Sloan

This is my 4th time seeing Sloan live, and once again they teamed up for a great show. What other band sports such great harmonies (up to 5-parts), switches instruments during the set, and has 4 songwriters? I don't know of any. Sloan absolutely rules their genre, and yet from their throne they are charming, quiet, and self-effacing. I love 'em.

A few specific points about this show:

1) The mix was good, so I could *finally* hear are those fantastic harmonies. In some songs, like 'Who Taught You To Live Like That?' and 'Midnight Mass', they actually had five parts going... and they were perfectly sung. Really, really impressive.

2) Despite the quality of the songs and the relative clarity of the mix, this show was slightly subdued because the audience was pretty quiet and conservative. I even found myself being a little on the quiet side even though this was the 2nd best of the 4 shows I've seen. (My fave show as at the old Croc back in 1995).

3) I've never been to a Sloan show where they didn't play anything off of Twice Removed. Interesting.

4) Love the new EP. 'Dear Diary' and 'Midnight Mass' sounded particularly strong, I thought.

5) Other highlights included 'Autobiography', 'The Lines You Amend', 'Friendship', 'Don't Believe A Word', 'The Good In Everyone', 'Great Wall of China', and 'The NS' (Chris is an incredible drummer - especially on that song!!)

7) My all-time favorite Sloan song has to be 'Fading Into Obscurity' (great version tonight), but 'Midnight Mass' - with it's beautiful vocal harmonies in the middle - is a close second.

8) Surprised (yet again) that we didn't hear 'If It Feels Good Do It' or 'Sensory Deprivation'. Would've been killer to hear 'Pen Pals' and/or 'She Says What She Means', too. SO MANY GREAT SONGS... SO LITTLE TIME.

9) Jay had some killer guitar tones going on at this gig! Especially on 'Take It Upon Yourself' and 'G Turns to D'.

10) Patrick's leads sounded a little weak... as though he was serious when he complained about sore fingers during the show.

11) Loved hearing the organ on 'Believe In Me' and the mellotron on 'Fading Into Obscurity'.

12) Opening band The Tripwires were quite good too. VERY tight, and with a great mix. Well done, lads.

What Jason said.
PS: I've been freaking out trying to find out if Sloan had any connection to the movie Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, specifically the bass guitar! What say you?