OneRepublic's Native Canada Tour (with Lights) at the Air Canada Centre

How do you compare a OneRepublic concert to another? You can't. Quite possibly compare it to every other concert in existence!

I know it's very cliche to say, but OneRepublic has always been a first to create such a genre of this kind. I had this discussion with my friend last night at the concert how OneRepublic is the first big band to incorporate classical strings (the cello and violin) into a pop sound. It's similar to how Coldplay was one of the first to include piano into a rock sound (after the Beatles of course).

A band or artist needs to know how to recreate their performance if they want to keep their fans going. Their setlist was the same since it's the same album haha, but the changes they incorporated were insane! That's what I love about going to every single OneRepublic show played in Toronto! They're always reinventing and inspiring every time.

I saw them last June, but so much has changed from visual effects to the new sound added to their performances. Once again, I cannot explain how exciting they are live. You just have to go.

I'm embarrassed to say I'm unfamiliar with Lights' music other than what's on the radio now and one song from my early university days. She did have an appropriate opening set for OneRepublic. I was also surprised the band came on stage 8:43pm (usually it would be on a half or quarter of the clock) but I'm not complaining since they put on a great show! An all around great evening, I even have a bruise on my quad to prove it! The two seats on my left wound up vacant since those folks never showed. I had floor seats, and throughout the dancing, the row behind pushed forward excitedly at one point during the later half of the concert. The fold over chair caught me on an angle and fell on my leg. On my way out of the ACC into Union, we kept singing, "If I *bruise* myself tonight, it'll be at a OneRepublic concert but by your side!" =)

setlist:
Don't Look Down
Light It Up
Secrets
All the Right Moves
What You Wanted
Stop and Stare
Something I Need
Apologize
Stay With Me (Sam Smith cover)
Budapest (George Ezra cover)
Preacher
Good Life
Counting Stars
Can't Stop
Au Revoir
Feel Again
I Lived

encore:
Love Runs Out
What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong cover)
If I Lose Myself

OneRepublic's Native Tour (with American Authors and The Script) at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre

Unbelievable! That’s the one word I can use to describe this weekend’s Native Summer tour. Seeing all my favourite bands (sans Royal Teeth) was a great kick off to the new summer season!

The show opened up with American Authors playing seven tracks from their Oh, What a Life album, and I’m so glad to see their progression as a band since they first performed in Toronto at the Drake. The guys were on point with their set and had a lot of fun with the crowd. Part way through, Zac had one of the crew say in his earpiece that the US just scored a goal against Portugal LOL He kept having to justify to us Canadians that Americans actually do care about the world cup =P It was a good laugh, plus I got an update on the game without using my cellular data.

set list:
Think About It
Luck
Believer
Home
Trouble
Hit It
Best Day of my Life

The Script, who are my favourite mainstream band, came on stage after and it was like reliving their concert two October’s ago for their Science and Faith tour when they released their #3 album. They performed nine of their famous singles and at one point, Danny called a fan’s ex-boyfriend during ‘Nothing’ (that’s what they do at all their shows). He saw the guy’s name on the phone and yelled, “His name is PATRICK?! Oh he’s definitely Irish! What did he do to screw up? LET’S FIND OUT!” Danny also ran all the way to the back to sing ‘You Won’t Feel a Thing’ to the audience in the lawn area.
set list:
Good Ol’ Days
Before the Worst
Breakeven
We Cry
The Man Who Can’t Be Moved
Nothing
For The First Time
You Won’t Feel a Thing
Hall Of Fame

OneRepublic definitely know how to put a show together. This is why I get excited when they come to Toronto!  Back in June 2008, they first came to the city and that happened to be my first time saving up for my first concert ever. I remember the tickets being $30 and going with a group of good friends. This time, I went with a smaller group of friends and met up with my friend Michelle, who I ALWAYS see at all the big concerts I attend. We decided we need better communication and just attend together from now on. OneRepublic really changed their sound through the years but always remained consistent. I love that about them (just like Coldplay) and they experiment well with different sounds/instruments. Their set was a combination of all their albums (of course) but the mixture was excellent since they knew when to slow down their songs, mix up their instruments and make songs acoustic. Their final song during the encore couldn’t be more perfect.

My favourite single off their Native album was always ‘If I Lose Myself’ but I remember it never got enough radio play when it was released (not like ‘Counting Stars’ does). At the time, I caught it twice on the Toronto radio stations and never heard it again. I remember Aloe Black and Avicii released ‘Don’t Wake Me Up’ and Swedish House Mafia announced their One Last Tour around the same timeframe that summer.

OneRepublic’s track was overshadowed by this tour and I think nobody knew about their new album as well as I did in the city. The familiarity between the genre would overlap well, but I guess SHM knew what they were doing with advertising themselves as best they could to sell out their tour. Anyway, their final song ‘If I Lose Myself’ was insane! I can’t explain properly how well they did it, but they changed it up by adding dance beats from the Alesso mix and added percussions to it! This was a fantastic blend, especially since American Authors always use their snare drum up front in their shows. Again, it was remarkable and I can’t even explain how wonderful this experience was. I can’t wait until the next time they come back to Toronto. Hopefully I’m not waiting another eight years to see them in Toronto once again!
setlist:
Light It Up
Secrets
All The Right Moves
What You Wanted
Stop And Stare
Something I Need
Apologize
Rude (Magic cover)
Preacher
Come Home
Counting Stars
Can’t Stop
Au Revoir
Feel Again
Good Life
I Lived

encore:
Love Runs Out
What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong Cover)
If I Lose Myself