agdalena Bay Concert Review: Unforgettable Toronto Night

Magdalena Bay delivers their synthpop flare with the Imaginal Mystery Tour in Toronto

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Patiently anticipating Magdalena Bay’s concert at the HISTORY venue in Toronto, we arrived at the concert hall full of joy and excitement. Noticing the fans lined up and wrapping around the building, nearly to the other side, shows just how much this concert means to each and every fan who was patiently waiting for doors to open. While we were taking a walk down the line, just to see how long it was, we noticed a substantial amount of fans dressed in amazing outfits; some even had baby blue face paint on the top half of their face, to replicate the look of the woman in the band. As everyone entered the venue, fans were pushing their way to the front of the stage to get the best view possible for the show.

Magdalena Bay, a synth-pop duo, came out onto the stage at 9:00 p.m., and all you could hear were screams of excitement as they started their set off with “She Looked Like Me!,” which is also the first song on their newest album Imaginal Disk, which was released in August 2024. Throughout the entirety of their set, she had a few costume changes. Her initial outfit was a beautiful satin blue two-piece suit with puffy pants, and the top half of her face covered in baby blue face paint. Other outfits she wore included a sunflower headpiece, a cape with a fire design around her head, and an angel costume.

Magdalena Bay debuted in 2017 with their single “NEON,” then releasing their first couple EP’s day/pop and night/pop in 2019. They released their first eight-song album, A Little Rhythm and a Wicked Feeling, in 2020.

They had an amazing stage set, which featured an oval mirror with wings on either side, and a window with a curtain that lit up with visual images and videos, including a biblically accurate angel. They also had a three-step platform she’d stand and sit on, for some songs, along with a keytar station. For their last set, she picked up the keytar and played it amazingly to the song “Image.”

During Magdalena’s last few performances, they sang their most popular song, “Killshot,” with their TikTok slow version twist, which has over 82 million streams on Spotify. When their final song came around, they performed “The Ballad of Matt & Mica,” which is also their last song off their Imaginal Disk album.

Thinking Magdalena Bay were finished with their set, they jumped back onto the stage for a final encore song—ironically called “The Beginning,” the last song from their 2021 Mercurial World album.

Sam Austins, a dynamic songwriter and model, who combines R&B, alternative hip-hop and pop, is the opener for Magdalena Bay’s “Imaginal Mystery Tour.” Coming onto the stage at 8:00-8:30 pm, with a huge energetic performance, running all over the stage and singing his heart out. The way he got the crowd ready for the show was phenomenal, as he gave his heart and soul into his performance.

MAGDALENA BAY SETLIST: