[ATTENDED: February 20, 2020] Sloan
This is my fourth time seeing Sloan (and S’s second time). This is the second time I’ve seen them tour an album in its entirety. (If only I’d gone to see the Twice Removed tour!). These album tours are just fantastic.
The shows never feel like a nostalgia show. The band was rocking and totally into it. Plus, you get to hear songs that they never play live (“Chester the Molester”?). What makes it even better is that set two (the non-album set) often has some deep cuts (because they’re not playing the songs from the album they just played).
So in total I heard 16 songs that I haven’t heard them play live before. Sweet.
We arrived on time, but since it was sold out and there was no opening act, it meant we were pretty far back. Fortunately, we managed to move past the mountain man in front of us. The band came in and Chris Murphy literally had to squeeze past me to get to the stage (I love Boot & Saddle). Less cool were the fans who followed the band to the stage and pushed their way in front of us,
Recent shows at B&S have had poor lighting, but I believe the band brings their own lighting crew (and a giant 4 like on the 4 Nights at the Palais Royale album), so the lighting was excellent all night. As was the sound!
They played all of Navy Blues, and what a great album it is.
Many of the fans around me were commenting on how great the album was. One of the people apparently didn’t know it (or the band) very well and was really impressed.
So I’m usually taking a bunch of video clips (and no, I don’t put my phone over my head to do so…I am discreet). But there was no point from where I was. After the set break I was able to get a bit closer and could actually see the band pretty well. But i did manage to get a few pictures.
The Navy Blues set was terrific. As Chris Murphy pointed out with a joke: what goes banger, banger, banger, masterpiece? Side one.
It starts with Murphy singing “She Says What She Means” followed by Patrick Pentland singing “Spin Our Wheels” and then Jay Ferguson singing “C’mon C’mon (We’re Gonna Get It Started).” Three bangers, indeed.
Then they have to switch it up. Drummer Andrew Scott comes up front to play guitar, Jay switches to bass and Chris jumps on the kit (and really has a blast).
Andrew joked that he really felt the pressure after that intro, but “Have Faith” was really fantastic.
Patrick took over for “Iggy & Angus” a great punky blast. And then the fantastic sing along of Jay’s “Who Taught You To Live Like That?” which everyone got into.
It was staggeringly hot up on stage. It was very cold out, but B&S is like a shoebox, and it heats up very quickly. The band asked for the A/C to be put on. And you could see just how sweaty Andrew was when he came up for his next song.
They switched up instruments once more for Andrew’s “Sinking Ships” and then back to the standard set up for Chris’ “Keep on Thinkin'”
Then the siren went off and the red light started flashing which could mean only one thing–a fantastic, blistering version of “Money City Maniacs.” We were more than happy to sing along to the “Hey you” part. One thing that I think is particularly cool about Sloan is that they have a bunch of songs that are clearly their hits, but they don’t feel compelled to play them every time. So even though everyone loves “Maniacs,” they didn’t play it on the 12 tour, and it didn’t matter because the rest of their songs are so good.
Each one of the Sloan members writes in a different style, and I can never decide which I like best. Because something like “Maniacs” is so good in a visceral way but Andrew’s “Seems So Heavy” has a style that I just love. And wow, it was great to see it live.
It was quite weird to hear “Chester the Molester,” a bad joke name from the 80s/90s that doesn’t really translate well to 2020, but which is musically excellent.
“Stand By Me, Yeah” features Patrick on acoustic guitar (which was a nice change up) and Jay on a fantastic echoed guitar solo (he received much applause for the great sound he got). It was followed by “Suppose They Close the Door,” a song with fantastic time changes mid-song which the band handled with no problem.
Chris went back to the drums (he really enjoys himself back there) for Andrew’s third song on the record, “On the Horizon” which has some great sing-along parts. It also let Andrew solo a bit (which I couldn’t really see).
They asked once again about the A/C, and wondered what the place had said about it, “was that a yes or a ennh?” And just before the set ended, the cool air started to come on.
Jay only has two songs on this album, which is a bit of a bummer, but his “I Wanna Thank You” is a lovely song with a spectacular melody that opens with Gregory McDonald playing some very retro synths.
The disc ends with another acoustic song, the slow “I’m Not Through with You Yet.” I had read recently that they realized that “cotton-picking moment” was a racially insensitive line. And it made me realize that I never realized that it was. So they changed the phrase in the song to “rotten-picking moment” which makes a bit less sense but fits flawlessly. (I guess there’s not much you can do about “Chester”).
The band left the stage and once again walked right past us, so I got to pay my respects to them, because otherwise you’re just pretending they didn’t just play a fantastic set.
People went to the bar so we moved forward and had a better spot, except that Patrick was pretty much entirely blocked by big heads (I did managed to get some footage of a couple moments of him though).
Set two felt short, but I think that’s because Navy Blues is a pretty long album. After all, they did play 27 songs for the show.
They came back and opened set two with Patrick’s “Flying High Again” which I think of as a pretty deep cut. It was followed by the very popular and very catchy “Who Taught You To Live Like That?” yet another fantastic sing-along from Jay. That was two songs from Never Hear the End of It which were followed by two songs from The Double Cross.
Chris’ rocking “Shadow of Love” was followed by Patrick’s catchy “Unkind.”
I really enjoyed Sloan’s 2014 Commonwealth album. They don’t seem to play a lot from it live, so it’s fun to get a rare treat like Jay’s “Three Sisters.”
But even more exciting was hearing Chris’ “Coax Me.” I have loved this song forever especially the verse
I drink concentrated O.J.
And I think Consolidated’s ok.
It’s not the band I hate
It’s their fans.
I always think of this line when I go to a show and the people around me are jerks. It also makes me wonder whatever happened to Consolidated, a political band who I rather liked, but which I totally get about their fans.
Then there was one more from Patrick, the ranting “Ill Placed Trust” which is yet another banger.
Last time, Andrew played a couple of songs in a row when it was his turn to sing. But this time, he only did one song. And it was a doozy! Before he started he asked if everyone liked loud music. And screaming. Between the Bridges is my favorite Sloan album, and they play a couple of songs from it at each show. But this was the first time they’ve played the ripping “Sensory Deprivation.” They wound up jamming it out for a long time–the longest I’ve ever seen the band jam a song. Both Andrew and Patrick took solos (at the same time) and it was just noisy and fun.
I certainly hope they are planning a Between the Bridges tour in the next year or so!
The end of the show was songs that I’ve heard a few times before, and they were great. S. knows the Action Pact album the most and they tend to play a couple songs from it. Tonight it was “Live On” with Greg McDonald supplying cowbell.
The setlist said that “Snowsuit Sound” was up next, but they had a little confab and wound up playing “I Hate My Generation” instead. I love this song but totally forgot what the chant was at the end. So for next time:
S’ ‘E’ ‘A’ ‘N’ ‘S’ ‘A’ ‘I’ ‘D’
‘P’ ‘L’ ‘A’ ‘why’ yeah yeah yeah yeah
And then Chris announced a song from their debut. I was pretty excited because last time S. said she would have been really excited to hear “Underwhelmed.” When it started, I nudged her and it took her a second to recognize it. After the show she told me she had totally forgotten about it and was super excited to hear it. And it sounded fantastic even after 28 years.
Then it was time for the encore. Chris told us to pretend that they had left the stage, so we started the Sloooooan chant and then they “came back” to play three encore songs.
They talked about what to play and Greg said they had 13 minutes until curfew.
They started with “The Other Man” which go the crowd going. There were shouts for “Losing California” which I thought they might actually play, but instead they went with Jay’s “The Lines You Amend,” another song I really like.
They ended the show with what seems like it might be the standard set-ender? A rocking “The Good in Everyone.”
It was still four minutes to 11 and they could have easily squeezed one more song in, but they called it a night and we all went home very happy.
It was yet another great Sloan show.
After seeing the 12 tour twice in a few months I said I’d never see them two times on the same tour because the set list is so similar. But this show was so good, and my sightlines were so bad, that if they chose to go to Jersey City again, I would absolutely see them.
I don’t know if they’re working on a new album, but I do hope they do a Bridges tour soon because that would be amazing.
| February 21, 2020, Boot & Saddle | September 7, 2018, White Eagle Hall |
| Set 1 (Navy Blues) | Set 1 |
| She Says What She Means [ℵ] (1) | Spin Our Wheels [12] (2) |
| C’mon C’mon (We’re Gonna Get It Started) [ℵ] (2) | Have Faith [12] (2) |
| Iggy & Angus [ℵ] (1) | Who Taught You To Live Like That? [⇔] (3) |
| Sinking Ships [ℵ] (2) | Fading Into Obscurity [©] (2) |
| Keep on Thinkin’ [ℵ] (1) | It’s In Your Eyes [⊕] (2) |
| Money City Maniacs [ℵ] (2) | Step On It, Jean [@] (2) |
| Seems So Heavy [ℵ] (1) | Gone for Good [12] (2) |
| Chester the Molester [ℵ] (1) | People of the Sky [Œ] (3) |
| Stand By Me, Yeah [ℵ] (1) | Losing California [ß] (3) |
| Suppose They Close the Door [ℵ] (1) | Right to Roam [12] (2) |
| On the Horizon [ℵ] (1) | Follow the Leader [⊗] (2) |
| I Wanna Thank You [ℵ] (1) | Set 2 |
| I’m Not Through with You Yet [ℵ] (1) | Don’t Stop (If It Feels Good Do It) [12] (2) |
| Set 2 | Beverly Terrace [⊗] (2) |
| Flying High Again [⇔] (1) | The Day Will be Mine [12] (2) |
| Who Taught You To Live Like That? [⇔] (4) | The Other Man [⊕] (2) |
| Shadow of Love [⊗] (1) | Essential Services [12] (2) |
| Unkind [⊗] (2) | Live On [@] (2) |
| Three Sisters [©] (1) | Year Zero [12] (2) |
| Coax Me [Œ] (1) | 44 Teenagers [12] (2) |
| Ill Placed Trust [⇔] (1) | Gimme That [@] (2) |
| Sensory Deprivation [ß] (1) | Burn for It [≅] (1) |
| Live On [@] (3) | I Hate My Generation [Œ] (1) |
| I Hate My Generation [Œ] (2) | Wish Upon a Satellite [12] (2) |
| Underwhelmed [ξ] (2) | If It Feels Good Do It [⊕] (3) |
| encore | encore |
| The Other Man [⊕] (3) | The Lines You Amend [Ø] (2) |
| The Lines You Amend [Ø] (3) | The Good in Everyone [Ø] (3) |
| The Good in Everyone [Ø] (4) | |
| May 9, 2018, Boot & Saddle | October 15, 2016, Underground Arts |
| Set 1 | Set 1 (One Chord to Another) |
| Spin Our Wheels [12] (1) | The Good in Everyone [Ø] (1) |
| Have Faith [12] (1) | Nothing Left to Make Me Want to Stay [Ø] (1) |
| Who Taught You To Live Like That? [⇔] (2) | Autobiography [Ø] (1) |
| Fading Into Obscurity [⇔] (1) | Junior Panthers [Ø] (1) |
| It’s In Your Eyes [⊕] (1) | G Turns to D [Ø] (1) |
| Step On It, Jean [@] (1) | A Side Wins [Ø] (1) |
| Gone for Good [12] (1) | Everything You’ve Done Wrong [Ø] (1) |
| People of the Sky [Œ] (2) | Anyone Who’s Anyone [Ø] (1) |
| Losing California [ß] (2) | The Lines You Amend [Ø] (1) |
| Right to Roam [12] (1) | Take the Bench [Ø] (1) |
| Follow the Leader [⊗] (1) | Can’t Face Up [Ø] (1) |
| Set 2 | 400 Metres [Ø] (1) |
| Don’t Stop (If It Feels Good Do It) [12] (1) | Set 2 |
| Beverly Terrace [⊗] (1) | Underwhelmed [ξ] (1) |
| The Day Will be Mine [12] (1) | C’mon C’mon (We’re Gonna Get It Started) [ℵ] (1) |
| Carried Away [©] (1) | Money City Maniacs [ℵ] (1) |
| Essential Services [12] (1) | So Far So Good [©] (1) |
| Live On [@] (1) | Worried Now [Œ] (1) |
| Year Zero [12] (1) | Who Taught You to Live Like That? [⇔] (1) |
| 44 Teenagers [12] (1) | Sinking Ships [ℵ] (1) |
| Gimme That [@] (1) | People of the Sky [Œ] (1) |
| Sugartune [ξ] (1) | Don’t You Believe a Word [ß] (1) |
| Take Good Care of the Poor Boy [ß] (1) | I’m Not a Kid Anymore [≅] (1) |
| Wish Upon a Satellite [12] (1) | Unkind [⊗] (1) |
| If It Feels Good Do It [⊕] (2) | Snowsuit Sound [Œ] (1) |
| encore | The Other Man [⊕] (1) |
| The Rest of My Life [@] (1) | Losing California [ß] (1) |
| The Good in Everyone [Ø] (2) | encore |
| The Marquee and the Moon [ß] (1) | |
| If It Feels Good Do It [⊕] (1) |
c = Smeared (1992)
Π= Twice Removed (1994)
Ø = One Chord to Another (1996)
ℵ = Navy Blues (1998)
ß = Between the Bridges (1999)
⊕ = Pretty Together (2001)
@ = Action Pact (2003)
⇔ = Never Hear the End of It (2006)
≅ = Parallel Play (2008)
⊗ = The Double Cross (2011)
© = Commonwealth (2014)
12 = 12 (2018)
I Just Read About That... 
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