TORONTO - In terms of playing Toronto venues, it's rare for an artist to make the jump from selling out a cozy place like The Mod Club behind their first album to reaching near capacity at the much larger Sound Academy behind their second.
Yet here late Wednesday evening was British singer Florence Welch and her band - known as Florence and The Machine - celebrating that feat while still touring behind their debut album Lungs.
It's been that kind of year for Welch, going from buzz act to earning album of the year at this year's Brit Awards. And as she's displayed in her previous Toronto shows, it's her lungs and pipes which sound far from mechanical or human.
More like ethereal or angelic.
Throughout most of her set, the singer danced, pranced and spun during her performances without coming off as emotive or cheeky. Instead Welch seemed to immerse herself into each song passionately beginning with Howl. With her five-piece band behind her - including a harp player - the vocalist swayed to the genre-bending tune mixing dance and pop with a slight Celtic trace.
Holding a drumstick in her hand and with a drum beside her, Welch then went into Drumming Song, again diving into the somewhat quirky but alluring number which concluded with her holding out the microphone towards the audience. It was also the first of many times where her vocals stole the show, so loud and clear one could envision her doing the concert without a microphone or amplification if need be.
"Thank you so much for having us," she said about halfway through the main set, adding she met Toronto rapper Drake on her travels and who told her to say hi to the city.
While she's been associated with fellow female British pop artists like Lily Allen and Kate Nash, it appears Welch can stun an audience with a few notes as was the case on the blues-y, sassy Girl With One Eye that had fans providing backing vocals to. As well, she nailed the darker, beefy Blinding as she spread her arms in a scarecrow-like manner.
Perhaps the lone song which didn't quite come across was Strangeness and Charm, a new song which will appear on Between Two Lungs, a two-disc reissue of Lungs slated for release later this month. Here the unfamiliarity of the track resulted in some mild indifference from onlookers.
What didn't meet such apathy though were the handful of singles Florence and The Machine they delivered, ranging from the bouncy charm of Dog Days Are Over to the chipper, piano-driven Between Two Lungs that had many clapping along. Elsewhere You've Got The Love impressed as did the rousing Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up).
And when her own soundman still disbelievingly shakes his head at some of her vocal capabilities as he did during I'm Not Calling You A Liar, one assumes Florence and The Machine's next Toronto stop could be at an even bigger venue.
