OLIVER TREE PERFORMS IN TORONTO
BY ARLINOliver Tree as Cornelius Cummings, Shawney Bravo and Turbo, is Alone in a Crowd, but not tonight. His sold out show took place at History, a venue in the east-end of Toronto which has become a major hotspot for artists touring in Canada. The show was, in short, as Oliver describes it prior to the show beginning, “An experience somewhere between a movie, a concert, a TV show, and a Broadway play.” With three outfit changes, his band (who happened to be dressed in matching outfits), comedic intermissions, and the set itself, It’s a show you just have to see for yourself to truly grasp.
The opening acts included Jasiah, followed by Fiddlar, and Super Computer. They all brought a great energy into the crowd, Jasiah even inviting up a young kid to jump around on stage with him.
Throughout the show we get to see the world of Oliver tree unfold. He begins as the self proclaimed hottest new face in Hollywood, Cornelius Cummings, who sports a bob and a turtleneck, shants, sock-shoe, uniform-pattern combo- a character he portrays in his third and most recent studio album Alone in a Crowd. Being diagnosed with “main character syndrome” it’s only fitting that he would open the show with his TikTok hit “Miss You” with over half a billion streams to date (an exciting remix of “Jerk” from his 2020 album Ugly is Beautiful). His characters are always peculiarly eye-catching, defined most prominently by their hairstyles. As he leads into the Cowboy Tears album, he enters onto stage as Shawney Bravo, a cowboy decked-out in denim, rocking a long blonde mullet, complete with a denim cowboy hat. By comparison it’s a short-lived era, but songs like “Cowboys Don’t Cry” and “Swing & A Miss” had the crowd waving back and forth, especially those that came prepared in their cowboy attire.
Turbo, the oldest and most well-known of his characters, was eagerly anticipated by the crowd. His iconic bowl cut, vintage montbell jacket, JNCO jeans, and red sunglasses are often what many would picture when they hear the name Oliver Tree. In these songs especially he encouraged the crowd to “put their rockers up”. There was certainly something in the air as the nostalgia of these earlier songs including “Miracle Man” and “Cash machine” hit. His performance of “I’m Gone” felt the most emotional of the night, perhaps it was the lyrics, the background vocals, the lighting (shoutout lighting crew), the show nearing its end, (or the fact that it’s my favourite song of his) but it nearly brought me to tears- luckily he played the “last song of the night” about five times, and as he played other favourites from the Ugly is Beautiful album, it became a hilariously never ending ordeal. Complete with scooter tricks and rolling credits of the cast and crew, Oliver Tree’s show was unlike any I’ve been to, just as he promised from the beginning.
Make sure to catch him as he continues his tour through North America, tickets available through olivertreemusic.com
