Music

Allie Hughes to have wedding-themed concert in Toronto

by Jessica Lewis

Allie Hughes isn’t the kind of girl who has grown up fantasizing about her future wedding. She doesn’t even care that much about Valentine’s Day. And yet, on Wednesday, she’ll find herself onstage at Toronto’s Drake Hotel, performing her first headlining show, a Valentine’s-themed wedding concert.

Hughes has done this once before with a Christmas theme last December. The idea had come from a previous show where she donned a veil and asked her bandmate to dress like a cheesy piano lounge singer. She didn’t realize that they appeared to be a wedded couple until a review of the show surfaced online. Hughes, coming from a theatrical background, decided to mold it into something she could use to weave her songs together: a wedding story.

“Besides the costumes that were already in place, I looked at the material and there’s kind of a theme in my songs in wanting love, finding love and then going crazy,” she laughs.

Hughes, who has worked in theatre and was a part of CBC’s Sound of Music television competition show How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, was simply looking to find her way in performing.

“I think I was holding back to fit the mold of concerts I was seeing and I wanted to be thought of as credible. That’s difficult sometimes when you’re coming from a theatre background. So many cross-over artists aren’t good. I realized, ‘you just need to be yourself!’ You just need to do it in your own way,” she says. “I don’t think my style of performance has much to do with my background, but I think it’s my personality. That way of performing feels very natural and good for me.”

At the show in December, Hughes ‘wed’ a man named Chad, played by actor Nick Rose. Since then, they’ve ‘broken up’ and she will ‘wed’ another Chad, also played by Rose. “Chad the Second,” Hughes laughs. “We’re just gonna get hitched because we’re so madly in love.”

This time around, the show will include a string quartet, an opening speech by comedian Chris Locke, a set by Henri Faberge and the Adorables as well as a finishing set by Dwayne Gretzky (a cover band with members from Arkells and Sweet Thing). Hughes will have bridesmaids, back-up singers, a band and a new wedding dress.

Hughes is unsure if she’ll continue the wedding-themed shows forever, instead possibly going with new storylines. She’s been busy working on her upcoming album, which she hopes to have finished by April, and will play at Canadian Music Week in March (but it’s unlikely we’ll be seeing a blushing bride then).

“I’ve got to reduce the wedding stress!” she exclaims. “I can only take so much.”