Sloan

In 16 years of seeing the band live, this was the best show I've been to. The company was a blast (a Sloan virgin I dragged along with me plus another superfan <hey, Randy!>). North Star Bar is a great little venue - neighborhood bar in front, concert space (with a sweet sort-of-balcony with a fantastic view) in back, and an impressive draft selection on their limited number of taps (I want to say I ended up with Hop Devil - yum - but I could be wrong... it's been a lot of beers since then). Beyond that, Sloan was in top form. It seems that's been the case this whole tour. We were warned before the show that Chris' voice was going, but I really only noticed during "Chester" (and I have a feeling "Catalina" had A LOT to do with those breaks).

I was thrilled to hear "Who You Talkin' To?"; hadn't seen that in a couple of years and "Fading Into Obscurity" - there was a really cool moment during that song: when it got to the quiet(er) part "... you're getting too old to be cared for..." the crowd's singing was louder than what was coming through the speakers. It was a nice little Sloan-fan-bonding time.

Two words that would have been THE highlight if not for the first part of the encore: "REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEACH OUUUUUUUT!" Seriously. Patrick sounded fantastic (through the whole concert, really), and that's such a fun song.

What ended up being the highlight: they covered the Descendents' "Catalina" with Milo Aukerman singing. Wow. It was pretty obvious how excited certain Sloans were about this, what with the happy dance after the song ended. Gregory (aka human-sized Prince) covered bass so Chris could dance and holler. It was such an awesome thing to witness.

Setlist (again, bet someone got to this way before I did):
Flying High Again
Unkind
Fading Into Obscurity
Beverly Terrace
Shadow of Love
Losing California
Who You Talkin' To?
The Life of a Working Girl
Ill-Placed Trust
She's Slowing Down Again
I've Gotta Try
Traces
People of the Sky
Follow the Leader
The Answer Was You
Everything You've Done Wrong
If I Could Change Your Mind
Penpals
Reach Out

encore:
Catalina
Chester the Molester
The Good in Everyone