Last year, Joel Plaskett hit the road for his One Real Reveal On Wheels tour, in celebration of the eponymous album, One Real Reveal. The tour hit a lot of intimate venues (even multiple dates in some towns, including the previous night in Vancouver at The Cultch) and along with a “no cell phones” rule in place, I was asked not to share much until the tour finished — which was originally going to be last December, but Joel had to postpone a few shows, and so the tour finally wrapped up in last night in London, Ontario

The stage at St James Community Square was adorned with two projection screens, flanked by curtains, and a big red armchair in the middle of the stage. With no opener, Joel Plaskett came out and took a seat, guitar in hand, kicking off with “Let Me Go, Jo” off the new album. From there, the first half of the show spun through songs new and old, as well as pictures and stories from Joel. He talked about everything from his past, to friends – those still around and those lost – to his wife, his songs, and stories about criss crossing Canada. The whole slideshow was not preprogrammed, but off the cuff from his cell phone (Joel acknowledging the irony) which meant that everything was off the cuff, and he could riff or even add photos and video in real time, ensuring every night would be unique.

Joel remained on the big armchair for the first set of the evening, heightening the intimate vibe of the show, switching between guitars, a bouzouki, and tenor banjo as he hit songs from the new album; the hazy “High Summer” and “Rainy Day Janey” which featured video backup guitar & vocals from some friends, including Mo Kenney. He also dove into his back catalogue, with favourites like “Absentminded Melody” or “True Patriot Love”, which had folks singing along, and a tribute to an old friend “Matthew Grimson Songs”. The set came to an end with the rollicking “Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’” which got boots stomping in the room.

The second half of the evening started as the screens flickered to life to show a live feed from backstage. Before the break, Joel asked for his friend Bill, and the video started with him playing piano while Joel recited “The New Joys”, a spoken word track from the new album. BUT, he got at least a few people in the crowd when, near the end, real-time-Joel took the stage providing layered vocals to pre-recorded-Joel.

With the armchair gone, the second set of the evening was a bit more lively, but still included more photos, banter, and storytelling. He set up “I'm Yours” with the story of meeting his wife, dedicated “Tim” to his lost friend Miniature Tim, and and wove some backstory into “Love This Town”. After dedicating “Soundtrack For The Night” to CBC’s Grant Lawrence, in the audience, he capped off the main set with a big singalong to “Nowhere With You”.

But he wasn’t going to fool the room again, and everyone knew he would be back, taking a request for “Extraordinary”, the first song to feature the record player on stage, as he dropped the needle to provide the backing instruments. After a couple more stories, he ended the night with two more big group singalongs, “Hey Moon (A Campfire Song)” and “Iona”.

I’ve always enjoyed shows in this format; acoustic or solo gigs with the performer just chatting with the crowd between songs. And it especially works when it’s with someone as charming and as good a storyteller as Joel Plaskett. He was candid, funny, and heartwarming – even explaining part of the reason for his ‘no cell phone’ policy is that the stories were meant for the people in the room – and I could have listened to him talk (and sing) all night.

setlist
Let Me Go, Jo
High Summer
Blind Spots
Breezy Jane
One Real Reveal
Absentminded Melody
True Patriot Love
Matthew Grimson Songs
Fall Guy
Rainy Day Janey
Rollin’, Rollin’, Rollin’
[intermission]
The New Joys
Variations on a Theme
I’m Yours
Love This Town
Tim
Soundtrack For The Night
Nowhere With You
[encore]
Extraordinary
Hey Moon (A Campfire Song)
Iona