The Novo (Los Angeles, CA)
10/18/23
On October 18th, Victoria Canal opened for Sammy Rae & The Friends at the Novo in Los Angeles, California. The 25-year-old queer, Spanish-American singer-songwriter is fresh off the release of her latest E.P., WELL WELL, from August. From the moment she emerged on stage, I knew the audience was in for a real treat.
As she began to play the first few notes of her song, “She Walks In,” silence fell immediately amongst the crowd of 2,000 attendees. Her effortless falsetto notes were met with instant cheers from the crowd, before they quieted back down to hear the rest of the song. She explained how she writes songs as “relatives” often, stating the first and second of her set are “sisters.” She went on to discuss how these songs were the first times she wrote about her limb difference. Victoria even had the crowd singing along to the bridge of the second song, “Don’t be so pretty in front of me, front of me. Don’t be so pretty, pretty.” It was apparent that a lot of the crowd had never heard her music before, but after a few songs in, there were several phones in the air recording the performance. We also had the pleasure of hearing a few unreleased songs, including “Talk” and “Chamomile,” which she wrote about her friend Lucy Clearwater, who was actually in attendance at the show. A memorable moment was when Victoria messed up some of the lyrics and Lucy was there at the side stage helping her out, proving how deep their friendship really is.
Victoria is one of the most mesmerizingly beautiful piano players I have ever had the honor of hearing perform. It is obvious the amount of passion she has for the lyrics she is singing within the first few words. Her setlist also included a rendition of Phoebe Bridgers’ “Emotional Motion Sickness,” introducing the cover as a song “for the gays,” which was met with very excited shrieks from the crowd. I saw Victoria in a live setting earlier this year and it was so inspiring to see how much more open she has become with talking about her relationship with her body. Everything about her performance was so memorable, from the tone of her voice to the passion she exudes as she plays piano and guitar onstage. After spending this year on the road opening for artists such as Sammy Rae & The Friends and Hozier, it is very apparent that Victoria will soon be on a nationwide headlining tour of her own.
