Old Man Luedecke calms audiences with his soulful demeanour

By Sagar Jha, Staff Contributor

On a rainy Thursday night, a relatively young crowd filed into St. Matthew’s Church to see one of Halifax’s most-loved local talents. Old Man Luedecke was performing one of the few all ages shows for this year’s Pop Explosion.

The beautiful venue was perfect for this show, not to mention its amazing acoustics. The stage set-up included a unique light that made it seem as though there were stars in the building.

Supporting Old Man Luedecke was Jon McKiel—a talented, mellow indie rocker. He performed armed with a baritone ukulele for most of the set. Alongside him were two violinists and a keyboard player. The set was full of beautiful harmonies and haunting instrumentals.

As soon as McKiel was finished, the stage was stripped of everything except for one chair in the centre. Everything was in place for Luedecke to perform. He came to the stage with a guitar and of course, his banjo. He performed a wide variety of songs, including five unreleased tracks.

The real strength of Luedecke’s performance was his hilarious stage banter. He rarely stopped playing the banjo, and told the audience funny stories that provided context to his songs.

Luedecke captivated the sold out crowd with his daydreaming style. Each song included extremely complex banjo riffs, along with his distinct folk and bluegrass vocals. He had the entire crowd tapping their feet along with his music.

The Nova Scotian singer-songwriter not only performed and engaged the audience, he was also incredibly modest. He began his set by saying “I would have never dreamed this day to happen” and he stuck around after the show to speak to audience members.

Old Man Luedecke is an all-around classy guy—on and off the stage.