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Calgary Herald

Postponed Vancouver concert prompts musician to play free pop-up show

Article content Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Article content American musician Jonah Kagen was looking forward to opening for singer Sam Barber at an Aug. 11 show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Unfortunately, the show was postponed due to Barber having a vocal injury. Article content Article content Rather than lose a great opportunity to introduce local audiences to songs from his debut album Sunflowers and Leather, the singer-songwriter decided to head down to David Lam Park and play a pop-up solo show for anyone who showed up. Article content Article content 'Sam's bus didn't even make it up to Vancouver due to his vocal injury and just headed straight to Portland from Tacoma,' said Kagen. 'I went kind of rogue, to be honest, heading up to town on my own to do a lounge earlier in the day at the PEAK FM. During that time, I kept getting social media messages asking about the show and wasn't in any position to comment officially, which was a bit awkward.' Article content She wasn't thrilled by the idea. Article content 'She wasn't too happy about it, being concerned for my safety and all,' he said 'But I felt that I had to do this and give those people who had travelled distances to see the show to get a chance to see me, at least. I'd done this sort of thing in the past, but it's all on a much bigger scale now.' Article content Following his song God Needs the Devil from his 2024 EP reaching No. 1 on American alternative radio, Kagen is in new territory with his full-length debut Sunflowers and Leather. But new songs such as Candy Land, The Reaper and Burn Me, which features Sam Barber, were all going to be making their first live appearances on a Canadian stage at the postponed performance. Article content Article content View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jonah Kagen (@jonahkagen) Article content 'All I really cared about was getting people who wanted to hear me to get a chance to do so,' he said. 'I posted some messages and a few hundred people came down and we took pictures and had a great time. They even pushed me to FaceTime Sam, who gave everyone a wave.' Article content Article content All told, it was a memorable introduction for Kagen to local audiences. He had a great time in Vancouver. Article content 'I took an Uber from my Airbnb down to the park, got out and said 'hey' to everyone there and played,' he said. 'All told, it was probably about seven or eight songs over 40 minutes. Then I stuck around to talk to people, waited until they all left and took an Uber back to my room and then headed down to Portland the next morning.'