Magdalena Bay09.30.25
Vancouver, BC
I was pretty surprised when Magdalena Bay announced a new set of tour dates for the fall, with another stop in Vancouver. It's only been one year since they played the Commodore, and Vancouver is a wild card when it comes to tour announcements. But we will take it!
The show was supposed to be at the Orpheum, but was moved to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre just days before the show, because the musicians of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra are on strike. Commendable that the team behind the show found a new venue with such short notice, and a comparable one at that. I've been to both, only ever sitting in the orchestra section at each. They are both seated venues, but I would say the Queen E has better sight lines and is obviously more modern. Something about this time of year, I keep finding myself in the vicinity of the Queen E, with Mac DeMarco last week and VIFF coming up at the Vancouver Playhouse, right in the same building. Last year, it was VIFF and Air's Moon Safari anniversary tour. Anyways, I did read online that some people were upset about ticket downgrades, which is fair, but I think we should all be grateful that the show was able to go on at all.
Not much to add as far as what Magdalena Bay has been up to since last year. I know they played Portola a couple weeks ago, and actually put out a new double single just a few days before this Vancouver show, "Second Sleep" and "Star Eyes".
The stage design was great, again with the Y2K computer aesthetic. Definitely more room for a grander set here, and they took advantage of that, with a raised platform for some more intimate moments, and lots of large props on the stage, like an arm chair and some ornate screens. To be fair, this may have been very similar to what they had at the Commodore, but I had a horrible view for that show, so I can't really say.
The set list was pretty similar to last time, hitting up most of Imaginal Disk. "Cry For Me" is still a standout, mainly for how cinematic it feels. Seems like they cut "Killshot" from the set and made room for the A side of the new single, "Second Sleep", during the encore.
All in all, glad this show was able to go on. If they come back to Vancouver again, I wish them well, but my time here is running out — perhaps they will hit up Toronto once I find myself there!
