Tim Baker @ St. James Community Square -- Nov 24, 2023

With the release of his recent EP Along the Mountain Road, a companion to last year’s The Festival, Tim Baker announced a string of solo shows across the country, including a pair of Vancouver shows at St. James Community Square. Both sold out almost instantly, surprising no one, and I was incredibly excited to see the former Hey Rosetta! frontman in the former church, a gorgeous venue that I hadn’t seen a show at in something like ten years.

Opening the show was Matt Holubowski, the singer from Hudson, Quebec alone on stage with just an acoustic guitar, strumming while his captivating voice filled the room.

Highlights of his set included the gentle “Around Here” and “Dawn”, a song inspired by Homer’s Odyssey. He mentioned part way through the set that some of the acoustic songs sounded a bit different than on the album, punctuating that by telling a story about getting the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra to perform on his latest album, Like Flowers on a Molten Lawn, then launching into “Sandy Cove”.

He finished off his set with an ethereal song, “Exhale/Inhale”, and I doubt I was the only person in the room to think I needed to listen to that latest album as soon as I could.

It wasn’t long before Tim Baker took the stage, starting off with a new (I think), Christmas-y song on the grand piano, before switching to keyboard for “Pilgrims” and then “Songbirds” on guitar. He jumped between instruments for the rest of the show, while chatting with the rapt audience, telling the stories behind the songs, or just joking around.
And the audience was so attentive, that even when joining in on songs — a low rumble of feet hitting the floor, or softly singing along with the chorus of “Someday” — it may have seemed quiet or timid, but I think it was more that everyone was just in reverence of the St. John’s singer.

Baker played mostly from his solo albums, from the upbeat “The Shield”, to the incredibly crushing “Eighteenth Hole” performed beautifully on the piano, and even the looped beats of “Jungle Suite”, which allowed Baker to dance a little, showing off his best lounge singer and soft-shoe moves on stage. But he also broke out a few Hey Rosetta! tunes, quipping he’d play “old songs in ways no one ever asked to hear them”; the banjo came out for one of my favourite deep cuts, “Red Song” as well as “Kintsukuroi”, and a jaunty version of “Red Heart” saw him playing the keyboard with one hand, and grand piano with the other(!)

After a rousing “All Hands”, the crowd gave a standing ovation, and he returned, appropriately enough, with “Don’t Let Me Go Yet”. Finally, he capped off the evening with literal bells on, for the holiday song, “Carry Me Home”.

Tim Baker has an effortless charisma and charm, which often comes through in his shows with a full band, but that was never more apparent than during this solo show. Alone on stage, in an intimate venue, with an enchanted audience, made for an incredible night.

setlist
[new song]
Pilgrims
Songbirds
Someday
The Shield
New Key
Eighteenth Hole
[new song]
Red Song
Kintsukuroi
Red Heart
Dance
Jungle Suite
Pools
All Hands
encore
Don't Let Me Go Yet
Carry Me Home

Tim Baker @ Commodore Ballroom -- November 18, 2022

Tim Baker has been busy. With the release of his latest solo album, The Festival, the former Hey Rosetta! frontman has been getting back into touring shape, as seen on the series of shorts on his youtube channel, It's Gonna Be Great. And it's a good thing he did, because his current tour landed him here in Vancouver, at the legendary Commodore Ballroom.

Opening the night was Georgia Harmer, alone on stage with all her guitars -- joking about wanting to show each one off now that she could tour again. Playing stripped down versions of songs off her laetst album, Stay in Touch, her voice managed to cut through the chatter Friday night crowd. The catchy & rollicking “All In My Mind” and the breezy “Top Down” caught people's attention, before “Be Here”, a gorgeous closer.
I managed to see a little bit of her set when she opened for Dan Mangan earlier this year, and I was quite happy to see her again this night.

As the lights dimmed and the the sound of waves crashing filled the room, Tim Baker took the stage with his All Hands band. He started off with “Lucky Few”, at first just his soft voice alone at the piano, a single spotlight on him, before the rest of the band slowly joined in, bathed in a blue light as the song grew.

From there the set ebbed and flowed — much like his songs themselves often do — swelling up with intensity like the soaring “The Shield”, before crashing down like the melancholic “Dance”. Other highlights included my two favourites off his new album, “Year of the Dog” exploding into a heartwarming finish, and the fun and bouncy “Some Day” that had the crowd joining in.

Part way through the set he slipped in a couple old Hey Rosetta! songs, first a “Soft Offering (For The Oft Suffering)” and then “Welcome”, a classic which hit me way harder emotionally than I was expecting, building to an incredible finish.

After a huge fun singalong to “All Hands”, Baker ending the main set, appropriately enough, with “Don't Let Me Go Yet”. Which the crowd did not, calling him back for more; the joyful Hey Rosetta! tune “Harriet” and yet another appropriate closing song, “Goodnight Everybody”.

If you were to force me to make a list (which I hate doing) of my favourite bands, I think Hey Rosetta! would rank pretty high. But even though they went on an “indefinite hiatus” in 2017, it's been hard to miss them, as Tim Baker has continued on, making some excellent solo albums, putting on incredible, emotional live shows.

setlist
Lucky Few
The Shield
Spirit
My Kind
Dance
Strange River
Jungle Suite
Year of the Dog
Some Day
Soft Offering (For The Oft Suffering)
Welcome
Echo Park
The Festival
All Hands
Don't Let Me Go Yet
(encore)
Harriet
Goodnight Everyone

Tim Baker @ Commodore -- 06/01/19

When Hey Rosetta! broke up a few years back, to say I was sad was an understatement. They were among my favourites, and always blew me away with their live shows. A few times even overshadowing the band they were opening for. So when frontman Tim Baker announced his solo album Forever Overhead, and subsequent Vancouver stop on his tour, I was equal parts excited (for the new music) and nervous (it wouldn’t live up to the full band).

Sadly I missed both opening acts, Titus Calderbank and Charlotte Cornfield, getting to the Commodore just before Tim Baker took the stage, joined by his backing band. He started off on the piano with a couple songs from the new album, including the melancholic “Dance”, before jumping to guitar, and even banjo, rotating through the three instruments throughout the night. His unmatched voice went from emotionally fragile lows to passionate soaring highs on songs like “Pools” and the absolutely heartwrenching piano-driven lament “The Eighteenth Hole”. Baker also brought out some Hey Rosetta! favourites, with stripped down versions of “Welcome”, which sent chills throughout, even without everyone singing along; the breathtaking “Bandages”; and the deep cut “Red Song”.

Near the end of the set he invited a few people on stage for the appropriately named “All Hands”, including Charlotte Cornfield, members of Yukon Blonde & Said the Whale, and Dan Mangan, who all lent their pipes to backup vocals — Mangan even taking over for a verse. Baker joked that for some reason, they still had a song after that, ending the main set with “Don’t Let Me Go Yet”, another apt song which was written in the waning days of Hey Rosetta.

Of course, he was out for the encore moments later, taking the piano once again for “Two Mirrors”, which featured one of my favourite (but weirdly specific and somewhat rare) things to see live. Halfway through the song, Baker lost his place simply because he was so surprised at the audience singing along. The song was so new, and it had never happened before, he said, before quickly regained himself and nailing the rest of the song. Finally, he finished off with another gorgeous Hey Rosetta, song, “A Thousand Suns”, before once again thanking us for coming, visibly overwhelmed by everyone’s support.

But, that support did not end there, as the crowd was relentless, continuing to clap and cheer and stomp (and I think a few people even singing) which prompted what I think was a rare legitimate encore. Baker came back on stage, alone at first, for the perennial favourite “Red Heart” before being joined by everyone else that was on stage that night, singing along for a moment I won’t be sure to forget any time soon.

Any worries I had about Tim Baker not living up to the Hey Rosetta live shows were almost immediately quashed, and this show is bound to be one of my favourites & most memorable come the end of the year.

setlist
Dance
Strange River
Hideaway
Kintsukuroi
Spirit
Pools
Welcome
The Eighteenth Hole
Red Song
Bandages
Our Team 
All Hands
Don’t Let Me Go Yet
(encore)
Two Mirrors
A Thousand Suns
(real encore)
Red Heart