Valley make indie-pop history with their first ever London show
On January 25th, Valley headed to Scala, London for not only their first show of the year - but their first ever performance in the UK.
With a queue that wrapped around the building hours before their set was due to begin, the Toronto-based trio brought along fellow indie-pop artist Beaux to open their sold-out London show.
Consisting of the lead vocalist Rob Laska, bassist Alex Dimauro and drummer Karah James, Valley are a band known for their dream-like melodies, utterly honest lyricism and synth-filled sound.
Released last August via Universal Music Canada/Interscope Capitol Labels Group, Valley’s latest album, Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden is a 12-track exploration of the trio’s spectacular growth since their 2014 beginnings.
Valley entered a new era of self-discovery last year as they re-learned how to make music together post-departure of their fourth bandmate, Mickey Brandolino. According to lead vocalist, Rob, their latest music is less of an evolution and “more of a return to the way that we made music when we started: we just made, we didn’t think. I don’t know if it’s really changed as much as it’s just circled back as we’ve matured and honed into what parts of us feel the most authentic, honest and unfiltered.”
To read more about the stories behind the project, head to our write-up of their press conference with °1824 last September.
Photo by @xdaisyeleanorx
Whilst fans waited to hear their favourite songs from the album on the first night of their UK & Europe tour, the indie-pop artist Beaux opened Valley’s show alongside his bassist Tate and guitarist Harry.
Delivering a performance of dreamy tunes with wistful and yearning energies to match, Beaux readied the crowd with powerful vocals and delicate melodies that felt reminiscent of Valley’s sophmore album, MAYBE. Clearly loved by the crowd, fans were even treated to an early performance of his latest single, Suddenly, I’m Fine - which released soon after on January 21st.
For those who are curious, here’s Beaux’s full setlist from the night:
It All Rests On Me
Edge of St James’
Guard Down
It’s a Landslide
Old Home
Cut My Hair (acoustic)
Suddenly, I’m Fine
I’ll Be Here When You’re Back
Thirty minutes after Beaux’s performance, it was time for Valley to grace the stage.
Opening with the titular track of their latest album, the band was welcomed by a cheering crowd of adoring fans, many of whom had waited years to see their favourite band live in London.
Though, it was during the song A Little More that the crowd got the clearest glimpse into just how special performing together is for Valley as they sung:
“Take me back to Brookfield Road / Where the grass has always grown / If you see him, then tell Joe / That we did it on our own / That we dressed for better weather / If it rains, he’ll say “whatever” / ‘Cause the band is back together.”
After the track promoted a solo-performance from Karah on the drums, bassist Alex joined Rob centre stage as he sang “me and Alex had a laugh / Don’t you know I always got your back?”, with the best friends at each other’s sides.
“This is our first time ever on this side of the world, and we’re sold out tonight!” Rob said further into their set. “We’ve dreamed of being here since we were little kids playing music, so thank you for being here everybody - this is so special.”
In between confessional and sincere moments with the crowd, lead singer Rob made sure to maintain a dance-worthy energy in the room, running around the stage and singing to fans at the barrier - which he used more than once as a stepping stone to reach closer towards the crowd. Most dynamic of all was the band’s performance of sucks to see you doing better, the titular track of their 2020 EP during which Rob roused the room to sing into his microphone.
One of our favourite performances was of Crawlspace, the sixth track of Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden which encapsulates the album’s key themes of growing up, growing apart and - most importantly - growing together.
With Rob spinning around the stage, this moment best captured the child-like essence of their recent music, and exactly how it felt to be in the crowd that night.
Before moving into the equally emotional track, Life Goes On, Rob took a moment to talk with the crowd:
“It’s such an honour to be here tonight. This year has been crazy for us - it’s just the beginning - and last year was a whirlwind. We obviously put out an album and hope you’ve heard it! The album was really important to make, because every artist goes through these kind of waves that come to shore and you’re not sure where they’re going to take you sometimes.
“We made our first album, and it felt like we were in a sandbox - in a really beautiful time of just not giving a fuck and there was no pressure or reason to be anything but a band that loves each other and can get through things together. And then, comes this part where things start working and sometimes you get kicked out of the sandbox a little bit, and you get weirded out by a lot of things in the world and maybe become someone you don’t want to be.
It’s such an honour and we feel so grateful to be here with our latest record because we put so much heart and soul into it, and it feels like we’ve arrived back in the sandbox again. It’s been the greatest honour to have you guys wait this long to finally be here so thank you - we love you forever, and promise we’re going to be back. The second that we saw the line outside we literally texted our team and were like, ‘we’re doing a fucking UK tour’, so we’ll be back!”
With the crowd re-energised by the news, Valley soon moved onto the popular track, When You Know Someone from their latest album, which VoiceNoted got an insanely cool video of (though skip to 2:08 for the best part):
Not the kind of band to leave a stage without an encore, Valley left momentarily as the room fell dark and fans began stomping their feet. Once the entire room venue was quite literally shaking in excitement, Rob, Alex and Karah returned for an electric performance of There’s Still A Light In The House.
Soon after the song’s conclusion, Rob headed down into the crowd for the night’s final performance.
Stood underneath the spotlight with a guitar and microphone, he performed the beloved and soul-stirring track, Bop Ba in a moment that was intimate, cathartic and completely connected with the crowd.
With a setlist that played homage to their journey as a band, featuring tracks from every era of their journey, Valley made sure that their first night in London was an incredibly special one.
In case you missed it, here’s Valley’s full setlist from the night:
Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden
Bass Player’s Brother
Lost In Translation
Have A Good Summer (without me)
A Little More
Growing (Apart)
A Phone Call in Amsterdam
Boys & Girls
sucks to see you doing better
Break For You
Mosquito
Let It Rain
Swim
Sports Car
Like 1999
hiccup
Crawlspace
Life Goes On Without Me
When You Know Someone
Encore:
20. There’s Still A Light In The House
21. Bop Ba (in the crowd)
We can’t wait for Valley’s return to the UK, and have no doubt that they’ll continue to blossom this year both in the studio and onstage.
After all, the band said it best in their talk with °1824: “Touring and playing live shows is the bread and butter of this band and we’ve always found that our music translates best in a venue with actual people singing along and connecting over that shared experience. Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden is the record we’ve always dreamed of making.”
Whilst we wait to see them perform live again, you can follow Valley on Instagram, and find the rest of their music on Spotify:
