Jill Barber, photography by Rachel Pick
By Kristi Alexandra
@kristialexandra
From all appearances at her show at The Vogue on Thursday night (Nov. 1), velvet-voiced Jill Barber is everybody’s darling—but she’s definitely not your babe.
The feminist-forward chanteuse dazzled the crowd at her hometown show—nearly capping off a cross-country tour—in support of her latest album, Metaphora.
Kicking off the show with “The Woman,” fresh off of Metaphora, it’s clear that the Toronto-native is a born entertainer and storyteller and—oh, was the crowd in for some storytelling.
“No disco balls were harmed in the making of this outfit. It’s cruelty-free,” she exclaimed coyly, poking fun at her glimmering sequinned jumpsuit.
Transitioning into “Chances,” a 10-year-old hit, it’s obvious that while Barber oozes charm, she’s also at the point in her career where she takes no shit.
“I wrote this song in an afternoon, but it took me 10 years to get to this point,” she prefaced to the crowd before launching into her personal walk-out song, “Bigger Than You.”
“I’m thinking of anyone who’s ever had to stand up to their bullies. I’m thinking of women like Dr. Christine Blasey-Ford,” she said, eliciting hoots and hollers from the audience.
“I put my hands in the air/I’m not scared/I’m not scared/I’m bigger than you,” her biting lyrics betray her honeyed voice. “You got teeth to bare/But I’m not scared/I’m not scared/I’m bigger than you.”
Her dedications didn’t end with those who’ve suffered at the hands of abusers, though. Earlier in the evening Barber sweetly called out her husband, journalist and memoirist Grant Lawrence, for taking care of their family while she’d been on tour, serenading from from the stage with “Love Is.”
Giving her more seasoned fans some retrospective, Barber launched into “Petite Fleur” from her en français album Chansons, but not before endearing herself to the (mostly) Anglophone crowd by telling us she’s a Francophile, not a Francophone. That, despite some untoward feedback from a language teacher, she’ll keep singing in French anyway. All of this in French, because of course she would.
Making more concert-goers’ evenings, Barber crawled through the crowd to sing a rendition of “Happy Birthday” to those celebrating festivities.
And, in case you missed it, Barber is all for the empowerment of girls and women. While it was a delight to have the singer call up the ladies in the crowd to dance onstage to “Girls Gotta Do,” it really came as no surprise that the musician should make a scene for her sisters. She also exclaimed that she was selling “Girls Gotta Do” totes in support of Girls Rock Camp Vancouver, a week-long camp that empowers girls and non-binary kids through music mentorship.
In case audience members weren’t totally in love with her at this point, Barber closed off the night with sultry ballad “Please Don’t Let Me Go,” and came to sit down in the crowd during its instrumental parts, giving her band some independent time to shine.
No show is complete without an encore, and Barber didn’t disappoint with the aptly titled “One More Time.”
Personally, I could re-live this show several more times.
Barber’s latest album, Metaphora, can be purchased online digitally or on vinyl at the artist’s bandcamp here.
Kristi Alexandra is an unabashed wino and wannabe musician. Her talents include drinking an entire bottle of cabernet sauvignon, singing in the bathtub, and falling asleep.
