NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
What an incredible couple of years it’s been for British/Japanese pop star Rina Sawayama. After her critically acclaimed debut album “ Sawayama” in 2020, she’s not only released her second hit album “Hold the Girl” last September but also started in the lates John Wick movie opposite Keanu Reeves! Could her star get any brighter? After a number of performances at various festivals this summer, she opened her solo tour with two nights at History in Toronto!
Starting the party was Austin based DJ Disko Cowboy (aka Dave Wrangler). He played a short set but had the crowd dancing. How could you not if he’s playing old school standards by the Bee Gees and ABBA?
Next up was synth-pop group Magdalena Bay from LA. The last time I caught up with Mica Tenenbaum (vocals and keys) and Matt Lewin (guitar, bass and keys) was at the Paste Studio and at Elsewhere in New York City way back in Jan 2020 BC (before Covid!). They released volume 3 of their Mini Mix EP series back in April and their fun brand of electro pop sounds just as fresh as it did pre-pandemic. With Lewin playing every instrument on the stage and Tenenbaum bouncing around the stage non-stop, it was such a fun set and prepared the audience for the main event!
Click on photos to enlarge
I had heard that Rina Sawayama’s shows were phenomenal but that did not prepare me for the theatrical event to follow. With the guitar player and drummer hidden behind curtains, the focus throughout the night was on Sawayama and her two dancers. Kicking off with the title track off her latest record, Sawayama and company hit the stage dressed all in white with bright lights highlighting the action on the stage below. And that action was dramatic, with choreographed dancing not quite like something you’d see at another pop show but more like something you would see in an Alvin Ailey dance production. Each movement, facial expression and background video set the mood for the songs perfectly. Sawayama and crew took us through seventeen songs and three outfit changes, leaving us with the finale of “This Hell” performed in a red corset and cowboy hat, dedicated not so much to Canada but more so to what’s happening in the United States. There was no encore but none was needed.
The overall takeaway is
1) For a “small show”, the production value was one of the best outside of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour
2) Rina Sawayama knows how to captivate an audience. She has her fans completely under her glamour and doesn’t even need to think about when they will sing or answer her shout outs, doing exactly what she says
3) If you haven’t yet seen John Wick 4 (and I haven’t), I can see how great an actress she is just based on her performance this night
4) If she wants it, I can see an EGOT in her future. It was said here first!
5) You’d better catch her in this tour before she starts playing arenas
Click on photos to enlarge
