Though he recently released his sophomore album CASE STUDY 01, an album that was not only a surprise to fans but wasn't preceded by a lead single, Daniel Caesar has been fairly quiet — or strategic, depending on how you look at it, with regards to marketing. Push forward to July 11 in Québec City, and the young crooner landed on Festival d'été de Québec's main stage, right before R&B diva Mariah Carey.
It's a sacred place to open for such a veteran artist, but for Caesar, who wore his own 'Cyanide' merch tee and was backed by singers and his band, there was a level of ownership and comfort — even when the crowd, which was still evidently behind on learning the lyrics to his new album, failed him.
Weaving through songs from CASE STUDY 01, Caesar performed the album with few variations while still holding space to showcase the team behind him. Holding the mic out to the crowd, he encouraged the crowd to sing along as he assisted by calling out the lyrics beforehand. Despite the low energy, he held on before switching to songs from Freudian: "Get You," "Blessed" and "Best Part" immediately grabbed the crowd's attention once again.
Caesar's performance was a case study of how to perform the new album moving forward, and will only be magnified when his true fans are mirroring back at him; for now, though, this was a solid test run for what's to come.
It's a sacred place to open for such a veteran artist, but for Caesar, who wore his own 'Cyanide' merch tee and was backed by singers and his band, there was a level of ownership and comfort — even when the crowd, which was still evidently behind on learning the lyrics to his new album, failed him.
Weaving through songs from CASE STUDY 01, Caesar performed the album with few variations while still holding space to showcase the team behind him. Holding the mic out to the crowd, he encouraged the crowd to sing along as he assisted by calling out the lyrics beforehand. Despite the low energy, he held on before switching to songs from Freudian: "Get You," "Blessed" and "Best Part" immediately grabbed the crowd's attention once again.
Caesar's performance was a case study of how to perform the new album moving forward, and will only be magnified when his true fans are mirroring back at him; for now, though, this was a solid test run for what's to come.
