Patrick Watson is the incarnation of a musical genius

Patrick Watson with Villagers //
The Chapel – San Francisco
June 2nd, 2015 //

California-born and Canadian singer-songwriter Patrick Watson is the incarnation of a musical genius, eccentric and a bit of a mad man. His melodic arrangements as well as his instrumentation are remarkable. Music has always been a part of his life, and it becomes very obvious when one attends his show, as his SF fans did last Tuesday at The Chapel.

Watson doesn’t treat his performance as just another gig, but rather another opportunity to play music he loves making. He just exudes it, and it is awesome to witness that legitimacy. This musical journey is enhanced not only by the dynamic amongst the band members, but also by the minimalistic lighting setup that accompanies this tour, which is based off the artwork for his fifth and newest studio album Love Songs for Robots.

Often times, the stage setup seemed like it was designed to give primary focus to the music since the band appears only as a silhouette but is revealed when the music rises and explodes into melodic fireworks. Before the encore started and what already felt like the beginning of the end, Watson jumped off stage and joined the crowd to play two acoustic songs with two of his bandmates. The attendees clapped along to this intimate delivery, which took the concert to yet another level of greatness.

Opening the show was Irish indie-folk band Villagers, which supported Watson during his California dates and were a nice surprise to hear.