Show Review - Neal Francis 3/22/25 Toronto, ON
Neal Style
Neal Francis made a grand return to Toronto last night, performing in Ontario’s capital for the first time in just over two years to a sold-out Saturday night crowd early on his “Return to Zero” tour.
Hot off the release of his third album last week, the keyboardist and his band are already in mid-tour form, showing their recent hard work and practice off with a focused and powerful set showcasing a great blend of new material and older.
Opening act Improvement Movement got the night started and pretty much blew me away from their first notes. I had been hearing great things about this band for a little while so was excited to check them out – and their unique sound coupled with absolutely flawless four-part vocal harmonies made their performance a captivating one to remember. They’re on Neal Francis tour until mid-April – do NOT miss their set!
Francis took the stage for his set with the upbeat “Problems,” freshly-minted guitarist Austin Koenigstein immediately making his presence known with some more aggressive and present play than we heard from the band last fall ahead of the first Return to Zero track with “Already Gone.” The laid-back song gave Francis’ phased-out Yamaha CP70 piano a chance to shine before catalog classic “How Have I Lived.”
One of the things the band has been able to do with the introduction of Koenigstein on this tour has been looking at old arrangements of songs and tweaking/updating them to keep things fresh for both band and audience. For instance, “How Have I Lived” has an EXCELLENT and brand-new outro with a really cool harmonized lead line between guitar and Francis’ whammy clavinet – almost an Allman Brothers duelling-guitar vibe.
“What’s Left Of Me” brought its breezy and catchy vibe to the set next, drummer Collin O’Brien and bassist Mike Starr’s perfect lockstep groove paving the way for Francis to infuse a new synth arpeggio into the outro courtesy of his Moog Matriarch.
“Dirty Little Secret” came complete with a blazing Koenigstein solo before the band led into “Very Fine,” opening up the groove and really laying things out for a great outro jam.
Francis revved the crowd back up with one of his best-known songs in “Can’t Stop The Rain,” leading into a brief bit of story time/comedy from Koenigstein about a wild night at a P.F. Chang’s while Francis fixed a technical issue with his CP.
“Sentimental Garbage” came next, which was the improvisational highlight of the night. Anchored by Starr’s repeating bass line and Koenigstein’s dark riffing, O’Brien went absolutely nuts on his kit through the menacing jam – Francis laid down Moog textures of his own to create a really cool space jam that captivated the somewhat chatty audience for its duration.
Continuing the trend of reworking setlist placements and arrangements, “Changes” was tapped as a beautiful lead-in to “Need You Again” and “Broken Glass,” breaking up the common segue into “She’s A Winner” in favour of utilizing newer material in new ways.
Francis’ “Changes” clav solo lit the room on fire as it is wont to do, and “Broken Glass” especially was a hit with its darker swinging groove and excellent backing vocals from the band.
“BNYLV” closed out the set before a sultry “Say Your Prayers” began the encore, returning to its original album arrangement after years of being a high-octane ripper. This juxtaposed nicely with the singalong “150 More Times,” closing out the show well with one last Return To Zero track.
Just three dates into his album release tour, Francis and band will head across the USA and even to Japan and Australia on this leg – and they’re only going to get tighter and better as time goes on. Do NOT miss this show if he’s within striking distance!
