Danish pop/soul band Lukas Graham brought their most recent tour to Vancouver on Thursday night to a sold-out crowd at the Vogue Theatre.
The fist thing I noticed as I walked into the venue was the flutter of anticipation flowing through the air. There was this feeling of excitement on the face of every person I looked at, and it was genuinely contagious.
I walked down next to the stage and took a lay of the land.
The audience seemed to be quite young. In fact, there were a number of children in attendance with their parents. The bands’ song 7 Years had exploded onto the scene in late 2015 and just kept ramping up through 2016. The song proliferated the social realms and ended up garnering huge numbers on youth-targeting apps like Musical.ly, so it was no wonder the younger generation was aware and equally interested in checking his live show out.
The band filtered onto the stage and the first thing I noticed was how minimal their setup was. The drummer, keyboardist, and three-piece brass section were set on a slightly raised platform, and then behind them were a few big lights, that was about it. That whole platform was set about fifteen feet back from the front of the stage. It looked like a lot of room for running around and having fun.
Lukas Forchhammer, the lead singer, was the last of the group to take front and center. As he did, the audience erupted with screams of appreciation.
The band delved into Take the Wolrd By Storm, the second track from their 2015 self-titled album.
Forchhammer and bassist Magnus Larsson were like balls of energy. They were constantly moving around that stage while the songs pumped through the speakers. In between tracks, they would take moments to reset, but once the beats started up again they were off running around and jumping off stage risers. These two were very hard workers and tried their best to deliver an amazing show for their fans.
The audience was one part dance party and one part giant sing along for the whole night. It didn’t take long into the night for the symbiotic relationship between artist and audience to become obvious. As one entity grew with intensity, so did the other, and then that would amplify back and forth.
It was fantastic to look out and see a number of young children with stars in their eyes as their idol was singing the songs they obviously had loved for so long. Lukas would pace across the stage but when he saw a young fan he would point at them or stop and share a moment in the song with them. The child and their parents would light up with delight. Lukas really knows his fans and he knows what makes them happy.
The band was solid and they were all quite charming. Right now they have a great following, let’s hope they can keep up with the demand. They have the ability to become a huge name one day, as of this moment they are just on that cusp.
Thank you fo the band for a great night. Come back soon, Vancouver enjoys your company.
Lukas Graham set list
Take the World by Storm
Drunk In The Morning
Hayo
Don’t You Worry ‘Bout Me
What Happened to Perfect
Better Than Yourself (Criminal Mind, Part 2)
You’re Not There
Only One
Nice Guy
Mama Said
Strip No More
Happy Home
Funeral
7 Years
