REVIEW: Bria Salmena Commands the Stage in Kingston
4/26 @ Tubby’s, Kingston
“Cool as hell and so at ease, dressed in leather and sassy knee-high boots, Salmena looked and sounded every bit like the star she is and her backing band shines equally bright alongside her.”
In Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way, there’s an early section that encourages readers to take themselves on an “artist date” to help care for the creative within. I knew when I saw tickets for Bria Salmena’s North American tour for her new album, Big Dog, that this was my first choice for an artist date.
The book stipulates that you must go alone and the date should be something that genuinely interests and excites you in order to make your work “feel more like play.” When I walked into Tubby’s in Kingston—I’m ashamed to say, for the first time ever!—and laid eyes on their cozy bar, chill ambiance, and intimate stage area, it felt like the exact right occasion and place to take such a special date. Salmena’s time as frontwoman for the Toronto-based, post-punk band FRIGS and vocalist in Orville Peck’s band give her an alluring musical pedigree.
When Salmena and her band started up and I set foot into the dark little dollhouse of a room where Tubby’s houses its stage (complete with glimmering disco ball), all of that tension of oh-no-I’m-in-a-new-place-by-myself evaporated like a steam cloud escaping through my head. Shoulder to shoulder with others in this intimate space, Salmena’s dreamy-sweet yet powerful vocals drenched the room. Cool as hell and so at ease, dressed in leather and sassy knee-high boots, Salmena looked and sounded every bit like the star she is and her backing band shines equally bright alongside her.
Tracks off Big Dog, including “On the Line” and “Rags”, brought to mind whiffs of inspiration from fellow rock goddesses PJ Harvey and Sharon Van Etten. The songs paired dark and steady rhythms with honest and raw songwriting. Salmena’s stage presence and command over the room was so engaging that I caught myself (or was it my inner artist?) smirking at her contagious It-girl energy and the clear camaraderie she shares with her bandmates. I could have easily stood and listened for another hour or two.
Lucky for everyone, Big Dog is out now to play on repeat in case you ghosted yourself out of a perfectly good date.
