Ruel's return to Vogue Theatre on the Kicking My Feet tour felt less like just another stop and more like a full-circle moment. Having played the venue a few years prior, his growth was immediately noticeable, not just in his stage presence, but in the emotional transparency of his new music and performance.
The show opened with a dramatic entrance: a door at center stage creaked open as smoke filled the stage, revealing only the silhouette of Ruel before he stepped forward.
One of the things that stuck with me came early, when he performed two songs about his mother back-to-back, one written from her perspective, the other from his own. While he called the first song, from his mom's perspective, a little narcissistic, I thought it was endearing. The range felt intimate, and showed how vulnerable he is with his songwriting.
The setlist leaned mostly on his latest album, Kicking My Feet, which he performed in full, but he didn't let us longtime fans down. Older tracks like "Younger" (from 2018) and "Face to face" (from 2019) were received very well by the crowd. Ruel performed a mix of stripped-back and upbeat songs, showing off his Spanish skills when he started "Wild guess" in Spanish, a nod to his Chilean drummer, who he mentioned has been teaching him.
That same looseness carried over later in his set when he covered "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," which got the whole room on their feet.
Between songs, he shared snippets of his current mindset: "bring back yearning," "being chalant isn't bad," and reflections on how "love feels good" — even when it's a little awkward or "cringey." This is all so cohesive with his latest album and name of the tour, Kicking My Feet.
He also debuted a new, unreleased track, making Vancouver only the second city he's introduced new music to on this tour. It felt new and improved while still holding on to that typical Ruel sound.
Closing with the title track "Kicking My Feet," Ruel ended the night on a high note. It wasn't just a concert; it was a reminder that leaning into emotion, and feeling them fully, can be its own kind of strength.