The Orpheum

What a fabulous night of music! Marcus King and his band are so versatile, just bursting with musicality and his voice is out of this world impressive. It was such a pleasure to experience this musical treat in such a perfect venue (the Orpheum Theatre). I first heard him on Playing for Change where he, along with others, performed The Weight. Thus began my enjoyment of Marcus King’s music. He is a true musician; versatile, creative, soulful, entertaining, rooted in all good things musical. Thank you for bringing him to Vancouver!

Diana Krall has the ability to make a concert in a huge hall become an intimate little gathering with her voice, humor, music and vulnerability. Even though I was seated in the lower balcony, I felt right there in front of her and her musician partners. Such a wonderful concert!

The opener, Princess Nokia, was absolutely amazing, her performance was spectacular and very real, and she was gorgeous as hell! Then Ashnikko came on, and she was also amazing. She interacted with the crowd, her singing was amazing, and her dancing was gorgeous. Her backup dancers were also amazing! One was obviously nonbinary, and as a nonbinary person that made me feel so loved and cared for! Ashnikko and her backup dancers did a lot of face acting (expressions and body language to tell a story) and it kept the whole show even more engaging. Ashnikko is ALWAYS a great time (this is my second time seeing her), and despite being someone who's gone to probably a hundred concerts in my time, Ashnikko's shows are the only ones I've cried at. Also, I've never felt so safe in a crowd! I wore my pronoun pin and 2Spirit pin, and my pronouns were respected, and Princess Nokia even called out my pride pin in a positive way (I was in the front row)! The person sitting next to me bought me a water without expecting to be paid back. The people in the crowd traded trinkets and handmade bracelets and squealed over the homemade mini-Polaroid "photocards" I made to hand out. Everyone was so well-dressed and friendly and sweet to each other. Probably the best concert I've ever been to!

Wonderful concert. Such a lovely humble guy! Calum’s bass was too loud sadly and so for songs with bass, his vocals weren’t always clear. Fortunately many of his songs don’t have bass. OMG … “No Matter What” … awesome!!

My 3rd time seeing him fantastic as always I can’t wait till he comes back. For the people who said he wouldn’t sell out after his love for the USA. And he sold out a bunch his shows or had low tickets.

I first discovered Richard Clayderman in 1991 when visiting my closest childhood friend. He often played videotapes of Richard’s masterpieces and practiced the same songs during his piano lessons. He even adopted Richard’s hairstyle and tried to emulate his image. It was through him that I learned to practice piano and read music sheets. Sadly, my friend passed away in 2009 after battling cancer. On November 19, 2024, I attended Richard’s live performance in Vancouver for the first time. It was an unforgettable experience, filled with nostalgia. I couldn’t help but wish my friend were still here—I would have bought him a ticket to join me. The show took me back over 40 years, and the memories it brought were deeply moving.

This concert was amazing! He was so sweet, Alec got us to sing happy birthday to one of his crew members. We had great seat for a reasonable price. He was incredibly interactive, once someone yelled ‘I love you’ and her responded with ‘I love you too’. His merch was really cute and there was no line at the end of the show. We got to meet him as well as get a photo with him afterwards for no cost.

I understand that touring is tiring at times and he’s a human being , but (hear me out) the Vancouver show felt a bit rushed and his body language screamed “I’m ready to go” . Kinda bummed out that I saw it that way and probably this is all in my head. AY! don’t get me wrong he still sounds AMAZING 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼!!!

I introduced my two daughters and my sister-in-law to Wild Rivers and they have become one of our favourite bands! So many shows are at 19+ venues, so I was thrilled to be able to bring my 16 year old daughter to this show. Wild Rivers did not disappoint. They were absolutely on fire, and it was such a joy to feel the love of a theatre full of super fans. Definitely one of my all time favourite concerts.

When I saw the movie Friday Night lights 20 years ago I automatically became a fan of Explosions in the Sky. Every time Peter Berg released a movie I was wishful that he had Explosion's do the the music score for the movie, like Lone survivor not to mention other films this band was part of. Finally getting to see them was a bucket list concert for me. They were powerful to see, on key and amazing. Reason for a four star review is a 1:20 minute play list is very weak some people traveled great distances to see the show and just as you sit down, get into the grove the show is over. They could have played 3 0r 4 more songs and skipped out on the awful opening act. I feel they missed a couple great hits. Felt as if they just wanted to get out of dodge. also, maybe a little to much dry ice but that's being picky.

William was extraordinary. His songs, and singing, are superb, matched only by his presence and expression of love for life and others. I was not expecting an opening act, however, and was annoyed. I pay to see the artist on the bill and no one else. The sound quality was low, making it very difficult to hear what the duo was playing, singing or saying. Also, there was a very long delay after that act, preceding William's appearance. Another surprise was not being informed that we can't bring water into the venue. This should be made clear from the start.

I first started listening to this band about a year ago and I fell in love. My expectation of the band live was to see a pair of best friends jamming at a beach fire. I wasn’t prepared for the absolute zero chemistry they seemed to have. The venue was totally amazing for an acoustic duo like they are, however I was probably the only one singing and was tapped on the shoulder by an usher to sing quieter. Totally fair, as I obviously missed the email about not having fun. Very subdued crowd so just going to stick to the digital experience. The new material is fabulous.

Great show. They played for over 2 hours and did almost all the classics. I was disappointed that Tim Finn was not there. I was expecting both brothers but instead we got Neil and his 2 sons. The vocals were tight and the instrumentation was spot on. The Orpheum is a great venue. We drove up from Bellingham for the show. The opening act was one of Neil's sons and he was just OK. I was not impressed.

Crowded House put on a loose but very enjoyable show at the Orpheum last night. First, I love Crowded House and there's no singer / songwriter / performer / musical genius I admire more than Neil Finn. So I had high expectations. And for the most part they were met. They mentioned they'd arrived in Vancouver the night before, and I assume that meant from New Zealand, since this was the first stop on the North American tour. So jet lag probably accounts for the 'loose' part. Energy seemed to be flagging at times, but the sold out room and devoted Vancouver crowd pulled them through it. As usual, their vocals and performance were impeccable - at least, what I could hear of them. I had a great seat in the centre of the orchestra (it's a symphony hall, that's what they call it), and I should have had the best of the sound mix. But that's where the one star gets deducted: the bass drum was louder than all the other instruments combined. It actually hurt my chest; I thought I'd get arhythmia and die. It was also coming through subwoofers that included frequencies so wooly that I couldn't make out a single note Nick Seymour played. The one section of the night when everything sounded good was when drummer Elroy Finn came to the front of the stage and played only a snare and cymbal for a few songs - no bass drum. This was all a huge disappointment to me, but I still gave them 4 out of 5 because none of this was the band's fault, and as I said I worship Neil Finn. I do cut the sound mixer a little slack because he was tucked under the balcony overhang, and probably couldn't hear the bottom end properly. But it's his responsibility to hear what the rest of the room sounds like, and he couldn't have done that. Or, if he really is that in love with massive bottom end, he's mixing the wrong band for the wrong crowd. The concert was still a joy in spite of the mix. That's a testament to how good the band is, and how great Neil Finn's writing is.

Mellencamp. Was great. Small beautiful venue. Sounded terrific with his typical rasp. Had lots of thoughtful stuff to say. Definitely a few F-bombs, but that’s his way. Lots of dumb, drunk types in the audience (especially sitting right behind me) but I tried not to let that ruin experience. Glad I went.

Amazing show. So much energy! The presentation was pretty simple, just music and lights with a color-changing backdrop and one or two projections onto the backdrop, but it was incredible. There were a lot of cool people there too, we were worried that for a band with a big Norse Pagan following there'd be a bunch of white supremacists there but the band is very actively anti-fascist and I didn't have any problems at all. There were a bunch of people of all genders wearing makeup and goth or Viking style clothes and the vibe was very chill. And Wardruna themselves made some antifascist statements at the end about how no culture is better than another and stuff, and the crowd went crazy for it, which was great. The music itself was intense, very loud, great use of electronic additions to traditional instruments while keeping a traditional feel. I am very impressed at the horn playing and singing, I could not hold a note that long if my life depended on it. The integration of the lights/effects and the music was great. Only real downside was the venue served alcohol and people kept walking past reeking of it. Would have also appreciated some kind of statement about avoiding flash photography and keeping your phone usage subtle as there were some flashes and some people holding up bright phone screens that interfered with my enjoyment a bit. An epilepsy warning probably would have been good too as there was some VERY intense flashing lights (which I enjoyed, but then I don't get seizures). Overall just an amazing show that I really enjoyed and so glad we drove 3 hours in the rain and across a border to get to, totally worth it.

This gets a high rating because Thundercat is amazing. Through and through he is pound for pound one of the most talented people musicians I have ever seen. If there were two things that weren’t great it was the mix on his bass. It was so low for the first few songs one could barely hear it. The other, was how disappointing the crowd in the balcony at the Orpheum was. It’s strange when on the floor people are dancing , standing, and moving as they should, but the people in the balcony aren’t ? So weird. It was a wasted opportunity to move to some excellent cosmic groove provided by Thundercat. All I could think was that this looks really bad on Vancouver as a city. Those sitters didn’t deserve him .

Tash is incredible. I brought my boyfriend along, telling him not to research Tash at all so he could be pleasantly surprised. Turns out that he got emotional and even started to have watery eyes during their performance of Notion. He said he hadn’t experienced that since listening to Purple Rain live at a Prince concert! He was in awe at Tash’s incredible talents and how there were so many layers to the performance overall. I was very happy to hear this, as he is 56 and doesn’t really listen to this type of music (although we discussed afterwards that Tash is sort of their own genre, and certainly genre-bending). All in all an amazing night, creating an additional fan. :)

LP is like the female embodiment of Mick Jagger; swagger for days. Her vocal range is unbelievable. This show was full of energy, the fans were living their best lives and LP did not disappoint! Also, the lighting was masterfully coordinated—it wasn’t distracting but was a phenomenal accent that really popped.

The whole thing felt like a dream! This was my first concert ever. Wallows filled the beautiful Orpheum with so much positive energy. They played a really good mixture of their new stuff from Tell Me That It's Over and their earlier music, like Uncomfortable! And they played Do Not Wait as a fan pick during the encore, which was so magical. I also really enjoyed spill tab's set; she and bassist Caleb just bounced around the stage and it was a lot of fun. They're so talented! The whole thing was an amazing experience and I'm so glad I was able to attend <3