The Young Tour 2019: Parachute at The Rex Pittsburgh

After their release of Wide Awake in 2016, Parachute came back with their self-titled album in 2019. In order to celebrate, they went off on their Young Tour across the country. I had the opportunity to catch their Pittsburgh stop, the second to last on the tour, featuring Caleb Kopta and Billy Raffoul as the openers.
Pittsburgh local singer/songwriter, Caleb Kopta, started us off with some original music. Kopta and his band, brought us a very unique sound, with some indie rock vibes embedded within it. He is a fantastic songwriter, as all the songs on the setlist were originals aside from a few. He and his band, kind of reminded me of Coldplay, just with a light pop twist. Kopta’s stage presence was fantastic and reminded me of a Shawn Mendes, especially at the end of his set when he got comfortable with the crowd and teased his low cut shirt. I definitely felt that he was the perfect fit to open up the show.
On tour with Parachute and next up on the bill, was Toronto native, Billy Raffoul. Raffoul is a singer/songwriter, like Kopta, just with no band backing him up. He came out on stage with a huge head of hair, and a big voice. Definitely not what I expected from him. Instead of a band, he just had his guitar and some pedals, like that of a loop pedal that Ed Sheeran is known for using a lot. Raffoul is an excellent guitar player with a soulful voice, unlike anything you’ve ever heard. To top it all off, the light show he had was very cool. Raffoul made a great addition to the Young Tour.
Parachute was amazing. I’ve seen them now 4 times in the last few years and they only keep getting better. As the lights went low and the music started, the crowd went wild, while each member made their way to the stage. The set started off with their first single from the era, “Young”. They played a great mix of songs from the different album eras, including “Can’t Help“, “New Orleans“, and “She Is Love“. As they do for every single one of their shows, they slow it down a bit for their heart-wrenching tune, “Forever and Always”. Seriously, it is so sad. Of course, they played a few songs from their most recent album, but as I said, played a good mix of everything. Songs such as “Looking Back” and my favorite, “Talk To Me” were thrown into the mix. The one thing I did notice is Will [Anderson](lead vocalist/guitar/piano) didn’t tell as many stories throughout the set as he normally does at shows. But before the encore, Will said, “well this is the part of the show where we would normally leave and stand awkwardly backstage while you guys chant, but there’s not backstage so we’re just gonna do that now.” And cue the crowd chanting, “one more song!” They played my absolute favorite and Parachute classic, “Kiss Me Slowly” as one of the last few. To top off a night that felt like a high school dance, they ended the set with “What I Know” and another single off of the new album, “Had It All”.

Anytime you catch a Parachute show, you get thrown into a whirlwind of emotions, but it is so nice to be able to be surrounded by people just like you, feeling the same emotions. It’s an unreal feeling. Check out Parachute, as well as their openers, Billy Raffoul, and Caleb Kopta, on Spotify, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Be sure to catch them on their next trip around. I promise you won’t be disappointed.