Review - Allan Rayman @ Bimbo's 365 (9/26/17)

Allan Rayman (Photo: Kevin Keating)

Until a few weeks ago, I’d never heard of Tuesday nights Bimbo's headliner, Allan Rayman. The Toronto-based musician who's crept into the music scene over the past 18 months after being signed by Communion Records – a label co-founded by Ben Lovett of Mumford and Sons – and Allan's February release of Roadhouse 01 (iTunes), his second full-length album. Since then, he’s hit the summer festival circuit and is now on a quick jaunt down the west coast before heading off for Europe and then back to the East Coast later in the year.

Allan's been described as the 'most mysterious man in music' and his songs as having 'R&B swagger' with 'hip-hop grit', and although all that may be on point, to me, his music is a mash-up of early David Grey with a bit of Jack Johnson. If you like either of those artists, I feel pretty confident that you'll have Roadhouse 01 on constant rotation. Take a listen to the video "13" below to hear for yourself.



In terms of his live show last night, I was initially a little worried as I first walked into a pretty empty ballroom at Bimbo’s. There was a crowd of people 3-4 rows deep in front of the stage, but the rest of the floor was vacant. The house mariachi band entertained the sparse collection of people along the perimeter of the venue, and another small gathering near the back bar, but Bimbo's was feeling cavernous and it was already 8:30pm.

All that changed by the time Allan walked on stage at 9:15; by that point, the dance floor was packed and I'd guess the venue was about 80% full. All it took was for him to launch into his first song for the crowd to become mesmerized. Most were lip syncing along with his gravely vocals, others were dancing like no one was looking, and everyone seemed to be soaking in the music.

Allan Rayman @ Bimbo's 365 (Photo: Kevin Keating)

Allan was joined by two other musicians on stage -- a guitarist and DJ who triggered the drum beats and samples throughout the night. My only criticism of the albeit short 60 minute show was that the stage lighting made it awfully difficult to get any good shots. Red light flooded the stage and only a sporadic white spotlight hit Allan a few times during the night. Occasional blues and purples added some ambience, but overall, it was a dark stage... The threesome sounded great, but played under dark mood lighting -- potentially to keep an air of mystery surrounding Allan Rayman.

If he comes to your town, do your best to make it out to one of his shows before he blows up on the scene. Check out the remainder of his tour dates here and be sure to check out additional photos from the show across our social channels here:

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