There was a huge party last night, March 8th, 2019, at the Marquee Ballroom as the hometown crowd welcomed their girl Ria Mae back home to Halifax and Mae (finally) made her Marquee debut. It was a big day yesterday, Mae’s newest EP, Stars, was released, and her photo towered over The Eaton Centre on a New Music Friday Spotify billboard at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto.
Mathew V kicked off the evening with his song “Broken,” a song about the triumph inherent in emotional growth. He performed the infectious “Tell Me Smooth,” along with a cover of Britney Spears’ “… Baby One More Time,” and then seamlessly switched gears and performed an emotional rendition of his song “Let Me Go.” V’s voice is gorgeous and he has a sweet self deprecating stage presence. I recommend checking out his music.
It was immediately clear Mae was happy to be home. The kind folks at Freeman’s (Little New York) sent back multiple boxes of garlic fingers for her and her band, Chris Wong and Jeff Renz. Wong and Renz, both Vancouverites, have fallen in love with Halifax, and Mae said she specifically saved her hometown for the last date of her tour, and made sure that her two shows at the Marquee coincided with Stars dropping, “to save the best for last,” she said.
The evening began with “Gold,” one of her breakout hits from her 2016 self titled album, a song that is impossible not to bounce to. It’s also a magnificent showcase of Mae’s vocal range, as she leaps from the punchy “remember when I was gold” up to the more ethereal, “I know you’re probably dreaming, I know you’re probably dreaming, babe.” She then moved to “I’m On Fire,” one of my favourites from 2017’s My Love. Mae’s lyrics speak about a constant quest for balance, between celebrating one’s milestones, while still striving to reach the next one, and how sometimes success brings with it a new box full of different challenges. The song’s catchy hook is a self assurance that, even though things aren’t perfect, there is still so much for her to be proud of. Mae says she sings “Wherever We Go” when she’s homesick for Halifax, and, with lyrics like, “Look at the waves, Look at the stars, I see them too…” it’s not difficult to understand why. “Crazy” is a reflection on how we often recognize that we are in a toxic relationship enough to question, “what’s wrong with me,” but not enough to let it go. While this song thematically is universal, specifically Mae, who is proudly queer, presents this story as one between two women. This shouldn’t have seemed like an overdue revelation in pop music to me when the song was released in 2016, but it did. Representation matters.
“Trixi,” a new song from Stars, is a passionate ode to the intoxicating allure of a captivating girl at the bar. I especially love Mae’s plea of the all too familiar, “please don’t lose my number,” which highlights the inherent vulnerability we all feel in situations where we hope the person who has captured our attention, and our hearts, will reciprocate. Like the Platinum selling “Clothes Off” before it, “Trixi” is a song that centres on two people meeting at a club or a bar, a familiar setting for a pop song. Yet, what struck me so much about “Clothes Off” and is apparent in “Trixi” as well, is that we have been so conditioned to see these spaces in popular music as deeply rooted in the patriarchy, but here, part of the joy and sense of empowerment lies in that both these stories can exist outside that frame, in a place that certainly exists in real life, but again, doesn’t always find its way into the more mainstream music.
“Not at Peace,” also from Stars, showcases the rich emotional ability of Mae as a lyricist, telling the story of someone who finds herself facing an unexpected heartbreak of her own making. “It’s You,” (which features Tegan Quin on the album), conversely, is beautifully complex layering that builds up to the realization that a toxic relationship needs to end.
Mae invited her friends Neon Dreams (Frank Kadillac and Adrian Morris) on stage next for a short set, and they kept the party going performing three of their own songs including “High School Dropout,” which was just released on January 4th. This is a triumphant song that explores both how early setbacks are in no way indicative of the heights dreamers are able to achieve when they are ambitious and passionate, and also how there is more than just one marker for intelligence; a message that often still doesn’t resonate loudly enough in a society that too often prizes degrees over everything else. Kadillac has infectious stage presence and what seems like boundless energy, and having these fellow Nova Scotian artists at the Marquee made for an extra special evening.
Mae and Kadillac collaborated on the new song “Hold Me” during a SOCAN songwriting camp in Nicaragua, and it’s a beautiful duet that asks, “Can we turn down the violence?,” such a loaded question in the current political climate.
The show ended with two more songs from My Love, the title track, a big-hearted love song, and “Red Light,” a song about getting broken up with in a car, hoping the red lights will buy enough time to salvage the relationship- and three grand slams from Ria Mae “Clothes Off,” “Thoughts on Fire” and “Ooh Love.” During the encore the entire Marquee erupted into song and nearly drown Mae and the band out completely singing along to an acoustic “Ooh Love.”
The love in the room was definitely mutual.
Ria Mae plays the Marquee Ballroom (2037 Gottingen Street) again tonight at 9pm and it’s sold out.
You can find Stars and all Ria’s music on her website, Apple Music/iTunes, or Spotify.
You can follow her on Facebook. Instagram (@riaisawake). YouTube.
Follow Neon Dreams on Facebook, Twitter. Instagram (@neondreams). Spotify. Follow Mathew V on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (@mathewvmusic). Spotify.
