While waving goodbye to an especially cold and windy January, I had the pleasure of spending a night out with some close friends and my favorite up-and-coming artist, Del Water Gap.
I can’t say that I’ve ever had to brave Toronto with snow this deep or winds this cold, but I can say that I came prepared. Pre-purchased venue parking and a nearby taqueria with some stellar birria tacos helped make the snow and unploughed sidewalks bearable.
Once inside, we found our seats atop the mezzanine — the best spot in the house — and waited for the show to start. As the stage filled with smoke and a purple wash of colour, the band trickled on to the set playing a mix of common melodies from various tracks. Strobe lights gradually flashed as the band got louder and the crowd became more excited. The venue flooded with white light as artist Del Water Gap, born S. Holden Jaffe, entered the stage.
Immediately switching the tempo, the band jumped right into track two off Jaffe’s latest release, Chasing the Chimera. At the first hint of that that early-2000s guitar riff, the crowd erupted. “Small Town Joan of Arc” is a quintessential Del Water Gap song encapsulating the aesthetic and imagery of the album and tour; hearing it live was visceral. Bathed in the amber glow from the stage, Jaffe’s presence ignited the crowd with every verse.
Going into the concert, I was under the impression that — despite my best efforts — Del Water Gap was still an underground artist. In Toronto, however, it seems that he’s quite a well-known name. As he mentioned between songs, his recent tour with Niall Horan brought new attention, making this one of the largest venues on his tour and one of the first to sell out.
Having seen Jaffe preform in 2023, I knew what to expect: an indie rock artist at heart, unafraid to go into the crowd, have conversations with fans and change the momentum of a show on the fly. What caught me off guard is how well he held the crowd’s attention in a venue this large.
At one point, on a whim, he added “Steal My Girl” by One Direction to the set list. The crowd surged with energy as I suddenly remembered every lyric to a song I hadn’t heard in years. Jaffe’s rendition was flawless, blending his lesser-used lower register with his signature indie rock sound to create one of the most memorable moments of the night.
Lately, my experience with Toronto crowds have been mixed. This night changed that. Watching a sold-out room of devoted fans brave the cold and show up fully for an artist like Del Water Gap made it hard to write the city off entirely.
Touring his newest album, the setlist included many memorable additions including a personal favorite “Please Follow.” Jaffe had a clear love for connecting with the crowd telling stories and explaining meanings of songs before playing them. In these moments, it felt more like he was a small-town act playing in a bar rather than an indie rockstar.
Jaffe’s discography spans over 10 years and, although he dedicated most of his set to the more recognisable tracks, his deepest cuts like “High Tops” hit especially hard. Whether I’m listening to it in my room or in a sold-out venue, it’s one of those tracks that sits with you on a deeper level. What’s more, it came at a point in the set where the crowd earned the intimacy of the song and the 22-year-old Jaffe that wrote it.
As the night drew to a close, Del Water Gap continued to raise the bar. A run of “Coping on Unemployment” followed by “All We Ever Do Is Talk” kept the crowd invigorated, singing every word and eager for what came next.
He closed the night with two tracks from his debut LP: “Perfume” and his most popular song to date, “Ode to a Conversation Stuck in Your Throat.” Both brought the house down, with Jaffe giving everything he had, screaming the final lyrics and ending the show on a high.
He may be a more well-known name than when I last saw him, but Del Water Gap is the same artist that he’s always been: proof that intimate songs can work in big rooms.
After a quick stop at the merch table and the purchase of an overpriced T-shirt, I was ready to brave the cold once again. The show wasn’t long, but it delivered exactly the energy I needed to send January off and step into the year ahead.