Words and photos by Mason Marreiros
On November 19 2025, Toronto’s HISTORY saw the return of Blood Orange, also known as Devonté Hynes, for the first time since his 2014 show at Danforth Music Hall. Since his last visit to the city, Hynes has released four full length albums, most recently releasing Essex Honey in August.
Being in the spotlight since early in his career, he has only gone up in popularity. With each of his albums garnering over 50 million streams on Spotify alone, it’s safe to say he’s a superstar. The night was opened by Steele Kratt’s project Le Keep, who quickly gained the hearts of the crowd in a style reminiscent of early Oasis performances.
After the crowd warmed up, Hynes took the stage solo, before being joined by longtime friends and touring band Tariq Saleem Al-Sabir, Dillon Treacy, Ian Isiah, and Toronto’s own Eva Tolkin. Multiple times throughout the night, Blood Orange thanked Toronto, even going as far as shouting out Raptor’s basketball star RJ Barrett.
Hynes is known to play multiple instruments, and brought this talent out in full display. Switching between keyboard, electric guitar, cello, and acoustic guitar, it was obvious to first time listeners in the audience that there’s plenty special about Blood Orange. The set ran for about an hour, with songs from across multiple albums, including Vivid Light, The Train, Charcoal Baby, and of course, Champagne Coast. He closed the night with a wonderful performance of Time Will Tell, before once again expressing his gratitudes to the crowd with an appreciative “thank you, take care” that was met with the audience’s thunderous applause.
Blood Orange’s tour continues through America in the coming months. Learn more at his website and Instagram.
