Photos: Taylor Friginette
Words: Rachael Schroeder
Vancouver, BC – This past Saturday night, Harrison Brome hosted his exclusive release party at Fortune Sound Club for his latest single, “Body High”. The Chinatown venue was dimly lit with Harrison’s single artwork projected on the back of the stage with smoke machines and palm trees getting set up during the first opener, Sailor Gerry. Other local DJ’s/producers, No Will, Landyn, and Juelz, all played exceptional sets remixing top hits from such artists as Sean Paul, The Weeknd, and Rihanna. These crowd-hyping DJ performances included Juelz and Landyn’s collaborative remix of “U Mad” by Vic Mensa ft. Kanye West.
Fortune was packed by the time the opening performers finished their superb sets. The warm energy that filled the room combined with the palm tree set on stage transported the audience to a tropical destination far from the jarring winter air outdoors. At 1AM, Harrison finally graced the stage and made his way to where his Roland Jupiter keyboard was set up and a DJ accompanied with backing tracks. The crowd was completely captivated and ready.
Harrison kicked off his set with his first song, “Fill Your Brains”, which was one of his earliest releases from 2015. The audience supported him and sang along as the smoke enveloped him and his soulful vocals. When the song was over, the crowd went wild and Harrison’s face lit up with happiness and relief. As an audience member, it was endearing and gratifying to see and hear a young, local artist being backed by his city.
Next up, an unreleased song was performed with lyrics along the lines of: “Don’t give a fuck about it,” with even more passion and confidence than the last song. By the third song, Harrison finally tantalized the crowd with the reason they were there: “Body High”. He sang his new work of art with a relaxed energy and was clearly enjoying his time on stage. It should also be mentioned that Harrison’s vocals exemplified a significant amount of control and solid pitch; an under appreciated skill that is not found in most vocalist anymore in this autotune-reliant industry.
Another unreleased tune was carried out with groove and good vibes all around the room, but as soon as the last note was played, Harrison left the stage. Why? Was he coming back? Was he teasing the audience? His gear was still set up so some of the audience members waited as Landyn and No Will played some more songs, including one of Harrison Brome’s more popular tracks, “Midnight Island”. One particular fan expressed extreme disappointment at the realization that the headliner was finished. By quarter to 2AM, all his gear had been torn down and Harrison was nowhere to be seen.
Why would a headliner only have a four song set that took less than twenty minutes to perform at his own release party with two of those songs unreleased? Perhaps Brome was going for a less is more approach and wanted to leave the audience wanting more. Regardless for the reasoning behind a shorter set time, Harrison Brome’s performance was still outstanding; his songs were sincere, his vocals were expressive, and his fans adored him. When watching him perform, you felt like you were watching a future star in the making. What a privilege Vancouver has to witness and support incredible local talent like the artists who performed at Fortune!