Jeremy Zucker Brings His Home to Toronto With The "Garden State Tour"

October 9, 2025

Written and Photographed by William Anderson (@itsWilliamVisuals)

On October 9th, New Jersey based artist Jeremy Zucker sold out his ‘Welcome to the Garden State Tour’ at the Opera House in Toronto. This tour follows Jeremy Zucker's newest album Garden State released on August 22nd, 2025. This album focuses on his journey growing up in his New Jersey hometown and coming back to it as an adult with a new light in life, exploring themes of vulnerability and identity.

Boston singer/songwriter Bebe Stockwell starts off the night with her soothing vocals accompanied by guitar strings played by herself and Natalie Moosher. Her indie-folk songs compliment the walls that line the Opera House, with her songs “New England Regrets” and “Speak too Soon.” Bebe Stockwell sings about relationships and her own experience with her hometown, this coincides with the theme of the tour: vulnerability and home.

Following this, Jeremy Zucker took the stage, welcomed by vibrant lighting and enthusiastic audience applause. His opening performances of “garden state” and “hometown” established the show's gentle and melodic atmosphere.

Jeremy Zucker consistently excels in both instrumental delivery and visual presentation. The accompanying band comprised Alex Pfender on guitar, Todd Zucker on bass and keys, and Ian Meltzer on drums. The instrumental arrangement was expertly balanced, complementing Jeremy Zucker's performance without overpowering it, maintaining a near-perfect sound quality reminiscent of studio recordings. The visual presentation consisted of vibrant side lighting and an LED screen backdrop, creating an immersive experience for the attendees. Each song featured its own unique video effects and story narratives, created by Jeremy Zucker using readily available software such as Unity and Davinci Resolve.

During the performance, Jeremy Zucker consistently engaged with his fans, whether through friendly shouts or inviting them on stage. After performing a few songs, Jeremy Zucker expressed how much he appreciated the crowd singing because his voice was getting a little rough, and their participation helped him continue through each song. Later, Nathan, a well-known fan in Toronto, proposed to Jeremy Zucker a rock-paper-scissors match. A best of 5 match pursued, with the wins alternating between them. In the final, deciding round, Jeremy Zucker exclaimed that if he won, Nathan could win merch in exchange, but if Nathan won, Jeremy Zucker would perform the requested song of “ghosts.” As the crowd silences, they play the last round of rock-paper-scissors, Jeremy Zucker emerging victorious. Nearing the end of the performance, Jeremy Zucker invited a fan to join him on stage to sing, and it turned out to be her birthday, so they sang “cry with you” together.

To conclude the evening, he performed fan favourites from his earlier discography. He played “garden state” one last time, with more of an emotional resonance, particularly with the accompanying video featuring home video clips of Jeremy Zucker’s childhood.

After leaving the stage to an enthusiastic crowd, he returned for an encore of 2 of his popular songs. The first song, “Firefly,” was particularly moving, as it was often the first song many fans heard when they discovered Jeremy Zucker. “Firefly” is written as a conclusion to a toxic relationship, which many fans can relate to due to similar experiences. He ended the night with “supercuts,” which, despite its more upbeat and joyful tone, explores his anxieties about commitment and the fear causing disappointment, while also acknowledging the importance of living in the present and embracing the moment, even if it may lead to future pain.

Jeremy Zucker showed the fans in Toronto the beauty of embracing vulnerability. This allowed each concert attendee to connect with every song on a deeper level, to contemplate their own experiences and to appreciate the more joyful aspects in life.