On Friday night Canadian hit-makers Hedley wrapped up their Hello World Tour at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
The show featured two openers. First up was twenty year old, Toronto-based musician Francesco Yates. The young musician took the stage in his all white ensemble and with a humble demeanor and played out a rocking set that had many in attendance singing and clapping along. I didn’t know much about this young man, but after I saw his performance I went home and bought his self-titled debut EP. This talented human being is going places.
Next to the plate was Carly Rae Jepsen. If I remember correctly, she started her set with Run Away with Me, the second single off her 2015 album Emotion. Her set was decent and further stirred up the crowd into a series of segmented dance groups, starting to rock their night away. I found Ms. Jepsen to be fun to watch, and her vocals were solid. She was very good at working the stage, which made for some opportune photo opps. Too bad I seemed to be off my game, and consistently found myself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Hedley finished off the night with an epic, fast-paced set. They took full advantage of the stage setup and worked every square inch of it. Vocalist Jacob Hoggard was the main focus for most of the night, jumping and spinning off stage risers at every opportunity. The lighting was fantastic, and by the end of the night the entire band was dripping in sweat with big old grins stretching from ear to ear. These hometown boys sure no how to do things right. I am proud to see someone from around here work their way to the big leagues and still pull out all the stops for their local crowds. That shows a lot of respect.
