[ATTENDED: June 28, 2023] Sloan
This is my fifth time seeing Sloan (and S’s third time). And while I know that they have a new record out (and they played every song from it), I am so impressed by the number of new songs they played at this show.
Every time I’ve seen Sloan, they’ve done “An Evening with” which I love. I do enjoy an opening act most of the time, but it’s so great getting two sets–two and a half hours–of music from the band you really like.
I’m always a little bummed that Sloan aren’t bigger here–they play such huge places in Canada. But here they wind up in 250 person capacity venues. Of course, everyone there is a huge fan, so that’s gotta feel pretty good. Plus, I don’t want to see them in an arena.
Their new album Steady is really good and they started off the show with three new songs, one from each vocalist. I love that they started out with a song from Patrick–his songs are so catchy. They followed it with a Jay song–so distinctive. And ended the trilogy with a Chris song–poppy and catchy with great harmonies from Patrick.
They jumped back to Twice Removed with a classic song I can’t believe I haven’t heard them play before, “I Can Feel It.”
Jay doesn’t have as many songs as the other guys so we tend to hear a few of the same songs from him when he sings. But Between the Bridges is my favorite album of theirs so I’m always happy to hear a song from it.
After the new “Human Nature” with a killer melody, Andrew, the drummer, came out from behind the kit. This is always fun, because Jay switches to bass and Chris switches to drums while Andrew sings and plays guitar.
Andrew’s songs tend to be longer and a bit more complicated.
It turns out that in addition to celebrating the release of Steady, (the major even of the evening), they are minoring in Never Hear the End of It, which was just reissued on vinyl. So they played a bunch of songs from that (there are 30 songs on the record so they did barely scratch the surface). But the first one was Andrew’s “Sinking Ships,” a particular favorite of mine. It was followed by “500 Up” a song from their debut! They usually only played Underwhelmed from that album, so it was great to hear something else.
Andrew ended his trilogy with another new song “Panic on Runnymede.”
Although I’ve heard “Fading Into Obscurity” three times now, it’s one of favorite Sloan songs, with multiple sections and tons of catchy parts. It felt like a highlight right for me when they followed it with “C’mon C’mon” a super catchy Jay song.
They ended the set (Chris explained to the few people who had never seen them before that they will take a quick break and come back for another set–don’t lose your space). The hilarious “I Dream of Sleep” was followed by the also new “Simply Leaving.”
It was a fantastic set and the band sounded great. We waited a while and the band came back out with Chris saying that Patrick wanted the band to let it rip for the second set.
They opened with two new songs, including Patrick’s rocking “Spend the Day.” They followed it with an oldie, the classic “The Lines You Amend.”
I’ve always liked Chris’s song “Someone that I can be True With” especially this end part
She’s someone to hear Husker Du with
And someone to wait in the queues with
And someone to hate all things new with
She’s someone to watch Gremlins 2 with
And someone to not watch The View with
And someone to laugh in the pew with
And someone I can be true with
which the audience totally got into.
I also love Patrick’s “Ill Placed Trust” which just absolutely rocks. They could play that one every show and it would be fantastic.
This was like a mini Never Hear the End of It segment with one new song amid the five sings from Never. I was especially super duper excited that Patrick put down his guitar to stand in front of us and sing “HFXNSHC” the one minute hardcore blast. It was especially funny that it was during a set of Andrew’s songs, so Chris played the hardcore drums on Patrick’s song.
When everyone returned to their original instruments, Chris said that the night before he had given the audience a choice between The Other Man and something else and “The Other Man was booed off, so it’s gone–in the trash. Instead, they played “Marquee and the Moon” another great song from Bridges–that album is surely due for a reissue and tour collection soon.
The final new song was Jay’s “Keep Your Name Alive.” I love how they spaced out the new songs instead of just playing the new album straight trough like they tend to do on the retro album tours.
They ended with the super catchy “Losing California” (which I’ve heard them play 4 times and will never complain about it). They ended with another classic: “Penpals” from Twice Removed.
I had seen on the setlist that the night before Chris’s son played drums on Underwhelmed. It would have been fun to see that again, but they didn’t even play the song! In fact, with having seen them 5 times I’ve only ever seen them play arguably their most famous song twice!
Rather, the encore started with the Never track, “Flying High Again,” and segued into its natural follow up “Who Taught You To Live Like That” which had the whole audience lapping and singing along. I thought we might still get Underwhelmed or something similar, but they had one last song for us: “The Good in Everyone,” the only song I’ve heard them play at every show. And it’s always the final song (except when they played the One Chord to Another album straight through and it wound up being very early in the set).
I always leave a Sloan show feeling good and happy. I also always see that at least Chris hangs out and chats with people. Maybe next time (show 6) I’ll stick around and say hi.
| June 28 , 2023, Johnny Brenda’s | |
| SET 1 | |
| Scratch the Surface [§] | |
| Dream It All Over Again [§] | |
| Nice Work If You Can Get It [§] | |
| I Can Feel It [Œ] | |
| Take Good Care of the Poor Boy [ß] (2) | |
| Human Nature [§] | |
| Sinking Ships [ℵ] (3) | |
| 500 Up [c] | |
| Panic on Runnymede [§] | |
| Fading Into Obscurity [⇔] (3) | |
| C’mon C’mon (We’re Gonna Get It Started) [ℵ] (3) | |
| I Dream of Sleep [§] | |
| Simply Leaving [§] | |
| SET 2 [Patrick wants to rock this set] | |
| Magical Thinking [§] | |
| Spend the Day [§] | |
| The Lines You Amend [Ø] (3) | |
| Someone I Can Be True With [⇔] | |
| Ill Placed Trust [⇔] (2) | |
| She Put Up With What She Put Down [§] | |
| I’ve Gotta Try [⇔] | |
| HFXNSHC [⇔] | |
| I Can’t Sleep [⇔] | |
| Close Encounters [§] | |
| Everything You’ve Done Wrong [Ø] (2) | |
| The Marquee and the Moon [ß] (2) | |
| Keep Your Name Alive [§] | |
| Losing California [ß] (4) | |
| Penpals Π| |
| ENCORE | |
| Flying High Again [⇔] (2) | |
| Who Taught You To Live Like That? [⇔] (4) | |
| The Good in Everyone [Ø] (5) |
| 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) [10/12 only played 500 Up, Underwhelmed]
Π= Twice Removed (1994) [5/ 12 Bells On, Loosen, Shame Shame, Deeper Than Beauty, Before I Do]
Ø = One Chord to Another (1996)
ℵ = Navy Blues (1998)
ß = Between the Bridges (1999) [7/12 The N.S., So Beyond Me, Friendship, All By Ourselves, Long Time Coming, Waiting for Slow Songs, Delivering Maybes]
⊕ = Pretty Together (2001) [10/13 In the Movies, Dreaming of You, Pick It Up and Dial It, Great Wall, Life of a Working Girl, Never Seeing the Ground for the Sky, Who You Talking To?, I Love a Long Goodbye, Are You Giving Back My Love, All Your Dreams Have Come True]
@ = Action Pact (2003) [9/12 Backstabbin, False Alarm, Nothing Lasts, Hollow Head, Ready for You, I Was Wrong, Who Loves Life More?, Reach Out, Fade Away]
⇔ = Never Hear the End of It (2006) [20/30 Everybody Wants You, Listen to the Radio, Right or Wrong, Something’s Wrong, Ana Lucia, End of the Race, Blackout, I Understand, You Know What It’s About, Golden Eyes, Can’t You Figure It Out, Set in Motion, Love is All Around, Will I Belong, Live the Life You’re Dreaming Of, Living with the Masses, People Think They Know Me, I Know You, Last Time in Love, It’s Not the End of the World, Light Years, Another Way I Could Do It]
≅ = Parallel Play (2008) [10/13 Believe in Me, Cheap Champagne, All I am is All You’re Not, Emergency 911, Witch’s Wand, The Dogs, Living the Dream The Other Side, Down in the Basement, If I Could Change Your Mind, Too Many]
⊗ = The Double Cross (2011) [10/14 The Answer Was You, She’s Slowing Down Again, Green Gardens Cold Montreal, It’s Plain to See, Your Daddy Will Do, I’ve Gotta Know, Traces, Laying So Low, Then Again*, Jesus Love Me* * bonus track)]
© = Commonwealth (2014) [13/15. Only two played so far: Carrie Away, So Far So Good]
12 = 12 (2018) [2/12 The Lion’s Share, All of the Voices]
§ = Steady (2023)
I Just Read About That... 
Leave a comment