It’s been a minute since the last time I saw Kathleen Edwards perform live, so I was very excited to see she was coming back to Vancouver. Especially since the show would be at the Biltmore Cabaret, which (unsurprisingly) sold out almost instantly.

Opening the show was folk singer-songwriter Ken Yates, as I arrived a little bit into his set, his smooth voice crooning out “Surviving Is Easy”. From there he teased some new songs from his upcoming album, as well as older ones like “Quiet Talkers”, the title track to his 2020 album. He finished off with a song about existential dread (“because, why not?” he joked) called “The Big One”, and was a perfect opener to set the stage for the evening.

It wasn’t long then before Kathleen Edwards came out with her guitar, flanked by her bandmates joining on guitar and keyboards, launching into “Glenfern” from her last full length album, Total Freedom — slyly changing the line about playing at the Horseshoe to playing Richard’s on Richards. She followed that up with “Empty Threat” which had the crowd singing along, not for the last time in the evening, and with Edwards sporting a huge grin when she heard everyone joining in.

From there, her set spanned her career, back to the beginning with the breakout hit “Six O’Clock News”; to the hauntingly beautiful “A Soft Place to Land” and the sold out room once more softly singing along; up to her latest release, a cover of John Prine’s “Hello in There”.

Between songs, Kathleen chatted with the crowd, telling stories behind songs like “Empty Threat” and teasing an upcoming album with the new song “Little Red Ranger” (or the alternate title, “The Leafs Still Suck”) which was about a bandmate who moved to LA, and even opening up about some of the rough patches in her career.

Partway through the set, Edwards was joined by Ken Yates for a few songs, including the emotionally heavy “Asking for Flowers”, before the main set wrapped up with “In State”. But the packed room was eager for more, as she returned for one of my favourites, the raw emotion of “Change the Sheets” and one final gorgeous singalong to “Options Open”.

The last couple times I’ve seen Kathleen Edwards perform were both at the Vancouver Folk Festival (seven and eleven years ago, geez) so it was an absolute joy to see her play an intimate show at a venue like the Biltmore. She ended up playing around an hour and a half, but with her effortless charisma and incredible songwriting, I definitely could have listened to her sing all night.

setlist
Glenfern
Empty Threat
Who Rescued Who
A Soft Place to Land
Hello in There [John Prine cover]
Chameleon/Comedian
Six O'Clock News
Hockey Skates
12 Bellevue
Little Red Ranger (The Leafs Still Suck)
Burn The Cedar, Burn The Sage
Asking for Flowers
Mercury
Hard on Everyone
In State
(encore)
Change the Sheets
Options Open