On Lesbian Day of Visibility (sometimes known as April 26th), Lucy Dacus, Katie Gavin, and jasmine.4.t took the stage at Massey Hall for the second night in Toronto. I found myself there thanks to none other than Demo and The Gargoyle’s very own Ella Mac, who blessed me with some last-minute tickets. The night was cold, the crowd was loud, and you could not look in any direction without seeing a lesbian couple. Forever is a Feeling is a record overflowing with love songs that we can only assume were written about Dacus’ bandmate-turned-partner Julien Baker, which made it perfect to hear live on date night. Pairs of people would occasionally be illuminated in the flash of a phone or a digital camera while waiting for the show to start, filling every corner of the sprawling venue with an undercurrent of affection. During her set, Dacus mentioned that her dream for the tour was to play ornate, beautiful venues that she never thought she’d get to perform in. Much to her delight, both nights were sold out, and Massey Hall was jam-packed with adoring fans. Despite the world being a rough place for queer and trans people right now, you couldn’t tell from the energy in that room. It became a safe haven of lights and sounds, where everyone could forget suffering for a while and just focus on love.

The only thing better than trans people joyfully existing is seeing them flourish onstage. jasmine.4.t was a big hit with the crowd, and set the tone for an evening full of beautiful lyrics and violins. Her songs oscillate between declarations of affection for both friends and lovers alike and deep reflections on living in a body that doesn’t always feel like home. Her set up was quite barebones, featuring her on guitar and her bandmate Phoenix on keys and violin. The simple instrumentation let the meanings behind her songs come through, which made it a truly captivating performance. The music itself spanned a variety of genres, going from soft indie tunes to screaming headbangers and back again. I found these rapid shifts jarring at times, but appreciated the passion with which Jasmine approached each tune. At one point, she surveyed the crowd asking: “Have we got any gay people here tonight? Any trans people here tonight? Any T4T lovers?” A cheer went up between each question before she finally dedicated “Skin On Skin” to the latter group. This moment really emphasized the sheer amount of queer people in the room. It seemed that everyone had emerged from their apartments to converge at this exact moment and to prove every musical stereotype right. 

This wasn’t Jasmine’s first time facing a crowd of this size, having opened for Dacus on the European leg of her Historian tour in 2018. This was pre-transition for the artist, and I can only imagine how good it felt for her to be back as her true self. One of the most impactful moments of her performance happened during a song called “Wrong,” in which she perched on the edge of the stage and sang like her life depended on it. She was bathed in a swath of beautiful pink light, and the crowd was completely rapt. Without jasmine.4.t as the opening, I’m not sure I would have been ready to have my heart ripped out by the other artists. Her energy and enthusiasm were a great way to start off the night.

Katie Gavin is no stranger to Demo, with a review of her tour for What A Relief already being featured on our blog. Though familiar with her name, I went into her performance completely blind. Gavin’s set built perfectly off the previous one, doubling the instruments and band members while keeping with the evening’s vaguely domestic theme. Her folk-infused, harmony-filled sound softened her more bitter lyrics, especially on “Sanitized” and “As Good as it Gets.” The latter track normally features Mitski on the second verse, but the part was instead taken over by guitarist Nana Adjoa. After the song ended, Gavin pointed out her bandmate’s tendency to accidentally swap the lyrics, singing “You’re inside folding laundry/I’m outside fixing the hose” rather than the originally reversed pronouns. There was a palpable tenderness between the musicians, especially when they perched around Gavin as she sang “Sketches” on her own. That same affection was reflected in the crowd. After a back and forth of “I love you” and “I love you more,” from audience members Gavin cracked a joke that the two people were talking to each other rather than to her. The fact that everyone spent the evening surrounded by couples made me wonder how many love connections were facilitated through Forever is a Feeling as both an album and a tour, and how maybe that interaction was the start of something beautiful. 

Though Gavin is mostly known for her role in MUNA, she mentioned that it was great to delve into folk songs and go back to her roots. Opening for Dacus and creating the album as a whole was a welcome “side quest.” I was constantly impressed by her ability to swap through so many instruments, including guitar, fiddle, and keyboard. She shouted out her sound tech while tuning and even apologized for the constant swaps. The violin was present throughout all three sets, which was a pleasant surprise for me and a massive hit with the crowd. On one of her final songs, Gavin continued her playful banter with the crowd during an instrumental break and said, “Respect to that one person who put their flashlight up and then said nope.” This prompted everyone to put up their flashlights (and a few lighters) for the tail end of her performance. Since the show ended, I’ve been hooked on What A Relief. Convinced by her infectious joy, excellent taste in jorts and phenomenal vocals, I’m in a rush to see Katie Gavin perform again.

Would it be wrong of me to call Lucy Dacus lesbian Jesus? With the sound the crowd made when she walked onstage, you would think that someone had just risen from the dead. The deafening roar may have startled me, but was warmly welcomed by Dacus and her band, who were immaculately dressed in black. Though they emerged through a gap in a sheet, the sheet was quickly dropped during “Ankles” to reveal a gallery-like set featuring pictures that changed throughout the night. There was an aura of high class to the whole performance, from the background all the way to Dacus’ tea-length dress and pumps. They perfectly matched the grandeur of the venue while simultaneously making everyone in the crowd feel criminally underdressed; but if they were insecure about their outfits, you wouldn’t know by the way they were singing. Without fail, you could hear the crowd singing along to every song that was played that night. I had never heard anything quite like it, and they even guided Dacus through the end of “Big Deal” when her in-ears went out. As Dacus was fixing them, she decided to host an impromptu Q & A session that I’ve done my best to replicate here in short form:

Q: Favourite song you’ve ever written?

A: “Triple Dog Dare.”

Q: What artists do you listen to?

A: Nina Simone (among others that I did not have time to make note of).

Q: What’s your favourite song from the album to play live?

A, including answers from the band: “Talk,” “Most Wanted Man,” and “Limerence.”

Q: What’s your favourite movie?

A, laughing: Now is not the time.

Though I couldn’t hear the exact question, Dacus also mentioned that “Kissing Lessons” is almost word-for-word a real story. Do with that information what you will. With the tech issues resolved, the show went off without a hitch for the rest of the night. After “Talk,” Dacus appealed to her audience by mentioning how “hot the openers are.” It seemed like everyone agreed, because they let out another massive cheer. As she twirled and moved around the stage, it was apparent that Dacus was having as much fun as we were. She later explained, “It’s not real until it’s shows. Putting out music on the Internet is weird.” The theatrical vibe of the evening wouldn’t have been complete without a set change. A dark blue chaise lounge was brought out and placed in the middle of the stage for the acoustic portion of the set. Dacus was handed her guitar, and the band clustered around her like disciples. Despite mentioning her nerves, she played the rarely-heard track “Fool’s Gold” off of her EP 2019. Later, she was joined by Broken Social Scene’s very own Kevin Drew to sing “Bullseye,” which originally features Hozier. Dacus cited Drew as vital to her genesis as a musician, saying that his show on September 11th, 2011 in Richmond, Virginia was the one that inspired her to pursue music as a whole. At this point, the gallery featured a skyscraper that included several shooting stars. Coupled with the audience’s intermittent flashlight waving and the soft lighting on stage, the experience was completely magical and immersive. 

Unfortunately, the evening went by much faster than I would have liked. After the band returned for a well-heralded encore, Dacus tossed tulips into the crowd and said that “We (the band) were just talking about how cute you are.” Toronto clearly did not lose its spark after one night, and the joy was palpable even without being on the floor. The second-to-last song of the evening was unexpected for me: “True Blue,” a track from Dacus’ side project boygenius. Hearing this song live was incredible, especially since boygenius tickets are notoriously impossible to get ahold of. The venue was bathed in shades of blue as everyone loudly sang along. The show closed with “Night Shift,” as expected. Over the past year, that song has become an impromptu theme song for many overnight shifts I’ve spent writing reviews just like this one. The power in Dacus’ voice still resonated after the final chords rang out, and people desperately tried to score a guitar pick or a setlist for their dates. Despite having only received the tickets at 3pm on the day of, I am so grateful that I got to see this incredible performance. Though not a fan when I entered, I emerged completely hooked on everything Lucy Dacus.