Live Review: Victoria Canal - EartH, London 24/10/2024
Victoria Canal turned her largest headline show at EartH in London on Thursday into a celebration, aided by her best friend Lucy Clearwater.
By Victoria’s admission, after ten years of touring, “only now are people really showing up”. The road map to get here was not glamorous, but as she looks out on a theatre filled with fans of her self-empowerment pop, she admits the hard work has paid off.
The occasion meant a full band, a string section consisting of cello, viola and violin, and her pal Lucy on backing vocals – after acting as the show’s opener.
Beginning with ‘Casual’, Lucy’s 35 minutes of solo guitar-based folk was a delight. She came from “a land far away” (LA) to disarm those who navigated the labyrinthine venue to get down early. She won over new fans, who acted as a choir singing “What’s mine isn’t really mine”, or doing the whistling part in ‘April’.
There are no antagonistic vibes in the room, but she still highlighted that she doesn’t advocate violence ahead of ‘’I wanna fight you’, hailed consent ahead of ‘Are You OK?’ - “cause that’s the sexiest thing ever!” - and sang new song ‘Elephant Monster’ about the secrets you don’t know.
Canal and Clearwater are interwoven H2O sisters. There cannot be many supports where their website profile pic was shot by the headliner, but that’s true here. They traded “friendship love songs” too, and Lucy dedicated hers, ‘When You’re Down’, to the main act before closing with her latest single ‘whatever it is’.
“My name is Victoria Canal, but you know that, don’t you?”
It’s her first show with lights, as opener ‘Yes Man’ saw the stage bathed in yellow. It’s one of the songs from 2023’s ‘WELL WELL’ EP she plays throughout the night, with three from the previous year’s ‘Elegy’ too, including second song ‘pity season’. Then she switched from guitar to her keyboard for ‘June Baby’, the first of the night’s songs from next year’s debut LP. The vulnerability in Victoria’s style took on reinforcements with the added band, and Lucy on backing vocals.
Last year’s ‘Shape’ is a highlight. She talks about her limb difference – “in case you couldn’t fucking tell” – but insists “You can be hot and disabled at the same time”. It’s introspective and unique, but she makes it universal, extending the sentiment to fat, trans and non-binary people too. She gets everyone – especially the men – to sing along, loudly, or softly: “Don’t be so pretty in front of me.”
It tumbles straight into ‘California Sober’, an up-tempo number, as Victoria steps away from her instruments to the front of the stage. She’s dancing and vibing, hot as hell, like any fully-fledged pop star, just one born without her right forearm. One time during ‘Cake’, her short right arm holds the mic while she flicks her hair out of her eyes, but it’s a blink-and-you’ll miss it moment.
Both are taken from ‘Slowly, It Dawns’, as is follow-up ‘15%’, which gives the album its title. After retreating to the keyboard for the album’s centrepiece, Victoria sings “Slowly, it dawns, I’m a pain in the ass”.
How do you integrate unheard songs into the show? Victoria did one block of four new songs, showcasing both of Canal’s footpaths.
Guitar-driven ‘Hollow’ and ‘How Can I Be A Person?’ are from side B, which she explains as the “self-aware” portion of the project.
‘Talk’, about “a highly inconvenient crush”, fits the “unhinged pop girl” vibe of the album’s first half. It sounds epic on a first listen with a driving vibe. It’s a big song gunning for glory as she sings: “We don’t need to talk about it, we don’t need to talk at all.”
Vauxhall is having its big pop moment right now. First, Taylor Swift sang of ‘The Black Dog’, causing chaos to a bar in south London, and now Victoria Canal has her song ‘Vauxhall’. However, hers is about thoughts of ditching her dreams of musical stardom to flee to the suburbs with an overly confident guy with a “shitty Vauxhall” car. She didn’t, and we’re grateful. It is one of the softer Side B songs, starting on guitar where she sings “I wish it was that easy, trading in my dreams for peace of mind”, before venturing forward like a full-blown popstar with the big Bond theme-esque sound, aided by the marvellous string section.
On her return to known territory, ‘Black Swan’ and ‘swan song’ felt as big as they do in Victoria’s studio versions, and will close out her debut album. The main set finished with ‘She Walks In’, with the strings shining brightly over her candid storytelling and beautiful harmonies. She may sing “my body’s different”, but the heart and soul at its core are true for all stars.
Alone for her encore, she took requests, starting with the wholesome love song ‘Company’ on guitar. She joked “This is like a TikTok version of the show” before short portions of ‘Braver’ and ‘Second’ on keys, the latter instigating hand calps from the audience while she sang: “I should've been number one”. ‘Chamomile’, Victoria’s friend song for Lucy, was also played. Introducing the track with her guitar, she said: “Lucy is one of those infinitely patient people that accepts me in every form as I am. I’m so grateful to her for that.” It was a sweet moment, taking everything full circle, before ‘own me’ closed out the night. All musicians rejoined the stage for a final bow, and you could feel the gratitude oozing as the celebration concluded.
The audience had been respectful all night, bar one time VC jokingly scolded one person for talking between tracks in the reverberative hall. It was one of several moments where Victoria’s personality shines through, whether it’s delivering a star anecdote like a stand-up comic, or revealing her plan to move out of her flat the following day, mid-tour. “It’s crazy,” she admits. “My life choices are really interesting.” But everything she does right now makes sense, somehow.
Via a sea of hands, many found VC when she supported Hozier, but with these well-executed songs and a strong pop performance, more will inevitably follow. The lights and strings will become more regular, especially based on the new songs incoming.
In 2025, you won’t want to ignore her, but you won’t be able to either. It has taken a decade to get here, but this is Victoria Canal’s moment. Here’s to the next ten years.
Words by Samuel Draper
Photography by Sam Strutt
