World Tour” continues:
May 12, 2018
Cary's Booth Amphitheatre
Cary, NC
May 16, 2018
EXPRESS LIVE!
Columbus, OH
May 18, 2018
Stage AE
Pittsburgh, PA
May 22, 2018
Fox Theatre
Detroit, MI
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