On April 24, 2024, X Ambassadors had their concert in Toronto, ON. Below are photos from their show.
Photos and Review by ZJC Media
XA TOWNIE TOUR TORONTO
In April of the year 2015, JEEP unveiled a new commercial for their JEEP Renegade vehicle. I remember listening to the JEEP Renegade commercial in 2015 and wondering what song was playing during the commercial. The music behind the commercial was the song “Renegades” by the American pop-rock band X Ambassadors from Ithaca, New York. “Renegades” remains X Ambassadors’ top-played song on streaming services. “Renegades” was one of the singles to their debut album titled “VHS” which was released on June 30, 2015. Since their debut album, X Ambassadors has released a number of singles and collaborations as well as four studio albums including their most recent album “Townie,” which released on April 5, 2024. The Townie North American Tour started their Canadian leg of the tour the same day as the album release in Vancouver, BC, Canada. On April 24, the Townie North American Tour ends its Canadian leg of the tour in Toronto, ON at the Danforth Music Hall.
The show opened up with Noah Gundersen, a singer/songwriter from Olympia, Washington. Gundersen came out with just an acoustic guitar and no back up band creating a very intimate atmosphere in the Music Hall. Gundersen released his album “If This Is The End” last year. Yet, he preceded to not play any songs of his most recent release which surprised me especially since I consider the album a very strong release by Gundersen. However, he did sing a new song for the audience called “Lifeboat on a Tidal Wave.” Gundersen stated it was his last night being a part of the tour and it had been “such a treat” except for the night before, but he stated Toronto made up for it. Even though I wouldn’t say Gundersen got the crowd “pumped up” for X Ambassadors, he did create the atmosphere that X Ambassadors builds on later in the show and the crowd loved the opener enough to interrupt him a couple times with applause and cheering.
X Ambassadors came out with their smash hit “Renegades,” a song everyone in the room should know, to warm up the crowd. X Ambassadors then started playing the new songs from their most recent release, “Townie.” The band played three songs in a row from the release which consisted of “No Strings,” “Smoke On the Highway,” and “I’m Not Really Here.” After those songs, the band started to address the crowd by saying Toronto is the city they have played more than any place else in the entire world because they love playing in the city. The band then took a break from the newer songs and sang songs from previous albums and stand alone singles everyone in the room sang along with the band. The singer, Sam Harris, talked a little about the collaborations he had been a part of when introducing the song “Happy People” which featured artists Teddy Swims and Jac Ross. However, after playing the single, the band switched back to the newer songs and started telling the emotional stories behind their new record.
Sam Harris introduces their song “Your Town” with an emotional story of how he had started in the music industry and how he would not be where he was today if it was not for his late teacher that taught him everything he had known to start the incredibly successful career of X Ambassadors. “Your Town” has a voice message from the teacher at the end of the song they also played at the end of the song at the show which made it so there was not a dry eye in the room after the story Sam told the crowd. If that was not enough emotion for show, Sam and his brother Casey Harris, who plays the keyboard in the band, sat by themselves and introduced the stripped down song “Follow the Sound of My Voice.” Before playing the song, Sam talks about how his brother has always been there for him and how he is so thankful that they are in each other’s lives. As the song played on and listening to Sam’s lyrics, it became very clear that Casey was playing the piano visually impaired which is why Sam was singing about following the sound of his voice. It was a brotherly love song written about the brothers taking care of each other. The band ended the string of songs from the new record with their song “Start a Band” which was exactly what you’d think the song would be about, but the surprise was Noah Gundersen coming out during the second verse and singing the rest of the song with X Ambassadors.
X Ambassadors started ending the show with a massive piano interlude leading into the band’s song “Unsteady.” After the song ended, the band walked off stage to just be welcomed back by fans chanting for an encore. The room was more alive than when X Ambassadors exited the stage and the band started playing “BOOM” from their album “ORION.” The final song of the night that was played was “Jungle” which kept the momentum going. I don’t think there was a single person that wasn’t off their feet cheering by the end of the night.
As someone who has always wanted to see X Ambassadors live, they did not disappoint. Hearing songs that have been in many of my playlists of the years was a real treat to see live. X Ambassadors continued on the foundation Noah Gundersen started building the concert into an intimate and inclusive space by telling personal stories and showing true emotion when performing their songs. It was one of the most heartfelt and special concerts I have witnessed. I wasn’t prepared to see how much emotion and thought was put into the band’s most recent studio album. It almost felt like “Townie” should have been the band’s debut album with all the personal stories and references to where they started. Maybe it represents a new beginning for the band. All I know for sure is I cannot wait to see what the band cooks up next.
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