TORONTO, ON- On her conquest throughout North America, Tove Lo hit Toronto a couple of weeks back to a sold-out spectacle. Promoting her fourth LP, Sunshine Kitty, the Swedish pop sensation has been rolling through sizable venues throughout the continent without letting anything stop her along the way; not even a fractured ankle. With an aesthetic that many find empowering, especially young women, Tove Lo’s set was brimming with charged up poppy hooks and sensuality that had the Toronto crowd floored from the get-go.
Following the intro track of “Gritty Pretty”, Tove opened her set with “Glad He’s Gone” from her latest album endeavor. Limping out with a crutch under her arm and an oversized, bedazzled boot on her right foot, Tove was immediately greeted by a swarm of cheers and screams from a crowd that seemed to shine (mainly due to all the glitter caked to each visible surface of their bodies).
Although I was disappointed that I would not be able to get the full “Tove Lo treatment” which generally involves her wild dancing, Tove was still able to project the same energy and poise. Following her opening tune, Tove took a seat at center stage upon a throne-like chair fit for a queen; all she was missing was a crown.
Tove then brought out the opening act, ALMA, for “Bad as the Boys”. Another track that circles around an album that consistently preaches the old adage that “pussy is power”, “Bad as the Boys” has a pretty straight forward message. That message being that Tove is so damn fine that she can even steal your woman too. The fact that she can compete and be as “Bad as the Boys” really speaks to how far feminist ideology has come in not only music but all elements of society in the last couple of decades.
From there, Tove played a mix of new and old material from her entire catalog. From her 2014 debut studio album Queen of the Clouds to 2016’s Lady of the Wood and Sunshine Kitty, Tove gave fans a healthy dosage of all her material. Like many of her Swedish pop predecessors that have come before her (Robyn, Lykke Li, Marie Fredrikkson, etc.), Tove Lo employs that familiar light, airy vocality. However, the mixture of fishnets and Jack Daniels paints a less pampered, more party-oriented individual like Miley Cyrus. This motel partying, vomiting in public toilets lifestyle that Tove incorporates into her music shows that you don’t always have to be in a high up penthouse doing blow off of some sequent marble table to have a good time as a pop star. She wears her heart on her sleeve which is why fans of her music seem to relate to her so easily. To commence her encore, Tove wrapped up her show with 3 of her catchiest songs. “Sweettalk my Heart”, “Habits (Stay High)”, and “Bikini Porn” with their trendy mix of trap and disco-oriented beats, the visuals only heightened the euphoric experience. Tove Lo’s performance in Toronto was a perfect precursor of what the rest of her worldwide tour will undoubtedly look like: A mystic pop experience cut with flashy visuals, killer music, a dominating frontwoman, occasionally flashing of private parts, and a whole lot of crowd surfing.
Follow Tove Lo on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
*********************
LIVE CLIPS
