Vance Joy
photo by Carmen O'Hagan
Vance Joy at the Cannery Ballroom
photo by Carmen O'Hagan
Bassist for Jaymes Young
photo by Carmen O'Hagan
Jaymes Young
photo by Carmen O'Hagan
Jaymes Young and drummer
photo by Carmen O'Hagan
Crowd at Vance
photo by Carmen O'Hagan
The Music City was the fourth stop for Vance Joy’s “Dream Your Life Away” fall tour that kicked off in Dallas. The Cannery Ballroom has built a reputation for hosting top-rate up-and-coming groups. Acts such as Adele, The Black Keys, Katy Perry and many more have graced the stage here at one of Nashville’s best live music venues. Perhaps last night’s performance for Vance Joy will also prove to be a stepping stone to larger notoriety.
Vance Joy, whose real name is James Keogh, is an Australian singer/songwriter who has been busy making a name for himself with his laidback appearance and delicate balance between acoustic folk and pop music. While his debut album, Dream Your Life Away, was released on Sept. 9, Vance Joy began touring the globe quite some time before that momentous release date. Vance Joy released the hit “Riptide” previous to the album and experienced wide success in the U.S., U.K., and Australia. The hit song made a prominent appearance on the Billboard charts and has recently been covered by Taylor Swift. Subsequent to the success of “Riptide,” Vance Joy has toured around the world headlining his own sellout shows and performing at music festivals such as Bonnaroo, South by Southwest (SXSW), Glastonbury, and more.
Supporting act Jaymes Young started the night off with a smooth blend of vocals and guitar work with his three-piece band. Young, a native of Seattle, played a thirty minute set which included his original works along with a cover of John Mayer’s “I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You)”. As both lead guitarist and vocalist, Jaymes led the trio well and hit all the high notes along the way.
Vance Joy took the stage before a near capacity audience in the 1,000 person venue. While the headliner performed well in the intimate settings of the Cannery Ballroom, something was missing from the audience – enthusiasm. Throughout the night the crowd often appeared meek; instead of partaking in the solid performance right before their eyes many were fiddling with their cell phones and engaging in noisy chatter that could be heard from the stage in between songs. Certainly both Jaymes Young and Vance Joy deserved much more attention and enthusiasm for what was a very well played concert.
Vance Joy tried his best to engage the crowed throughout the set, kindly providing brief backgrounds to many of the songs he has written. He recognized his southern audience when discussing his original draft of the song “My Kind of Man.” After being influenced by an uncle’s Facebook post he penned the song about living a simple lifestyle. His dad finally told him, “you’ve just stolen a Lynyrd Skynrd song, mate,” in reference to the iconic “Simple Man” by the southern rock legends. He jokingly laughed and played the final version of the song, without the accidental plagiarism.
During the final songs of the night the crowd began to show some life. Vance Joy brought out the ukulele for “Riptide,” which all in attendance began to sing along to. The set closed with equal engagement for the recent single “Mess is Mine.”
Vance Joy will be continuing the tour throughout the U.S., stopping off in Atlanta tonight at Terminal West. The tour will conclude on Nov. 28, in Los Angeles.