Sloan

Nothing beats a Sloan show at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC !!
Thanks for a GREAT show guys !!

so nice to hear you guys still kick ass! i think most people haven't digested the new stuff yet, so the crowd energy wasn't what it could have been, but once they do, they'll come around. as with all sloan's new albums over the past years a new one is an adjustment, but better that than to not have changed over 20 years. i've been going to sloan shows off and on for 10 years now and none has ever left me disappointed, this one included. new ones like "ill placed trust", "hfxnshc" and "i've gotta try" about blew the doors off of the bowery ballroom. and on andrew's songs, turn up his mic! i can barely hear him, which just lets the guitar zone the crowd out.

so nice to hear you guys touch on just about every album. can't wait to see you guys again. jay, your guitar playing is amazing; chris, bring the jump-kicks; and patrick, need some more kiss stickers? great show...

Show was excellent, definitely some people in the crowd who didn't know the new album yet. I love the new one so much I would have been happy even if they only played new songs. Highlights for me were Can't You Figure It Out? and Fading Into Obscurity.

An amazing show! Thankfully I bought the new album from a Canadian site, so I've been listening for awhile. Amazingly tight, great harmonies, and a fun stageshow that included Chris' licking his mic stand!
I loved it, and brought a couple Sloan virgins, who are now converts!

Best Sloan show i've EVER seen last nite! and i've been to a LOT of Sloan shows! I'll post some pictures during the weekend, and perhaps a better review :) It was a pleasure meeting Sloan (again!) after the show. They are always so sweet!

I posted the setlist down below!

SETLIST:

Flying High Again
Who Taught You To Live Like That?
Will I Belong?
Ill Placed Trust
The Other Man
The Lines You Amend
Fading Into Obscurity
Golden Eyes
Love Is All Around
Living With The Masses
HFXNSHC
Blackout
All Used Up
C'mon C'mon
Everybody Wants You
I Understand
You Know What It's About
Someone I Can Be True With
Money City Maniacs
I Can't Sleep
I Know You
Something's Wrong
I've Gotta Try
Everything You've Done Wrong
Can You Figure It Out?
Penpals
The Good In Everyone
Another Way I Could Do It

ENCORE:
Anyone Who's Anyone
Chester The Molester
If It Feels Good, Do It

(pictures to come!)

SLOAN at the Bowery Ballroom
Thursday, January 18, 2007

I was literally counting down the days until Sloan came to New York. (And hopefully there will be another 2 Bowery shows in the Spring!) Sloan is my favorite band. Its as simple as that. No matter how many bands I really like, or how many bands i've ever seen live....Sloan wins. I guess you could say they are kind of magical. Thats right, magical. Sloan is my Beatles, and quite frankily, I think they are just as good as, or better than The Beatles.
Thursday night started off kind of snowy. It hadn't snowed nearly all winter, and of course that night it just had to snow. I don't care if a blizzard was about to hit, but hell I was going to see Sloan. All bundled up (if only we had snowsuits ;) ) we got the 5 something o'clock train and got to Grand Central about 6:30. Thats nice, because it somehow took 45 minutes to get to the Bowery. Doors opened at 8, in which I snagged a lovely Sloan shirt, and got 3 packs of those pretty great Sloan trading cards. What does a 23 year old girl do with Sloan trading cards? Well, I just don't know, but I have a lot of them!
Lets get off to the show!

The first band: The Love Loves (er something like that), were from Brooklyn. They were horrible. I don't even want to speak about them.
During the middle of the two bands, we saw every member of Sloan and one Mr Mike Nelson roaming about the floor.
Second band: Spiral Beach. Pretty damn good. Pretty damn young. Younger than me. But they were really talented, and it was cool to see Jay watch them from the side of the room all bundled up in his jacket. One word. Cute :)
At about 10:40, Sloan came onto the stage. I was wondering what the new songs sounded like live and I knew there would be a hell of a lot of them that night. My friend and I were right in the middle of Jay and Chris, oddly, where we always end up being! We were stuck by the rowdy Sloan boys who kept bugging Jay. I could see the setlist from where I was standing in front of the stage, but I didn't really want to look at it for the time being. I like the element of surprise! Though I could see there was a mother load of songs on that setlist (and to think the encore songs weren't even on there at the time!)
The band comes out looking great as usual. (Hey, some of you have your Brad Pitt, I have the Sloan boys.) Their new keyboardist, Gregory seems to fit in quite nicely with the band. It doesn't seem awkward to have him as 'the 5th member of Sloan.' I hope he stays there forever! He is extremely talented. (plus Gregory is very nice!)
Sloan opened up with "Flying High Again." Perfect, just like the record. All 4 guys singing their parts and harmonies. Thats what Sloan is really all about. "Who Taught You To Live Like That?" was stellar live! Thats one of my favorite Sloan songs ever, and I was more than happy to hear it live. For "Will I Belong?" Chris took the lead vocals. Nicely done! I think this was also the point that Chris knocked over his mic stand, and it fell off the stage. It was pretty amusing! After that, Patrick took over with "Ill Placed Trust" which was pretty sweet. Then stepping into some 'old' Sloan, Chris went back to do "The Other Man," which quite frankily I LOVE and I know a lot of Sloan fans will probably think I'm weird because of it. So what, its a damn fine song. Jay was back up front again doing "The Lines You Amend," which is my absolute favorite song to hear live by any band ever. Its really not a show without it! "Fading Into Obscurity" was up next. Already one of the tracks I enjoy most on the new record, but bringing it to life, live, just put it over the top.
At this point, Andrew came from behind his drum kit to do a few songs. Chris moved to drums, Jay moved to bass, and Andrew moved to guitar. Patrick, stayed on guitar. Did that just confuse you? The first Andrew song of the night was "Golden Eyes." I must say, this song won me over, because on the record, I don't listen to it all that much. I don't know why, but I do now. Then Andrew went into "Love is All Around," and "Living with the Masses," both, beautifully down live. I'm so glad Andrew is back to writing songs in the band again. The band stayed put, while Patrick did a kickass version of "HFXNSHC". Why its the punk rock side of Sloan! Andrew then also did another right after called "Blackout." I was really hoping to hear it that night. One of my favorite Andrew songs ever written!
The band went back to there places, and at this time I think that Chris jokingly told Gregory to duck behind the speakers because there is no keys in this song. It was pretty funny. "All Used Up," was next, and was a pleasant surprise. I don't know why I wasn't expecting it. But then came something pretty great in its own right, and why I'm so thankful Sloan brought the keys back into their music. The band went on to perform the greatest version of 'C'mon C'mon' (from 'Navy Blues') I've EVER heard. The crowd went nuts for it! Its always been one of my favorite Sloan songs, and of course, for so long without the piano/keyboard on tour, I thought i'd never hear it.
After that, the band went into "Everybody Wants You," which is just a great Chris Murphy song to begin with. Live its even better. Patrick then went into 'I Understand" which had the crowd dancing. Such an awesome song. Following that was "You Know What Its About" and "Someone I Can Be True With"(another song I love to death!).
Up next my friends, came the bass line. You know 'the' bass line. What? "Money City Maniacs"! I think if Sloan ever stopped playing this song live, people would just die on the street. Its that good. The crowd was so excited for it. I think this was also the time that Chris licked his mic stand, as he often does. Nice ;) My favorite thing in the world is when the audience sings the 'Hey Youuuuu' part. Some kids tried to start the infamous 'Sloan' chant during this part, and Chris was like 'No, not yet, not this song' kinda thing. :) "I Can't Sleep," "I Know You," were played next. Just as I thought that the new songs couldn't get any better, they played "Something's Wrong," and "I've Gotta Try" which are just un-freakin'-believable live!
"Everything You've Done Wrong," was then up. Ah, always a pleasure to hear! And I love more than anything that the audience does the 'horn parts' vocally after the original song. Its just, I really can't explain. Sloan has us all under their spell! "Can You Figure it Out?" was also played next. My favorite Jay song on the new record. Well, I love all Jay songs, but this is the one I put on repeat the most. Incredible to say the least. Then we went on to relive the 'Twice Removed' era with "Penpals." I don't think i've ever heard that song live either (maybe i have but then damn me if I am forgetting!) I love the dynamics of that song. Live, its killer. "The Good in Everyone" which was awesome beyond words was then followed by "Another Way I Could Do It,' which is not only a great closing to the new record, but a great closing to the set. God, I love the harmonies on that song. Quite frankily, the song gives me the chills. Its that good.
As the band left the stage, of course the 'Sllllllllllllllloannnnnnn" chant started. For a good 5 minutes I think! (awkward i'm listening to the Sloan live record now and people are chanting 'Sloan' in the crowd. Ironic!) Then, came back our beloved boys.
What they had in store, no one knew. It wasn't on the setlist, but hell, we knew they would not disappoint. Then it came, a brilliant version of "Anyone Who's Anyone." After that? Well, I nearly died. The last time Sloan was at the Bowery, my friend and I put a sign in front of Chris' mic to play 'Chester the Molester,' a song they very rarely played, if ever. Well, that nite in the Spring of '05 we were just lucky enough for him to tell the band to play it. They barely remembered how to play it at the time, and Chris didn't know all the words. Nonetheless it was still good. But, Thursday night, it made a return....as soon as Gregory hit those opening keys, we knew that 'Chester the Molester' was about to be played! Never in my life have I ever seen an audience so excited about something! Everyone knew the words. Everyone was jumping up and down. I could see Mike Nelson from the side of the stage just smiling and laughing like 'Whats going onnnnn'. It was just the greatest moment in history! But everything had to end, and what better to end a show with then "If It Feels Good Do It," a song I was hoping they played. The show really ended with a bang, just like it came in. "Sllllllllloannnnnnnnnnnnn" chanted the crowd during the song, and "Slllllllloaannnnnnnnn" is something we'd be chanting the rest of the night, because, its something that we'll always be saying for the rest of our lives.
After the show, which ended pretty late, we couldn't make it to the 1am train, so it was the last train out for us. To stay in the warmth, we sat in the Bowery a bit. Met Jay, who was just lovely as usual. Sweet, and thanked us for coming. Andrew came out next, with his little pom pom hat. Also, great as usual, always out to meet and thank the fans that keep them going. (I managed to snag his drumstick from the stage by the way!). Chris was out next, and said to my friend and I "Hey its my ladiesssss' which I'm sure any girl would die upon hearing. I did. We talked for a while. Took a super adorable picture (That my friend cut his head out of by accident which makes me sad). He hugged us and then went to talk to more fans. We saw Patrick while leaving. He was super nice. Took 2 pictures with me because he 'wasn't ready for the first.'
I'm so glad I have Sloan in my life. I seriously mean that. Not only are they amazing musicians who make the best records i've ever layed my ears upon, but they are also the nicest, sweetest, and greatest people in the world. No lie. Hopefully there will be 2 Spring shows at the Bowery this year. I'd love that so much, but not as much as I love Sloan themselves.

SETLIST:

Flying High Again
Who Taught You To Live Like That?
Will I Belong?
Ill Placed Trust
The Other Man
The Lines You Amend
Fading Into Obscurity
Golden Eyes
Love Is All Around
Living With The Masses
HFXNSHC
Blackout
All Used Up
C'mon C'mon
Everybody Wants You
I Understand
You Know What It's About
Someone I Can Be True With
Money City Maniacs
I Can't Sleep
I Know You
Something's Wrong
I've Gotta Try
Everything You've Done Wrong
Can You Figure It Out?
Penpals
The Good In Everyone
Another Way I Could Do It

ENCORE:
Anyone Who's Anyone
Chester The Molester
If It Feels Good, Do It