Before this year I hadn’t paid any attention to Bob Moses, and I’ve learned some things about the electro-pop band.
First of all, nobody in the band is named Bob or Moses. That’s Tom Howie at the microphone and with guitar, and his main musical collaborator is Jimmy Vallance, on keyboard.
They’re originally from Vancouver, reunited in New York a decade ago, began making music and now threaten global domination with chill-vibe EDM songs that worm their way into the brain, including “Love Brand New,” a big hit from this year’s LP, The Silence in Between.
At Vancouver’s Malkin Bowl on Saturday night (May 21), on a warm spring evening, the duo played a homecoming concert that offered a party soundtrack for the sold-out crowd.
Two songs in, four Canada geese flew through a haze of pot smoke near the front of the stage, prompting cheers from the mostly 20- and 30-something audience members.
Happy to be “home” for their tour-closing show, after two months of travel around North America, Bob Moses played some driving dance beats with traditional rock-band look and feel. The duo’s hired drummer and bassist stood on simple risers backed by a 12-foot wall of screens and lights, with Howie and Vallance up front.
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More @Bobmosesmusic hits at Malkin Bowl in Vancouver, last stop on 2-month tour. #homecoming pic.twitter.com/au5VG9psfS
— Tom Zillich (@TomZillich) May 22, 2022
What an incredibly special tour. To everyone who came out these past couple months, it means the world. Thank you to our team for all the hard work & unforgettable memories. We're proud of the show we put on every night. Can’t wait for more adventures soon ❤️
📸 @GaurangAlat pic.twitter.com/Uzuj1RdTCw— Bob Moses (@Bobmosesmusic) May 23, 2022
Many Bob Moses songs are blessed with insanely strong melodies, and it obviously runs in the family, given that keyboardist Vallance is the son of Jim Vallance, co-writer of those early Bryan Adams hits.
Late in the show, Howie admitted that he’d never before been to Malkin Bowl, a wonderful venue for such spring and summer concerts.
“We’d like to say a big thank you to the weather,” Vallance added, “because we looked at the forecast all week thinking it was going to be typical Vancouver weather” for the show.
With memorable songs like 2015’s “Tearing Me Up” and the more recent “Heaven Only Knows,” Bob Moses, named for a planner of New York City, is drawing attention for all the right reasons, and they’re certainly writing a Vancouver success story.
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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