Sloan

the show was so much fun (especially Chris's duet) !!! thank you so much for playing here in The Lou!

Excellent show in a small locale! It was almost as if Sloan set up in my basement and played a special show just for me and a few others. For those interested, the Gargoyle is the student all purpose room at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. I'd estimate the capacity of the Gargoyle at 150. Even though Sloan didn't fill the room - they played as if there were lines out the door.

This show was Sloan's first stop in St. Louis since they toured in 1999 behind "Between the Bridges." It was good to have them back.

Drawing from their complete discography and despite some equipment malfunctions (both Patrick's and Andrew's guitars required assistance at various times - broken strings, shorted cables), Sloan delivered an amazing set. It was great to hear "Pen Pals" and "Coax Me." "500 Up" was a surprise and sounded great. Patrick offered a beefed up version of "Good in Everyone" - lots of distortion, forceful delivery. Jay sounded strong on Action Pact's "False Alarm." It was fun watching him groove thorughout the set. Andrew was ferocious on the trap-kit and also in manning his Gretsch on "Sensory Deprivation - a true highlight of the night. Chris, as always, entertained the crowd with a strong presence, witty stage banter and all around excellent delivery.

I have some photos - I'll try to upload them. Wish me luck, they turned out pretty good.

i figured it would be interesting to write a review based on my background. i had never heard of sloan before i guess they are one of the few good bands that have slipped my attention in the past...my friend called a few days before the show because he loved sloan and didn't have anyone to go with and he knew i am always open to new music and new concerts...i went expecting a lot because of how much my friend hyped them up...i was afraid of being let down after seeing the band in person walking by me.."these guys are rockers?!?" i though to my self as they walked by..they certainly didn't look like it to me...but i never let that affect my open mind about rock...they came on about 10:15 and rocked hard!!
though not the greatest band ever like people had constantly told me in line...they did play well...they reminded me of what rock should be...not the winey pop-punk crap and the psuedo-heavy, cliched, over produced nu-metal that has recently seemed to define what rock is...
sloan played for a little over an hour which is the most a rock set should be ....right?...anything over that just becomes boring..honestly... after the show i bought a few cds which i not often do at shows i have to be thouroughly impressed to buy a band cds at shows...i now can consider my slef a sloan fan...it was worth the ten bucks and it is i believe worth more than that. my only request is...please do not wait another 5 years to come again

Sloan has been my favorite band for 3 years and all that time I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for them to do a show here. They did not disappoint! I had a great great great time, and the guys were really awesome and Chris was especially friendly... Have fun on the rest of your tour, guys!
I'm going to upload some pictures sooner or later, and they will also be available on my website http://www.audrizzle.com at some point.

who were the opening bands for sloan at the gargoyle?

Well I could drop all kinds of hip indie references and say that sloan is retro-pop from canada that grooves like cheap trick blah blah or talk about how cool or un cool the gargoyle is. That is all irelevant. It was a show. sloan knows to go out and fuckin' give'r. It was music. It moved me. It was great. I sang every word to every song, danced, jumped, banged my head, i even laughed. It is nice to see a band that enjoys playing. If see one more opening act shrug off the crowd, bad mouth the midwest and act like rock and roll is gods work I am going to sell my guitar. "Cools eternal buts its always dated." Sloan had guitar issues they kind of screwed up a solo or two but nobody cared and if you did you were at the wrong show go see joe satriani or cry over the break up of phish. It was a great time and sloan is a great band Andrew, Jay, Chris, and Patrick: Thank You. I saw sloan this summer in a huge venue with thousands of Canadians and you know what I couldn't tell the difference Sloan rocks the same whether it is one guy in the back tapping is foot or a legion of screaming fans. Thank you for coming to play here come back soon. They are also the nicest guys too.

Yeah, the Sloan show in St. Louis was great! I've been a fan since 2000....right AFTER the last time they were here, so it was good to finally see them in person. There were some problems with tempo on a few songs (the opening "Ready for You" and Andrew's take on "Sensory Deprivation" in particular dragged a bit), but overall the set was very solid. It drew a lot from "Twice Removed" ("Penpals", "People of the Sky", "I Can Feel It") and the version of "500 Up" was absolutely mindblowing! The encore was the perfect send-off, too.....I looooooved them closing the show with "If It Feels Good, Do It." Now, if only they had played "Losing California", the night would have been perfect!

And as luck would have it, Sloan stuck around, hanging out at the Gargoyle for well over an hour after the show! I spent quite a bit of time talking with Chris and Patrick, and lemme tell you, two nicer guys could not be found.

Someone asked earlier who the opening acts were....that honor goes to St. Louis's own best power pop act, the Maxtone Four, and a garage rock band from NYC called the Robbers On High Street. The Maxtones were great, but the Robbers were stuck dealing with sound problems, and the fact that they were drunk certainly didn't help matters.

This was Sloan Road Trip #2 for me this year; came from Kansas City to see my favorite Canucks bring the rock. The show was looser than the previous time I had seen them (Chicago @ the Metro back in May) and had a different vibe. The Gargoyle is essentially a big "all purpose room" (read: cafeteria) on the Washington University campus. We got there late and Andrew had already switched over to guitar and was in the middle of "Sensory Deprivation". I was bummed we missed about 5 songs of the set. Regardless, they played some of my faves, the set list wasn't as dominated by Action Pact as last time I saw them (although we did get to see a great rendition of "Been So Long"). The encore was "I Can Feel It" (complete with Chris getting a fan girl onstage for a duet) and "If It Feels Good Do It".

It was cool seeing them in a smaller place. It felt sorta like it must've been to see them in their early days, in a university setting and a fun, loose show. Here's hoping they had a good time and will come back to the midwest (and i hope Little Rock didn't scare them off completely!)

See you tomorrow in Austin!