Classic Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace played their home town show of the 2022 “Wonderful Future” tour on June 24th at the historic Massey Hall. This show marks the second time the band has played in Toronto since the pandemic started as the band did play at the El Mocambo last year(2021) in October but this show is surely the first time the band has played there since mandatory masking and crowd restrictions have been gone. The band decided to do a tour this year but added a special theme which would make the show more like a theatrical play as the stage was dressed with overhead lights and a few large flat screens which projected other band members and special guests that would play virtually on stage with the band and also during intermissions between songs. This night I was actually there to cover this concert for the radio station 102.1 The Edge who were actually one of the first Toronto radio stations to play this band’s music way back in the mid 1990’s.
Our Lady Peace has integrated themes of technology and the potential harmful effects of it into their previous albums and music so its fitting for the group to produce the “Wonderful Future” tour which pushes those themes further and in front of a live crowd. I think this is something that more musical acts need to in terms of the live presentation of concerts and live events. Now in the year 2022, we now have inexpensive access to things like HD lighting and large flat screens so more musical acts will surely trend in this direction. Watching a show like this at Massey Hall which is over 100 years old blends the old with the new as the slim, rectangle shaped lights posted behind the band produces an futuristic atmosphere for the group to play in front of. I’m sure the original builders of Massey Hall back in the late 1890’s would have never imagined a technology infused musical act like this to take place in this under this roof.
The show was split up into two acts and an encore which was sure to be laced with some surprised here and there. The concert started off with the song “Are You Sad” which played with the lead singer Raine on the hologram screen. Once the second song started which was “In Repair” the band took to the stage in person and we were off to the races. The first act would conclude with the song “All My Friends” which features original guitarist Mike Turner on the hologram screen but then part way through the song the crowd got the surprise when Mike Turner took to the stage in person and joined the band to play the song. The second act would start with “Julia” which featured singer Sarah Slean on screen to play with the band. The crowd enjoyed the second act with songs like “Is Anybody Home?” and would conclude with the band’s mega hit “Clumsy”. 
After the 2nd act concluded, most of the fans in the venue suspected that an encore was coming soon and they were correct. Our Lady Peace came out and did a three song encore which featured three of the band’s greatest hits. The band would start the encore with the late 90’s classic “4am” and then group played the two songs which first brought Our Lady Peace to success and my two of my personal favourites being “Naveed” and “Starseed”. The final surprise of the night would be that Mike Turner took to the stage once again to play the last two songs of the encore which would be the first time he played these songs with the band over 20 years ago when he left the band. Our Lady Peace released their first record “Naveed” way back in 1994 so things seem to have come full circle with the band almost 30 years to be back in Toronto playing to a live crowd in the city which they came from. 
Our Lady Peace is scheduled to be on tour across Canada for the rest of the summer, any one that is fan of this classic Canadian band would be encouraged to get out and see them. They are currently promoting their latest album titled “Spiritual Machines 2” which is a sequel to the 2000 album called “Spiritual Machines” which is one of the band’s most notable releases. This musical act is up there with some of the great rock bands of all time to come out of Canada with likes of groups such as The Tragically Hip, Moist and Sloan. They definitely had the gift of longevity as most bands no matter where they come from very rarely stay consistently active through multiple decades let alone staying together as a band at all. 
Our Lady Peace will always be a main stay name in Canadian music and even though they never had the large American break through that most bands from north of the boarder dream about, they still achieved the feat of being one of the greatest Canadian bands in the 1990’s which is something very few can say. Oh yeah, and they also played one of the main stages at Woodstock 99 which will go down in history as one of the most infamous music festivals of all time. It’s unknown how long Our Lady Peace plans on pressing on and playing live but it will be the 30th anniversary in another two years from now so maybe that will be when they final call it quits. Lucky for the fans, they are still out there playing so get out and grab tickets when they come to your town. Enjoy the photo gallery below that contains more images from the night at Massey Hall in Toronto and be sure to follow Our Lady Peace on Instagram for future updates @OurLadyPeace.
Article & Photos By Kyle McNeil(@trueasepctmedia)
