NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
VÉRITÉ (aka Kelsey Regina Byrne) stopped by Longboat Hall in Toronto on Friday as the opening night of her Love You Forever Tour. The record of the same name was released just a week ago and I’ve been playing it on repeat ever since. Her lush music and honest lyrics always spoke to me, although I have to be in a melancholy mood because it’s liable to, as VÉRITÉ would often joke, make you cry. Or maybe she’s not joking because she’s extremely straightforward and not likely to smile and joke just to be engaging. She’s very serious about the difficulties of being an independent artists, releasing her own music, and starting a podcast “Anatomy of an Artist” which was focused on those independent artists. She also got into web3 and NFT’s, allowing her fans to potentially own pieces of her music! Perhaps some of these originated from a Clubhouse room that she started during lockdown, a time when we probably all spent way too much time isolated and thinking about life.
Friday night in Toronto was to be a major weather event, with a blizzard coming in during the show. As the VIP ticket holders queued early in front of Longboat Hall, things seemed pretty clear but by the time door opened for general admission, the snow had started to fall. This obviously did not deter VÉRITÉ’s fans as the venue was quite crowded.
The evening’s opener was Toronto pop singer Ari Hicks. She released her most recent EP “It’s Not That Deep: Chapter 2” in August 2022 and she brought her gorgeous voice and just a little bit of attitude, complete with a Billy Idol sneer, to Longboat Hall. She showed us some of her dark and wicked humor with “Romeo Dies”, eliciting laughs from the crowd. Already identified by LiveNation as one of the “Ones to Watch” in 2022, she’s definitely someone to check out.
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VÉRITÉ kicked off her set with “are we done yet”, the first single from her album, then “a lucid dream”, which happened to be my favorite two tracks on the record! Her music and performance elicit such emotion, alternating between sadness, anguish, and even a bit of anger. She constantly moves between behind her keyboards and the front of her stage, reaching out and imploring, drawing the crowd forward. While I enjoy listening to her music on streaming services, it’s nothing like seeing her live to really put you in the mood.
Towards the end of the show, she brought a fan on-stage, sat him down and tied his hands as she sang to him. It was so theatrical and shows the evolution of VÉRITÉ as a performer and an artist. I’m sure it was a night that fan will never forget!
VÉRITÉ closed the show with no encore leaving some of the crowd almost stunned. They couldn’t believe the evening was over!! As we were ushered out of the venue into the accumulating snow, transportation matters took precedence. It ended up taking me three hours to get back to my hotel, a trip that normally takes thirty minutes, but it was totally worth it. VÉRITÉ has a full tour in front of her so catch her live if she plays anywhere near you!
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