SPILL LIVE REVIEW: SUZANNE VEGA @ LULA LOUNGE, TORONTO

SUZANNE VEGA

@ LULA LOUNGE, TORONTO

MARCH 12, 2025

Suzanne Vega does not get to Toronto often, or at least often enough, but thankfully she was able to come to the city for two sold out shows at Lula Lounge for a tour she calls, Old Songs, New Songs and Other Songs. I attended the second of the two nights (which she referred to as her “Canadian Tour”). It is an apt title for a show that really highlights her incredible and brilliant career since her debut in 1985 with her self-titled debut album. Accompanied by guitarist and producer Garry Leonard, and cellist Stephanie Winters, Vega took her audience on a stroll into the past and the future.

She opened the show, wearing her trademark top hat, with “Marlene On The Wall”. It is the perfect opening song to set the stage for what was about to come. This flowed nicely into “99.9F°”. “Are you guys centigrade or Fahrenheit?” she asked the crowd before she started the song. She did a stripped-down version of the song, and it worked perfectly. Vega played acoustic guitar for much of the evening and Leonard provided electric and samples throughout the night. It wasn’t so much unplugged, but more stripped back.

And all the songs she chose worked. Vega has a great deal of folk music in her roots, and this transcribes well into a sparser presentation. Her voice is perfect and to these ears she has never sounded better. “The Queen And The Soldier” was an astounding moment in the show, and Vega’s vocal’s control was outstanding. She was able to switch gears and deliver the more rock-oriented music well, such as “I Never Wear White”, and the jazz overtones to a song such as “Caramel”.

She also performed four songs from her forthcoming album Flying With Angels, which fit in perfectly during the show. “Speaker’s Corner” (a song she wrote prior to the Trump administration but seems very timely nonetheless) and “Rats” have been released as singles so some of the audience was familiar with them, but the other two made their debut and were well received. Judging from the four songs performed, the new album is going to be very outstanding. While these songs took care of the new songs, the other songs were represented by her brilliant version of Lou Reed’s “Walk On The Wild Side”.

Vega told great stories throughout the night, explaining the origins of some of the song (“In Liverpool” was a great part of a larger story) and she demonstrated a great deal of humour throughout the night. Leonard provided the perfect backing and the two arranged the songs so that they did not necessarily mirror the original release but did not deviate too far, but far enough to keep things interesting.

Vega closed the show with four encores, including one song that was a special request (“Penitent”) just for that night’s audience. A rare treat to hear this song live, and perhaps now she will add it to her setlist. It was an incredible show by an artist who continues to prove time and time again that she is one of the greatest poets and songwriters. Although, at this stage, she really has nothing to prove.

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