Royal Wood presents Glory in the Garden (Winter Garden Theatre, Nov 10/12)

The gorgeous Winter Garden Theatre, with its leaved ceiling and storied history, makes seeing just about anything (soft core) a special experience. Taking in a performance by one of Canada's premier crooners pulling from his entire catalogue with a full band is something else altogether - extra special. Royal Wood has a voice that is rich like Romney, smooth like sailing and so perfectly controlled that each live song could have taken hundreds of studio takes from any lesser singer.

In various degrees of formal wear, from the Save Ferris tee/jeans/sneakers/sports coat of the bassist right on up to Royal's vest and tie, the five entertainers for the night took their positions on stage. This bass player lives his life shoulder width apart, entertainingly rocking a power stance at almost all times. The guitarist got his licks in and the keyboard player also added flourishes from his xylophone, trumpet and horn while the drummer played his part well - especially with the quick clicks of his towel-covered drum on I'll Be Gone. But the price of admission was paid to watch Royal do his thing, or more accurately 'things', as he seems nearly as proficient with an acoustic guitar as he is seated at the piano. As it is the We Were Born To Glory tour this well-received album was naturally strongly represented in the set list (including I Want Your Love, The Thick of It, great Not Giving Up) and met with audience approval. However Royal knows his audience and understands that they crave cuts from his previous releases also. Much-clamoured-for I'm So Glad was featured in a special arrangement with Royal up front on acoustic while the keyboardist took over light piano duties and the other three surrounded a communal microphone for backing vocals. Alongside this was a solid list of others like Juliet and go-to Lady in White.

Mr. Wood commands attention by his sheer presence and was engaging with his banter though relied on goading us into interaction by comparing us to other cities, however he later gave us the line that we were a tour highlight. It was a rather subdued crowd that wasn't for lack of appreciation but rather rapt, respective attention in the beautiful settings of this concert hall. The latest album does have a fair amount of upbeat numbers that rock more than previous releases, especially when brought to life with a full band, so there were a few clap alongs as they amped it up.

Nearing the end of the evening Royal introduced the rumoured special guest as the only person he could hear singing with him as he brought out his lovely wife, Sarah Slean, to use her operatic voice in album-closer The Glory. Shortly thereafter, having concluded A Mirror Without the entire band left the stage as a slight surprise due to this somewhat unexpected set closer. Naturally it wouldn't be the final note to send us off with as a partial standing ovation had them return. Absolute highlight of the night was Royal's piano brooding on Acting Crazy (It's a Breakdown) that opened the encore and was simply stunning. Tough to follow he did valiantly with The Waiting's Do You Recall from which they collectively took their bow to a higher buy-in standing O. Leaving the nature versus nurture debate aside, the We Were Born To Glory tour was propelled to glorious heights for this charming concert.

Elisapie

The punctual in the audience were treated to an opening act worth arriving on time for as Elisapie Isaac performed with her two male backing francophone musicians. Her tassled high heels and rambling banter may not have been top notch but that's not too bad considering those are the only negatives to the set. Her voice is strong and she is self-assured singing both French and somewhat straightforward English lyrics, as her spoken accent all but disappears from her singing voice. Elisapie herself did not play an instrument, barring the melodica on one song, leaving that up to her comrades. They did a mighty fine job of keeping it interesting as in addition to their handheld instruments (guitar, drum) both used their feet for percussion including more than just a kick drum - tambo tapping, mic'ed guitar-case stomping as well. Considering they were only three musicians in a large, semi-filled room they nicely filled it with pleasing sound. Elisapie played her 'hit' Out of Desperation last which was a nice touch of familiarity that resounded within the Winter Garden.