So she’s all about that bass. We knew that already. But what else did the world learn about Meghan Trainor last night at Vancouver’s Vogue Theatre, the opening concert of the singer’s first North American tour since her transformation from behind-the-scenes songwriter to chart-crushing, Grammy-nominated pop superstarlet?
Quite a lot actually.
The first thing apparent was that this was a young lady determined to stand by her influences; her thoroughly modern take on ’60s girl group pop echoed in both her skirt and opening salvos “Dear Future Husband” and “Mr Almost.” Smart enough to never turn her bubblegum pop sickly, the retro-tinged hits of the future kept coming in the shape of “Credit” and “No Good For You,” the former highlighted by the brilliant couplet, “I had him brushed his teeth, even flossin' / Got him looking like Ryan Gosling.”
Picking up a sparkly ukulele for “Title,” Trainor delivered the vocal performance of the night, stripping one of her finest take-no-crap songs down to its bones, a refreshing change from her usual slick sound, including a strangely faithful mid-set version of Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”
Trainor’s message of self-empowerment was never far away, rightfully inspiring the small army of young girls whose parents had boldly taken them out late on a school night.
“Who here is beautiful? Put your hands up!” insisted Trainor as she introduced “Close Your Eyes.” “Everyone should have their hands up!”
A run of mid-paced album tracks was snapped by the arrival of dance floor-friendly, double entendre-heavy groove “Bang Dem Sticks,” which gave way to Trainor, accompanied by her backing vocalists and dancers, diving into a short but sweet routine to Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk.”
The deliciously crafted pop of “Lips are Movin’” finished with Trainor giving her premature farewells, the elephant in room ensuring that the encore was inevitable.
Feminist, romantic and party girl? With the song writing and vocal chops to juggle all three simultaneously, it’s only Trainor’s stage presence that’s understandably still a work in progress. Vacillating between sweet and sassy, diva and woman of the people, refining that on-stage character will be what takes her from radio staple to global pop revolutionary. It’ll come soon too.
“I need to know something,” she enquired on her return, knowing a cheer was imminent but still not entirely confident in her script, “Are you ready for the bass?”
And so, with the natural finale of “All About That Bass” the first major league live show on Meghan Trainor’s road to megastardom came to a conclusion. She’s already broken the pop star mould. Whatever happens next is going to be fascinating.
