Ryan Beatty “Calico Tour” in Toronto, ON
Ryan Beatty is an American singer/songwriter from Los Angeles, California. On April 28, 2023 he released his third album, Calico. Along with the album, Beatty released a short film with three music videos under the same name as the album. Over his career, Beatty has appeared on songs ranging from Brockhampton, Benny Blanco, to Tyler the Creator and many others. In October of 2023, Beatty announced the Calico Tour which runs from February 15, 2024 to March 15, 2024 and on March 2, 2024 was his stop at the packed Danforth Music Hall in Toronto, ON Canada.
The show had no openers and started out with a piano solo that sounded like a score to a movie. Ryan Beatty came out with a huge six person backup band. I was honestly expecting him to come out just as himself having listened to Calico before the show because of how simple and personal the album is. Simple is not a negative reaction to the album at all, it is more accepting the fact the album is not over the top with instrumentals. It has an acoustic guitar and/or a piano in most of the songs and that is pretty much it. Sometimes there is a backtrack of an orchestra like in the song “Andromeda.” I’ve seen artists come out on stage with way less when they had a way more complex instrumental venture with their songs than Beatty has. However, the band brought so much more to Beatty’s music making the musical journey of his concert cinematic adding in piano and band interludes making the audience feel like they were part of a movie. Beatty himself stopped on multiple occasions just to listen to the band jam on stage. Beatty was so engaged with his own performance and the performance of his backup band that it seemed like he was in the studio listening to them rather than performing on stage with them.
Ryan Beatty and his band came out and played the entire Calico album during his set while adding songs from the previous two records Boy in Jeans and Dreaming of David. During the encore, Beatty covered Dolly Parton’s “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?” and closed the show with the closer of Calico, “Little Faith.” They played a total of 15 songs during their Toronto stay delivering an emotional performance of what my wife likes to call “sad boy music.” Although, this show brought his music more to life that made the live versions of his songs even better than the studio versions. The crowd brought even more energy to the show by screaming lyrics louder than Beatty could sing them on some of his more popular songs. The crowd was also so engaged that hardly anyone was on their phones. Most of the crowd was just in the moment as was Beatty. Beatty stated during his performance that he found it hard to be fully engaged during his shows, but that he felt “really present tonight and in the moment” at his show in Toronto that night.
Ryan Beatty brought to the stage a presence I don’t normally see in a frontman or a performer. He brought humility and pure passion with the songs he performed. At the very rare moments when Beatty stood up at the front of the stage, he put his hands in his pockets and just sang the songs with a power that not many performers possess. He didn’t command or engage too much with the crowd, the crowd just knew how to participate which made them an apart of the show as well. I may not have known Ryan Beatty before this show, but it is a name I will remember because of how I felt after the show had ended. Ryan Beatty gained a new fan that night in Toronto and I look forward to seeing where this career takes him from here. This was the first show I have ever officially photographed in Toronto, so for that reason alone means this show was very special to me because I get to continue what I love doing even in a different country. I really appreciate Ryan Beatty and his team for giving me the opportunity to photograph and write about this show.
