But who turns up to a Carly Rae Jepsen show? I hadn't really given it much thought before today. Surely her core fanbase still consists of adolescent girls and their parents whether it's a school night or not. I am struck by the notion that I'll be the only twenty-something man-child in the room.
In fact, tonight's crowd is more akin to that of an art gallery opening. It's predominantly male, for starters, and many of the men carry what I'm reliably informed are Marc Jacobs bags. It's four deep at the bar and tiny plastic shot glasses snap beneath my feet. I'm one of the youngest people here.
But awe isn't just the domain of teenagers. The noise that greets Jepsen when she walks on stage with her band is deafening. The synth-filtered sax intro to 'Run Away With Me' is almost completely swallowed by it. Jepsen herself seems bashful about the whole thing, more accustomed to arena performances where the crowd stay at such a distance as to be anonymous.
Yes. Isn't it like that with a majority of female pop stars? Eventually artists like Katy, Rihanna, Beyonce's fan base will consists of gays being the majority.
It's always been clear that Jepsen has a voice – anyone in the second round of Canadian Idol can probably hold a note – but Jepsen can sing. Her phrasing is nuanced and occasionally unexpected and she punctuates each line with impeccable care. Take 'L.A. Hallucinations', a dark, neon-lit track written with members of Data Romance and The Zolas. Here, she rises and falls through the chorus in semi-conversation, effortlessly. But she breaks and pauses; she's percussive, then fluid, her throat crackling when necessary, impeccably clear besides.
The title made me think that the audience was filled with 50 year olds 