I arrived at Vogue Theatre around 6 PM on October 3, an hour before doors, and the VIP line was already long. There were more than 50 VIP guests in total, while the general admission queue kept growing. It was Emei’s birthday, and Vancouver had dressed for her Night at the Opera Tour, presented by MRG Live. Opera-inspired outfits shared the pavement with darker looks that nodded to her earlier eras.
By 7 PM, the line stretched along Granville Street. Before doors opened, two of Emei’s backup dancers came outside dressed in white and wearing masks, silently greeting the waiting fans and working up the crowd. The show had started on the sidewalk.
Once inside, a large group made a beeline for the merch. Shirts and vinyl were coming down from the display within what felt like minutes; from where I stood, some items appeared to be selling out almost immediately. The audience spanned a wide range of ages and looked predominantly female.
Madelline opened at 8 PM, her voice coming through the speakers before she appeared beneath a lavishly draped umbrella. Candles lined the front of the stage, and she leaned into the theatrical setting, including a staged scene with her tied to a chair.
Her voice made just as strong an impression: she reached high notes and held them, showing the musical ability behind the playful staging. She also played the flute. With an infectious smile, she kept the crowd engaged through "Crazy Bitch", "Expiration Dating" and "Pink Lemonade", the latter released only a few weeks before the show.
She saved my personal highlight for the end: "Dopamine", performed in its split brain version with both English and French. I had been looking forward to hearing that one live, and getting the bilingual version made the closing stretch especially satisfying. During intermission, people who had only just discovered her were heading over to check out the merch and say hello.
Emei opened with "Night at the Opera", her dancers creeping onto the stage before she joined them to a flood of light and cheers. The production included custom stage lighting brought in for the show. Strong side and backlighting gave the stage a theatrical look, though its sheer brightness was a mixed blessing for photography.
"That Girl" followed, then "Irresponsible", which was slightly inconvenient for my photography. It is a favourite of mine, and I caught myself missing shots because I was too busy enjoying it. "Late to the Party" came next and was another personal highlight.
I spent most of my time near the soundboard to get the best sound, and Emei sounded good from there. Before most songs, she shared why she had written them or what they meant to her. Those stories kept me invested in the set; she came across as someone having a good time and letting us in on it.
A technical problem forced an unscheduled pause, and Emei used the time to take questions from the audience, talking about her favourite songs and how the tour had been going. Her easy, down-to-earth manner carried the break. The crowd sang happy birthday to her, and she received a gift as well.
Her guitarist also led the crowd in another round of happy birthday. Emei told the audience this was the first time she had played a show on her birthday, and how special that made the evening for her.
Later, she left the stage and appeared in the middle of the crowd, asking people to sit down around her. She sang "Dear Emily", followed by "Ginger Tea", from the floor. During this quieter stretch, she spoke about love and loss and dedicated a song to her grandmother and to loved ones people in the room had lost.
For "Bloom", the crowd had lights decorated with different-coloured flowers, brought and handed out by a fan. Emei followed it with the unreleased "Regularly Scheduled Program", which got a definite thumbs-up from me.
A moment of group affirmations for someone in the audience led into a dedication of her new single "Molly". At another point in the set, large inflatable balls made an appearance in the crowd.
The final stretch brought "Better People To Leave On Read" and "Scatterbrain", with "Cynical" closing the main set. The crowd called for “one more song,” and Emei returned after a change for "What's the Point!", followed by a reprise of "Night at the Opera". Somewhere between the masks outside and the birthday songs inside, the opera had become a birthday party.