JJ and The Pillars w/ The Commoners play to a SOLD OUT crowd at The Drake Underground

On Saturday March 6th, I had the pleasure of catching JJ and The Pillars play a headlining show along with opening act, The Commoners at The Drake Underground.

First band of the night was The Commoners. For a band I’ve never heard of, I was actually quite surprised how good they were. They started their set off with a song called “Walkin South” which was then followed by “Good Love” and “Streetlights”. Their stage presences was on point and had those who showed up early tapping their feet and bobbing their head to the beat. The Commoners finished their set covering Uptown Funk. Considering it was my first time seeing them, I left as a fan. If they play another show in Toronto, I might just have to see them play again.

It was finally time for JJ and the Pillars to come on. As the crowd anticipated their arrival you could hear cheers and screams coming from the fans as they walked up on stage. Launching the set with “The Pit” followed “slip away” allowed JJ and the Pillars to show the audience (who might have only heard one song from them) how talented they truly are. Throughout the set it was really noticeable how well all the band mates’ mesh together, and how everyone complimented each other perfectly.

As each song came and went, it was almost as if they were warming up the crowd for the faster and more upbeat songs. When “Come with me” followed by their single “Wolves” started to play, they had the whole crowd clapping and dancing along.

All 167 people started chanting “one more song, one more song.” JJ finally came back on stage by him self with only an acoustic guitar in hand. He then introduced the next song by saying it’s one of his favourite songs at the moment. As he started singing, the crowd began to cheer, sing and bob their head along to the cover of “Latch” by Disclosure. When the song ended the rest of the band joined him on stage and closed the set off with “Burning Leaves.”

One thing that I thought was really nice was how they kept thanking all the fans for coming and how thankful they were for 102.1 The Edge for helping them so much. After attending this show it made it evident to see that there was a reason why they won The Edge Next Big Thing contest. I can say with confidence that JJ and The Pillars put on one amazing show.

Check out their single “Come With Me” down below

Set List:
The Commoners
1. Walkin’ South
2. Good Love
3. Streetlights
4. The Other Way
5. Alright Now
6. Shakin’ At The Knees
7. Uptown Funk

JJ And The Pillars
1. The Pit
2. Slip Away
3. Vulnerable
4. Bench
5. Gone
6. Your Song
7. Come With Me
8. The Wolves
———ENCORE———–
9. Latch
10. Burning Leaves