City and Colour kicked off Tuesday (Feb. 6) in Victoria and continued east with a second date two nights later at Vancouver鈥檚 Rogers Arena, with more to follow this month in Live Nation Entertainment bookings.

Less than a week before Valentine鈥檚 Day, love was in the air on Griffiths Way for a Thursday night of warm rock and soul from the headliners, middle-set standouts Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats (not 鈥淢eat Sweats,鈥� as someone laughed) and 7 p.m. show-opener Ruby Waters, an Ontario singer-songwriter with a bright future.

Last time I saw City and Colour was . Thursday鈥檚 concert didn鈥檛 draw as many people, of course, but Rogers was decently full, including the upper balcony.

For City and Colour, their not-so-secret weapon is Dallas Green鈥檚 killer voice. Seriously, I鈥檇 kill to have that guy鈥檚 clear, high range, and wow, did his vocals fill the arena during a 15-song set that included groovy new song 鈥淯nderground鈥� and old hit 鈥淪leeping Sickness,鈥� among others.

City And Colour was everything 馃枻

鈥� RynLea 馃崄 (@ar_el_)

As a band, however, City and Colour sometimes lacks the level of energy necessary to command attention and truly engage an arena crowd. We all know it鈥檚 not party music, but the band would be wise to up the BPMs just a bit, at least in concert. Maybe Green, now 43, gets his fill (or got his fill) of doing that with his 鈥渙ther鈥� band, post-hardcore quintet Alexisonfire.

鈥� RELATED: .

For my money鈥� OK, I was comped a ticket to write this concert review, but regardless, my take is this: Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats was the stronger, more diverse, much more engaging band of the night. The Missouri-born, Colorado-based frontman brings 鈥渋t鈥� every night with a band (including horns) that delivers sweaty R&B, funky soul and gospel-y goodness.

On this Canadian tour, ending Feb. 24 in Quebec City, it鈥檚 going to be tough for City and Colour to top that energy every night.

If you don鈥檛 believe me, Robert Plant calls Rateliff 鈥渙ne of these guys that will just carry the torch鈥� in this week. 鈥淏eautiful songwriting, beautiful singing, great delivery and he is a magnificent guy to go with it.鈥�

Hard to argue. See for yourself one day when Rateliff & the Night Sweats headline an arena show of their own in Vancouver.