Chelsea Cutler and Jeremy Zucker Remind Us That Brent Is Forever On Their Joint North American Tour

On Sunday night, Chelsea Cutler and Jeremy Zucker brought the 'Brent Forever' tour to Toronto. Cutler and Zucker are solo singer-songwriters currently on a joint tour for their latest collaborative album release. Over the past several years they have created a three part project, and their third album, brent iii, released earlier this month in November. The two of them randomly met at a frat party, eventually signed to the same manager, and then later began musically collaborating. This resulted in their multi-platinum project named brent. The artists also released their own solo music over the past years parallel to their collaborative work. Cutler and Zucker are known for their indie-pop melodies and gut-wrenching, deep lyrics about love, relationships, insecurity, and anything related to being human. Their vulnerability in their music helps fans relate and connect, telling a story which each of their songs.

Cutler and Zucker brought with them several emerging artists as openers for their North American tour. For Toronto, we were lucky enough to have an incredible alternative/indie artist from North Carolina, Ethan Regan, opening the show. Regan gave us a beautiful performance, he came onto the stage with just him and his guitar and that was enough to wow the crowd. One of my favourite songs he performed (added to my liked songs immediately after he left the stage) was “durham.” The folk influence in Regan’s music (along with a blend of many other genres) is lovely and suits his voice very well. 

Regan is currently on his own headlining tour, with several dates in North America for the month of January 2025. If that is of interest (and it should be if you’re into folk, indie, funk and rock blended together), this is where you’ll find tickets to his tour: https://ethanregan.komi.io/. Regan ended the set with his song “secrecy,” a heartbreaking tune about love. He has a way of really bringing you into the story and making you feel every word he sings. Regan was a perfect support act for Cutler and Zucker’s tour, he truly set the right tone for what was to come.

The stage design along with the lighting was a perfect representation of what Cutler and Zucker’s latest album feels like. The dim lights with a few perfectly spaced lamps, a couch, coffee table and a carpet—it felt like stepping into their living room. To make things even better, behind Cutler and Zucker was a huge band consisting of mostly violin players. This intimate Toronto venue, Massey Hall, was a wonderful choice to showcase these talents.

Cutler and Zucker started the show with their song “ashes & rust” from the latest release, brent iii. Apart from performing the entirety of the newest album, they also performed songs from their earlier EP’s including “please,” “parent song,” and an extended version of “emily.” Although not initially on the setlist, they also played “hello old friend” off of brent ii after a fan challenged Cutler to rock, paper, scissors for the song to be played. There are a couple songs on each part of their Brent project that only have one of the artists singing. For these songs, the other would sit (or in Cutler’s case, lay down) on the couch while the other performed. Zucker told the crowd that he usually finds it hard to “stay present” while he’s performing, but in these moments where he’s sitting on the couch, he can soak up the moment and watch Cutler do her thing. 

Both singers were very interactive with the crowd, answering anything that was shouted their way. Every “I love you” shouted from the crowd received an “I love you” back. One fan handed Zucker two crocheted stars she made for them. Zucker also showed the crowd these cute coasters another fan made for them, given to him at an earlier show. Another fan interaction moment is when Zucker realized people were holding up and swaying toothbrushes during his performance of “toothbrush song” from the new album. He asked if they were holding up toothbrushes and laughed with the crowd about it. 

Cutler and Zucker did not fail to thank their fans for their support over the past years, especially with the success of their song “you were good to me” from their first EP, brent. They ended the show with a beautiful performance of their song “this is how you fall in love,” with the Toronto crowd singing back every word. The Brent Forever tour still has a couple dates this coming December in North America, get your tickets here: https://www.brentforevertour.com/.