Sarah Harmer’s intimate songs have a way of transporting listeners to an idyllic, pastoral setting-so how appropriate that she would play the two sold-out Toronto dates (April 26 and 27) of her tour in the historic Winter Garden Theatre. A grand old venue adorned with fake foliage and nature frescos painted on the walls, it’s a beautiful yet sadly underused space, but proved to be the perfect place for a gorgeous night of music. “It’s a joy to play here tonight-we felt like real ‘theatah’ people when we showed up,” Harmer quipped between songs in a lofty Brit accent.
Harmer may hail from near Kingston, but she’ll always be Toronto’s own, and from the opening notes of “Pendulums” right through to a second encore, she had the entire theatre in her thrall. Dressed like a charming hoser girl in casual red top and jeans and messy ponytail, she led her tight four-piece through a balanced mix of tunes from her new All of Our Names disc and her You Were Here solo debut, with some fan requests thrown in for good measure.
The band, all incredible players in their own right, has come a long way from their tentative debut on Bravo’s TV special a few weeks ago. Keyboardist Julie MacDonald’s harmonies sounded far more assured, but guitarist Mike O’Neill (former Inbreds frontman)’s nasal backing vocals simply didn’t mesh well with Harmer’s tones, the only jarring note of the evening.
Otherwise, while Harmer was squarely in the spotlight for the entire show, carrying the songs on both acoustic and electric guitar, she clearly knows a thing or two about fronting a band, giving each player enough space to shine. Drummer Dean Stone fleshed out some of the quieter numbers for a fuller sound to suit the airy, open acoustics of the theatre. MacDonald lent some flute to colour the otherwise simple “Came On Lion”, O’Neill’s keyboard solo on “Around This Corner” drew cheers, and John Dinsmore kept the ship steady throughout on both upright and electric bass.
A three-song solo interlude offered up unreleased song “The Ring” (a rootsy finger-picker in the vein of “Uniform Grey”, dedicated to “everyone who helped put on these shows”) and fan fave “Trouble in the Fields”, a Nancy Griffiths cover perfectly suited to country gal Harmer. Hearing her keening, jewel-cut voice soaring through the theatre was a truly goosebumps-raising moment.
Harmer has always come off as a bit hard to peg-a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll, sensitive singer-songwriter, to-the-point storyteller. At the Winter Garden last night, she was all of that and more-unfailingly gracious, amusingly silly. She’s always written great songs, but these days, Sarah Harmer is also nothing short of a beguiling performer.
Two sold-out nights in a beautiful theatre is usually the purview of bigger (read: international) names-while it’s odd for us old fans to get used to the idea of Harmer as a big star, we’d better get used to it, because it finally just may be her time.
