You’re Listening to Men I Trust: The Equus Tour Stops in Calgary, Alberta
Men I Trust. Photo credit: Hannah Tierney.
Sometimes, the best concerts are the ones you’re convinced you’ll never see and that is exactly how I felt watching Quebec City indie trio Men I Trust play at the Grey Eagle Resort and Casino.
Having been a fan of Men I Trust since 2018, I’ve watched band trio cement themselves as a pillar of Canadian pop. Their momentum culminated in a stellar 2025, which saw the release of three albums: Forever Live Sessions, Vol. 2, and the dual Equus projects Equus Asinus and Equus Caballus. These releases were accompanied by an international tour and a stint opening for Billie Eilish. Soaring momentum from the band made a sold-out show inevitable, but also forced a venue upgrade from the Palace Theatre to the larger Grey Eagle Resort and Casino.
Kicking off the evening was Australian-born, Vancouver-based indie rock artist and producer Jack Jutson. Known by his moniker Jack J, I discovered Jutson back in 2024 after a friend had introduced me to another project of his the Pender Street Steppers, but I was going into this concert blind. I was pleasantly surprised with his immersive yet enthralling slacker rock sound. Playing tracks off of his albums Opening the Door and Blue Desert, I found myself enjoying the sounds of an electric violin layered between jangly guitar riffs. While he may not have been a household name to the audience, Jack J undoubtedly converted the room, leaving the stage to a crowd full of new admirers.
The Equus tour stop in Calgary was one I had been waiting on for four years. After their 2022 Untourable Tour date here was cancelled, I was wholeheartedly convinced another chance was unlikely. Every tour poster they released afterward featured the same familiar handful of cities, so seeing Calgary finally listed on the Canadian leg of the Equus tour was a genuine surprise.
When Emanuelle Proulx (lead guitar and vocals), Dragos Chiriac (keyboards), and Jessy Caron (guitar, bass), the trio at the heart of Men I Trust, took the Grey Eagle stage and that long wait instantly felt worthwhile. Opening their set with the dreaminess of ‘To Ease You,’ off of Equus Caballus, Proulx greeted the crowd, sharing that this was the band’s first time performing in Calgary. As she began to sing, the feeling in the room shifted. Her voice sounded exactly as it does on the recordings I’ve played through my AirPods for years, it’s dreamy, intimate, and polished.
Something that was pointed out to me during the show was the lighting. For both Jack J and Men I Trust, the lighting made each act look angelic. Each set was not just a sonic experience, but a visual one as well. From the red lights that took over the stage during ‘Ring of Past’ as Proulx professes “I’ll always love you, forever with you, reliving youth through you,” added another emotional dimension connecting the audience with the lyricism and mood within the song. The lighting played an integral part in cultivating that intimacy, making it feel like I was listening to the tracks alone in my bedroom rather than in a venue packed with hundreds of people.
Halfway through their set, the band seamlessly played through six songs in a sort-of mashup way. Caron and Chiriac played the intro to ‘Oncle Jazz’ the title track off of their 2019 release with the same name. During this mashup, the band gracefully sped through Norton Commander (All We Need), Hard to Let Go, Numb, Lauren, and Oh Dove. It was beautiful as the band played around twenty to thirty seconds from each song. Overall, the band played roughly seventeen songs before their encore.
My only gripe with the show was the lack of tracks played from Equus Asinus. The only track the band played was, 'I Come With Mud,’ which is one of my favourite tracks from that album, maybe this comes with bias, as it is my favourite album between the two releases. Equus Asinus evokes a lot of strong emotions within me. Both releases are sonically different from one another, as Equus Asinus feels more hypnagogic and emotional while Equus Caballus is more in tune with their current sound.
Men I Trust closed off their set with ‘Say Can You Hear’ and when Proulx said “Good night, Calgary!” to the crowd, the venue erupted in cheers with passionate fans screaming for the band to do an encore.
Walking back on stage, the trio did a three-song encore, starting it off with the track that propelled them as one of Canada’s best indie pop outfits, ‘Show Me How.’ The crowd sang along to the tune with Proulx and continued singing as the track transitioned into “Worn Down.” The ‘punky’ guitar riffs and fast tempo paired with Proulx’s delicate voice was exhilarating to say the least. As the final notes of "Billie Toppy" rang out into the night, the crowd was left buzzing with the exhilarating energy only a perfect encore can provide.