His breakup with YouTube/TikTok influencer Emma Chamberlain played out on the public stage like a tragic subplot, leaving his sophomore album in pieces—scrapped and rebuilt with the same restless energy that marked much of his life in 2023. Kansas Anymore is the emotional excavation of a year spent untangling homesickness and the suffocating complexity of his relationship. The record dominates the setlist of his No Place Like Tour, its layered narrative masterfully constructed for a crowd of 20-something girls to shriek along to. Here, Pillsbury’s music is no longer just an echo of his past, but an ongoing confrontation with it, an unresolved dialogue between who he was and who he’s still trying to become.

Pillsbury’s fanbase stretches far beyond the confines of the modest sized Commodore Ballroom, with the desperate cries for tickets reverberating throughout TikTok and spilling out onto the street long before the doors to the sold-out show even opened. The crescendo of anticipation can be traced to his latest single, “Sally, When The Wine Runs Out”—a track that has quickly transformed into the night’s most-anticipated moment. As the song’s bridge arrives, anointed fans (or, occasionally, a celebrity) are summoned to the stage, christened “Sally” for the evening. Scattered around the venue, signs display iterations of “Make Me Sally,” each a beacon of eagerness. When Vancouver’s chosen one steps onto the stage, she carries with her an adorable confidence that becomes contagious, bleeding into the crowd. In that moment, it was impossible not to share in the pure joy of the lucky young girl, whose experience will surely become a cherished core memory—etched in time and amplified by the collective energy of the room.

Performing Kansas Anymore nearly in its entirety, ROLE MODEL naturally turns each song into a ritualistic journey of self-discovery for the audience to partake in. The night opens with the biting sass of “Writing’s On The Wall,” tumbles into the hypnotic repetition of 2020’s “blind,” and eventually, his cover of The 1975’s “Somebody Else.” Throughout it all, the energy pulses—never stagnant, always transforming. For 90 minutes, time bends, reshapes, and collapses into the heart of the performance. One minute he introduces himself as Shawn Mendes, the next he’s Tate McRae, and then he’s Imagine Dragons. At one point, he even signs a fan’s setlist as Justin Bieber, adding a layer of “inside joke” humour that only makes him more endearing. This sense of humour isn’t just about the punchlines—it’s a window into his laid-back charisma and sharp self-awareness, making it impossible not to be drawn in.