February 25, 2023

Begonia at The Great Hall - Concert Photos

Begonia at The Great Hall on February 24, 2023 Photo by John Ordean at One In Ten Words toronto indie alternative live music blog concert photography pictures photos nikon d750 camera yyz photographer
Begonia at The Great Hall on February 24, 2023 Photo by John Ordean at One In Ten Words toronto indie alternative live music blog concert photography pictures photos nikon d750 camera yyz photographer
Begonia at The Great Hall on February 24, 2023 Photo by John Ordean at One In Ten Words toronto indie alternative live music blog concert photography pictures photos nikon d750 camera yyz photographer
Begonia at The Great Hall on February 24, 2023 Photo by John Ordean at One In Ten Words toronto indie alternative live music blog concert photography pictures photos nikon d750 camera yyz photographer
Begonia at The Great Hall on February 24, 2023 Photo by John Ordean at One In Ten Words toronto indie alternative live music blog concert photography pictures photos nikon d750 camera yyz photographer
Begonia at The Great Hall on February 24, 2023 Photo by John Ordean at One In Ten Words toronto indie alternative live music blog concert photography pictures photos nikon d750 camera yyz photographer
Begonia at The Great Hall on February 24, 2023 Photo by John Ordean at One In Ten Words toronto indie alternative live music blog concert photography pictures photos nikon d750 camera yyz photographer
Begonia at The Great Hall on February 24, 2023 Photo by John Ordean at One In Ten Words toronto indie alternative live music blog concert photography pictures photos nikon d750 camera yyz photographer
Begonia at The Great Hall on February 24, 2023 Photo by John Ordean at One In Ten Words toronto indie alternative live music blog concert photography pictures photos nikon d750 camera yyz photographer
Begonia at The Great Hall on February 24, 2023 Photo by John Ordean at One In Ten Words toronto indie alternative live music blog concert photography pictures photos nikon d750 camera yyz photographer
Begonia at The Great Hall on February 24, 2023 Photo by John Ordean at One In Ten Words toronto indie alternative live music blog concert photography pictures photos nikon d750 camera yyz photographer
Begonia at The Great Hall on February 24, 2023 Photo by John Ordean at One In Ten Words toronto indie alternative live music blog concert photography pictures photos nikon d750 camera yyz photographer

Winnipeg‘s Begonia stopped by Toronto’s Great Hall on Friday night on her Powder Blue tour.  It just happened to be release day for Begonia’s new album Powder Blue

I love Begonia's singing, songwriting, storytelling and the positive vibe she spreads from centre stage. This was my fourth time catching a Begonia performance, but the first where she was headlining her own show. Pretty cool. 

Their set included tunes from across Powder Blue, Fear, and Lady In Mind. Begonia commented that this tour marks the first time she's had more music released than she can fit into the set. Nice problem to have; so many powerful and engaging songs that they can't all be played every night!

Personal highlights were the tunes I love from Fear and Lady In Mind, just because they're more familiar. "Hanging on a Line", "The Light", "Fear" got everyone vibing, and "Beats" with it's refrain of "it's not your birthday, baby" was great. Highlights from Powder Blue were "Marigold", which rocked and "Butterfly", a quiet song about realizing that you know nothing that garnered huge applause, plus the single "Married by Elvis". They closed the set with "Bleeding Heart" from Powder Blue. The encore tunes were from Lady In Mind; "Hot Dog Stand", which was an early standout tune that really got me into Begonia, and "Juniper". I'm sure more tunes from Powder Blue will become favourites as they seep into my consciousness. They sound awesome on the album and in the live show.

Begonia is a great storyteller and I love her stories; they give us a deeper insight into Begonia, her life, and her music. I highly recommend checking out her music and watch for her stopping by your city on tour.

Witch Prophet did a great job opening up the show. My photos of their performance are here.

I mentioned having captured three other Begonia performances. Click the links to check out my photos from her performance at Supercrawl in 2019, Riverfest Elora in 2019 and The Horseshoe Tavern for CMW 2018.

And here's some of her music:

"Married by Elvis" from Begonia's latest album, Powder Blue

"The Light" from Fear

Witch Prophet at The Great Hall - Concert Photos

Witch Prophet at The Great Hall on February 24, 2023 Photo by John Ordean at One In Ten Words toronto indie alternative live music blog concert photography pictures photos nikon d750 camera yyz photographer
Witch Prophet at The Great Hall on February 24, 2023 Photo by John Ordean at One In Ten Words toronto indie alternative live music blog concert photography pictures photos nikon d750 camera yyz photographer
Witch Prophet at The Great Hall on February 24, 2023 Photo by John Ordean at One In Ten Words toronto indie alternative live music blog concert photography pictures photos nikon d750 camera yyz photographer
Witch Prophet at The Great Hall on February 24, 2023 Photo by John Ordean at One In Ten Words toronto indie alternative live music blog concert photography pictures photos nikon d750 camera yyz photographer
Witch Prophet at The Great Hall on February 24, 2023 Photo by John Ordean at One In Ten Words toronto indie alternative live music blog concert photography pictures photos nikon d750 camera yyz photographer
Witch Prophet took to The Great Hall stage on Friday evening. They were warming up the crowd for Begonia's Powder Blue album release show and they did a great job of doing just that. Their operatic soul / alternative R&B tunes were enthusiastically received and I'm sure there were many new Witch Prophet fans created Friday night.

The crowd warmed up quickly to Witch Prophet's engaging and emotional songs. We got several new tunes including "Bird's Eye View" and "Energy Vampire" that was released earlier this week, and some of their older material. 

My photos of Begonia's set are here.

I previously witnessed a Witch Prophet performance when I covered the Wolfe Island Winter Ball.

And here's some Witch Prophet music:

"Energy Vampire"