Serena Ryder warms hometown hearts at sold-out Showplace concert

Snowy conditions on Friday night (December 15) didn’t prevent an enthusiastic crowd from heading to Showplace Performance Centre in downtown Peterborough to see Serena Ryder.

The Millbrook native returned to Peterborough to perform a sold-out 90-minute concert to an appreciative hometown crowd.

Calgary indie band Reuben and the Dark opened the show shortly after 8 p.m. with a 45-minute set, which included the band’s best-known song “Heart in Two”.

While the openers received a warm reception from the audience, the crowd — which included a large contingent from Millbrook — was clearly there to see Serena.

When she and her six band mates took to the stage at around 9:15 p.m., they did not disappoint, opening the set with Serena’s 2012 mega-hit “Stompa”.

Serena said it was “good to be home”, before launching into “Me & You”.

For the next tune, “Hands”, Serena encouraged the audience to raise their hands during the song’s chorus.

This was followed by another one of Serena’s hits, “What I Wouldn’t Do.”

Serena then took a few minutes to dedicate the next song to her sister Tiffany, who was in the audience along with Serena’s parents. She told the story of Tiffany’s fight to recover from multiple sclerosis, to the point where she could attend Serena’s concert without any assistive devices.

“I love you,” Serena said, before launching into the next song “Ice Age”.

VIDEO: “Sisters of Mercy” by Leonard Cohen performed by Serena Ryder

Serena then performed the title song from her latest record Utopia.

This was followed by solo performances of “It’s No Mistake”, Leonard Cohen’s “Sister of Mercy”, and “Weak in the Knees”.

Throughout the show, Serena frequently walked to the front of the stage to give special attention to two young girls in the front row, even giving the older girl a few chances to sing into Serena’s mic.

As might be expected, Serena made a lot of references during the show to her hometown (both Millbrook, where she was born and raised, and Peterborough, where she went to school and launched her music career).

At one point, Serena suggested she might perform a concert sometime in the future in Millbrook.

She also gave the audience a not-so-subtle hint they might want to head over to the Red Dog after the show to see local band Silverhearts.

The remaining songs in the set were “Sanctuary”, “Calling To Say”, “Wild & Free”, “Baby Come Back”, and “Got Your Number” — which just went gold, as Serena told the audience to a round of applause.

After a standing ovation and lengthy demand for an encore from the crowd, Serena and her band returned to play “Fall” and “Electric Love” as the audience remained on its feet.

kawarthaNOW was live on Facebook from the front row at Showplace to broadcast a few samples of Serena’s performance.

The video below is the end of the final tune in her set (“Got Your Number”) and the beginning of the first encore (“Fall”). Visit our Facebook page for more videos.

Following the Showplace concert, Serena made good on her earlier hint.

She dropped in at the Red Dog to perform with the Silverhearts.