Cannons at the Commodore Ballroom

Something was different when Cannons took the stage at the Commodore Ballroom on Sunday night. The LA indie-pop band is composed of vocalist Michelle Joy, guitarist Ryan Clapham, with Paul Davis handling bass, keyboards and drums. Noticeably absent was Davis, who did not join them on this leg of the tour.

In April, Davis suffered a brain injury after hitting his head and left the tour to recover at home. On Davis's recommendation, Cliff Sarcona stepped in to fill in on drums. He caught a red-eye flight, learned the set on the plane, and joined the band the next day, Joy said in an interview at The Current. Joining touring bassist Jade Fink, the band was able to continue their tour without missing a performance.

The full story of Cannons goes back much further. Since they were teenagers, Davis and Clapham got together to jam and played heavy metal like “Pantera, Slayer, nothing like Cannons,” Ryan stated in an interview with Audacity. Looking for a vocalist, they posted an ad on Craigslist and found Michelle Joy. The trio collaborated on early Cannons material over the internet, with Clapham and Davis emailing tracks to Joy, who would email back her lyrical and vocal contributions. “I came all the way from Florida, didn’t know anyone in Los Angeles,” Joy said. “... it was like a match made in heaven when we started working on music together, and we haven’t stopped.”

At the Commodore, Joy started off the set with her soft, dreamy vocals on an uplifting track from their 2023 album Heartbeat Highway, “Loving You”. Joy's style adds to the band's melancholic late-night feel with uplifting, romantic lyrics. Before playing “Take Me to Tokyo” off Everything Glows, Joy commented that Tokyo is "a place of mind" and she carries that feeling wherever she goes.

Midway through the set, they played their first release, “Up All Night” from their 2014 EP of the same name. Before the song, Joy reflected on the band's first show. “Not knowing that anyone would show up, but I am so happy they did, and they kept showing up more and more over the years.”

The final stretch featured more fan favourites “Hurricane”, “Purple Sun” and “Bad Dream” off the 2022 album Fever Dream, and culminated with the song that brought them into the spotlight, “Fire for You” from the 2019 album Shadows. They finished the set in an hour, returning for an encore of “Light as a Feather” off Everything Glows. It rounded out a dreamy, indie pop night, with fans old and new showering the band with appreciation as they left the stage.