Sloan

The heat and humidity detracted from an otherwise very enjoyable set. 'Rest Of My Life' was the highlight. It looked as if Patrick wasn't feeling too well, but most of the crowd seemed about to collapse also.

I snapped some pics and posted them:

http://www.wompster.net/sloaned.php

Our first Sloan show and we loved it! Thanks guys!

Hunter and Damien from New Mexico, USA

friends and i traveled from NYC, boston and san fran for the festival. what a great time. too bad it was so darn hot - it affected many performances, but not much you can do about that. come back to new york soon, y'hear!??!

Bravo! Great show Friday - I'm sure performing in heat like that is NOT your favorite thing, but the band really did well. I was happy to see people buying Sloan cds in the Waterloo record store tent at the festival...
All's right in the world - I got to see my favorite band twice in one week...Monday in Columbus and Friday at the festival.

This was posted on the Austin360 website on Saturday (and next time you're in Austin, I think you all need to buy this Jeff Salamon a beer...):

Sloan's 12-year-old catalog covers a lot of bases, from a poppier version of Sonic Youth's proto-grunge (the '92 debut, "Smeared") to glossy, Beatlesque pop ('94's "Twice Removed") to lo-fi garage pop ('96's "One Chord to Another"). But Friday afternoon, though they played songs old and new, ranging from "I Am the Cancer," from the debut, to this year's "False Alarm," they made everything sound like their latest record, "Action Pact" ? an album produced to sound as big and bright as a Boston greatest hits collection.

Big and bright is actually a good strategy for Sloan at a festival like this. Most of the people gathered at the Heineken stage didn't seem to know much about this hey-they're-stars-at-home Canadian quartet ? only one guy in my immediate vicinity was mouthing along to the lyrics (though the Johnny Knox lookalike next to me was whaling away on his air guitar from the word go). So the big gestures they've been borrowing from '70s rock lately ? boogie rhythms, anthemic choruses, handclap-alongs, shredded guitar solos, wah-pedal action ? were a smart way to pull in an audience that wasn't there to shout out requests or appreciate the band's not inconsiderable lyrical wit.

And it worked, too. By the end of the set, the crowd, which started out noncommittal, was roaring its approval. They had come to realize that this, surely, is the greatest Canadian band since Rush.

Good gravy, it was hot out there in Austin, TX! I came down from Kansas City, where the weather has been pretty mild as of late, and met a 95 degree humid Texas day! Sloan was the first act we got to see at the fest, and it was awesome. The crowd grew and grew the longer the guys played, and for the given heat, they gave their all and sweated out a tight set of great songs. Andrew was especially fun to watch, as it didn't seem the heat even affected him; he was hitting his drums and screaming his parts even harder than normal! They busted out "I Am The Cancer" to "slow things down", and it was great to hear it live (although I can think of slower Sloan songs than that!). Patrick looked as if he was about to faint at the end of the set; I think they may have cut it short by a song so Mr. Pentland didn't just up and keel over. It was a great set, there were some diehard Sloan fans up at the front, and hopefully some newly converted fans after it was all said and done.

I was also fortunate enough to get passes from Chris for a party later on that evening where Jay and Andrew spun records; I unfortunately missed both of their sets and got there when one of the Broken Social Scene guys was spinning. I would've loved to hear what the guys played. It was a crazy, fun party w/ an open bar and punk rock karaoke. Someone was egging Chris and Andrew and Jay to set up and play upstairs (Pat was back at the hotel more than likely soaking in air conditioning!), but I'm thinking open bar + day in the sun+ already played a show added up to no 3 piece impromptu sloan show. Regardless, thanks to the guys for telling us about the party and getting us in.

And having gotten to see Sloan 3x this year, I feel incredibly lucky. Hope the rest of the shows go well and hope you come back to the midwest soon!

What a brilliant show ! Even for a local like myself, the heat was pretty brutal that day. And when Sloan played, I had only been at the park for 3 hours. The ACL set was my 2nd show. And Jay, you're welcome for my "repeat business." <grin>
Both Sloan shows that I've seen have been outdoors during a Texas summer. What do I have to do to get the band to come backto Austin during cooler weather ?!? LOL