CHARLY BLISS AT LEE'S PALACE IN TORONTO
The one and only opener of the night was Toronto’s own Casper Skulls. There was a pretty good turn out of patrons before their set. They started off the night with their chilled out, echoey, alt-rock sounds. Lead singer and guitarist, Melanie St. Pierre, sung with sincerity and a haunting vibe, at times becoming very emotional. She would then later describe how one of her songs was about her grandmother dealing with Alzheimer’s disease. Another song also described as very personal, was a brand new song that they never played live before. It waded in and out with pulsing synths, then a light strumming joined in and eventually the song escalated into a tame, emotional outburst. The audience was transfixed throughout their set, seeping in the emotions the band left putting on the stage.
Among the audience, a few people were sporting PUP merch. Many, like myself, found Charly Bliss through their past fall tour with PUP. The show hadn’t sold out, but the floor was full. The four piece pop rock band arrived on stage. Lead singer and guitarist, Eva Hendricks, bounced on stage with a poofy, fuschia pink tulle dress, sparkles under her eyes and on her guitar strap. They were bursting with energy, jumping and kicking to their pop rock tunes. Eva’s voice was very girly which cuteified the light punk sound and attitude they give off. Fans on the floor were playfully moshing along, twirling around with faces of pure joy. The band had moments were they seemed really blown away by the response of the audience.
“What the fuuuuck Toronto!”
“This is why Toronto is one of our favourite cities to play in”
“I danced so hard my earplug fell out! Never done that before!” Eva would say.
I personally got goosebumps just from the happy feeling radiating to me from watching them and the fans. A really lovely vocal moment for Eva was in the song “Heaven” from their newest EP Supermoon, that was released almost a month ago. The whole song, instrumentally, was quite a highlight. Before closing their set, they had a moment to say how this year, 2019, was quite a crazy year, a year of change, gained popularity, and they loved meeting all their compassionate fans. They ended and the crowd demanded one more song. They came back and one of the other guitarists said, “I guess you guys don’t do that just for PUP shows.” They also said how this was one of their favourite shows in a long time, and they don’t do encores for everyone.
That night in rainy Toronto was special for a lot of fans and for the band themselves, a joyous bubblegum kind of time. I am looking forward to seeing what else Charly Bliss will bring in the new decade.