With the warmth of old-school jazz and the rush of a summer crush, Olivia Dean turned the Bell Centre into a first date worth falling for, leaving Montreal singing, dancing, and already hoping for a second.
Text by Mia Colaner
Photos by Lola Mansell
The whole world has fallen for British singer-songwriter Olivia Dean, and Montreal is no exception. Just one year after taking the stage at Théâtre Beanfield, with a capacity of 950, Dean returned to the city on August 7, 2026, this time to a completely sold-out Bell Centre, with a capacity of over 20,000, for her Art of Loving tour. Montreal was already smitten before she appeared, with fans arriving in polka dots in every variation imaginable, from skirts and dresses to shoes and accessories, turning themselves into a living ode to Dean herself.
At the heart of her new album, The Art of Loving, is Dean’s fascination with love itself, inspired by bell hooks’ book All About Love. It is soulful, jazzy, and wise beyond her years, somewhere sweet between bedroom-pop softness, elegant ballroom flourishes, and R&B grooves. She describes the record as “real, fresh and honest,” built around the idea that love is the one thing everyone is searching for in some capacity (Apple Music). The Art of Loving becomes a capsule for contemplating love itself, inviting listeners to bask in its warmth, linger over every word, and surrender to a romanticism that makes the ordinary feel cinematic, only amplified in its live rendition.
Beneath a halo of soft pink light, the curtains parted, and Dean emerged in a stunning beige maxi dress, its thigh-high slit framed with delicate feathers. She looked like a true embodiment of the love and joy that permeate her music. At her side, her bandmates appeared in black-tie attire, setting the stage for a glamorous evening. Opening with “Nice to Each Other,” Dean immediately settled into the room with warmth before moving into “Lady Lady,” her airy vocals gliding above its rich instrumentation, where playful femininity met the polished elegance of jazz.
The audience responded with a sea of voices, greeting an artist many were seeing live for the very first time. Sensing the unfamiliar faces before her, Dean turned to the crowd and asked, “Who had seen us play before?” As the Bell Centre erupted, she smiled back: “I guess it’s like a first date then.” She encouraged the crowd to dance, sing along, and maybe even cry, reminding them that the evening was about allowing themselves to let go. The sentiment rippled through the arena, from best friends sharing the experience side by side to couples swaying together and families taking it all in, a reminder that love, in all its forms, was unmistakably in the air.
The stage curtains closed dramatically before Dean emerged once more at centre stage, draped in a pillowy, layered white skirt that shimmered like a heavenly lotus flower in full bloom. Perched atop a flower-shaped platform in the middle of the arena, she looked almost otherworldly, as though she had bloomed right before the crowd’s eyes. She then delivered one of her favourites from the album, “A Couple Minutes,” a tender meditation on letting go and accepting that just because something did not last forever does not mean it was a waste of time. Even a fleeting moment of love, she reminded the room, was time well spent. Over the course of the song, Dean made her way around the entire stage, reaching toward fans on the floor and transforming the arena into something far more intimate than its size suggested. It was perhaps a nod to the intimacy she had brought to her performance the previous year, a quality many artists struggled to preserve as their stages grow larger, and one that made Dean stand out all the more.
Dean returned to the main stage in yet another shimmering ensemble, this time in a sparkling silver-and-black midi gown, its cascading fringe catching the light with every movement. As “Baby Steps” began, purple light cascaded over the crowd and her entire entourage dropped into baby steps, even the musicians behind their instruments, sending the Bell Centre into an eruption of screams. Disco flecks lingered across the arena as the crowd moved with her. She transformed her bandmates’ introductions into a playful song of their own before gliding into “Dive” and ultimately bringing the night to a close with a cascade of pink confetti as she broke into “Man I Need.” As the final notes rang out, the arena shimmered beneath a snowfall of pink, with everyone dancing and soaking in the last moments of the night.
Olivia Dean certainly brought the love to Montreal. The crowd left the evening rejuvenated, buoyed by the feeling of being worthy of love and carrying the electric afterglow that only a truly unforgettable performance could leave behind. Her return to Montreal, this time for her biggest show yet, could not have been a more fitting first date, with the thousands of new fans she had gathered along the way. If the evening was any indication, Dean and Montreal had only just begun getting to know each other, and this first date left an impression that would be difficult to forget.
