Review of Show in Fredericton, New Brunswick by Joe Long
Don't know but I hope it is someone good. Sloan should rock tonight. Crowd should be good too. Can't wait.
Don't know but I hope it is someone good. Sloan should rock tonight. Crowd should be good too. Can't wait.
Yo! Saw Sloan last night at Mount Allison University. They rocked the house! Played brilliant new songs from the new album and played the classics like Coax Me and Money City Maniacs. It was unreal! They even spent a solid hour with the fans after the show signing autographs and talking up a storm! Great guys! See you at Keith's Fest!
Wow! I'd not seen Sloan til last night. I paid 80 bucks for two tickets from some dude at school the other day, then drove from Moncton to Sackville two hours early. I was NOT disappointed! From when I saw Jay Ferguson walk by, to when Chris Murphy came out and sang 'Deeper Than Beauty' acoustic, then from when Joel Plaskett Emergency hit the stage, til the last notes of 'If It Feels Good Do It' finished rining in my ears, it was the experience of a lifetime. It was an amazing experience to be able to see a band who had such a profound influence on my life. Were I to make a soundtrack to my life, Sloan would be very well represented. A great show all in all. Great crowd control by the security, and by the band. Thanks guys! I love you all! SLOOOOOOOOW-OWN!
Does anyone know who is opening for Sloan in Fredericton tonight?
Three of us drove in from Moncton to see the show. On the highway, I realized I forgot my ticket and had to drive back and get it. Small inconvenience.
Had a nice meal at a resto across the street from the venue before the show. I forget the name of the place, and maybe for the best, as it wasn't a great meal. For a place that prides itself on its bread, both the pre-meal bread and the foccacia were undercooked. The salmon inside the sandwich was dry. Anyhoo, the waitress was nice and I managed to throw back a few drinks.
Outside, the Xbox tent provided a nice diversion allowing me to take a nice puff near the beautiful Mt. A. pond. Thanks Microsoft.
The show was pretty solid. It was great to see so much egalitarianism within the band. It's rare to see all members of a band taking turns singing, and it working, for the most part. Andrew on drums was fun to watch. Controlled frenzy. I would have liked to see some more from "Smeared" and "Twice Removed" of course, but they did do "Coax Me" which was the highlight of the show for me. "The Other Man" was great as well, and it was fun to see the kids rocking out to all of the other anthemic Sloan mega-hits that seem to have become part of the collective Canadian identity.
Chris, I hope that you sold a lot of your cards. It seemed to be a concern. And thanks to your repeated "don't push and don't surf" instructions, nobody seemed to get hurt.
I'm glad I got to see a proper Sloan show. (I did see them do a few tunes for free at HMV in Halifax once.) I've been a fan since the beginning, when Chris' dad was a prof of mine at Dal U and told me to take a listen to his son's tunes just before Mr. Geffin attemted to swallow them up whole. I'm glad they escaped with their lives and went on to make some pretty good music over the past ten or more years.
Markus
Moncton
amazing energy, great mixture of songs and Chris is an awesome host.
thanks again for a rockin' night,
Easily the best show I've ever been too. The lighting kicked ass. Hopefully I'll get to go to Keith's Bash. Keep Rocking!!!!
Peace
you guys rocked like you always do...just one question though chris...do you often lick things that often on stage? hahaha...love you guys...keep rockin' it the old school way.
When, oh when, will Sloan stop getting screwed over? You guys deserved way more air time at Edgefest. Why didn't the Edge schedule you for an evening performance? Ok, if you had a scheduling conflict then that's understandable. If not, then I'm really at a loss for words about why you, in my opinion, didn't get the respct you truly deserve. I still loved seeing you play, but I'm looking really forward to a concert where Sloan is the headlining act. By the way, Action Pact is AMAZING! Hope to see you soon:-)
Jay might have been sick which would have explained it. I don't think I've ever seen a musician so unhappy to be onstage. He was the same way except even worse at the Captain Jack's Sit Down Fish Palace show in San Juan Capistrano. That place was ridiculous: all seating, no standing except way at the back. There couldn't have been more than 50 people (probably less) there. They did a medley of requests at the end from some chicks who were at the Pomona show as well (I think.) A mostly shambolic but fun night. Chris looked to be having a good time; Patrick and Andrew were neutral, Jay looked seriously pissed.
Are there any Sloan fans in the audience? There are? Then shout it with me:
SSSSLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN!!!!
SSSSLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN!!!!
Let me tell you folks a little story about three musical pilgrims and their encounter with Canada’s best band.
The idea was formed in the minds of Mr. James Peters (that’s me) and Mr. Jeff Sandelli, my esteemed colleague. As I was looking at the band’s latest tour dates on the website earlier this spring, I saw that their closest foray toward Manitoba/Northwestern Ontario would be a Sunday evening show at the 400 Bar in Minneapolis on May 12.
“Wanna go see Sloan in Minneapolis on May 12?” I asked Jeff half-jokingly. His exuberantly positive response caught me a bit off guard. Nonetheless, we both filed the idea away in the deep recesses of our minds and continued to prepare for exams.
As the weeks passed, we began to take the opportunity more seriously. After all, it was a great opportunity to both see our favourite band and go on a road trip at the same time.
By the time the much-anticipated weekend arrived, we had acquired a “third wheel” on our road trip, whom we were very happy to have join us. Ms. Loretta Friesen is a good friend of mine, and had become acquainted with Jeff earlier. Although not a Sloan fan, she vowed to study up on them by reading their chapter in “Have Not Been the Same: The CanRock Renaissance,” a book I would recommend to any Canadian music fan.
Bringing Loretta along would prove to be no mean feat. Loretta was 20 years old, just over month short of her 21st birthday, so she would technically not be able to enter the venue to see the band.
“Whatever shall we do?” I thought to myself, imagining a voice much like Anne of Green Gables speaking in my mind.
Jeff came up big with a solution: “Why don’t you send (manager) Mike Nelson an e-mail? He’s a good guy; maybe he could pull some strings.”
I followed the suggestion, and what do you know, Mike was able to get Loretta on the band’s guest list. Mike assured us that there wouldn’t be much of a chance of the bouncer carding someone on the guest list. What a guy.
When we got to the show, we were a little dismayed to find that the bouncer indeed still wanted to card Loretta despite her being on the guest list. Our dismay was allayed as he read her driver’s license and then let her through anyway. Maybe it was because she was on the guest list. Or maybe he was just plain stupid.
Sloan was incredible. This was my fifth time seeing them (Twice at Le Rendezvous in Winnipeg, once at the Walker Theatre in Winnipeg, once at DV8 in Ottawa and now the dingy 400 Bar in Minny). Jeff as well has seen the band on multiple occasions. They were really tight and didn’t seem to mind a relatively quiet audience. Highlights from the show itself include Chris Murphy making fun of a guy who shouted out “You wore that shirt last night!” Another audience interaction story: During an awkward between-song silence, some guy yelled at Patrick Pentland, “You rock, Patrick!” He didn’t miss a beat, responding with, “Way to talk, dude.”
The most shocking event occurred after the show. The place cleared out like it was a fire drill. I couldn’t believe it; almost no one stuck around. Of course, we were not so quick to abandon the venue.
Our patience was rewarded soon afterward, as Chris Murphy sauntered out from the backstage area. He made for the back of the room, but Jeff got caught up in the excitement. “Hey Chris,” he called. Murphy turned and headed back in our direction. When he arrived, he began to chat with Jeff about the show.
I turned around to see that Patrick Pentland was behind me. I reached him at the same time as another fan, the “Obligatory Pink Pants-Wearing Drunk Dancing Woman,” whom we dubbed “Pink Pants” for obvious reasons.
She got in the first words: “Hey Patrick, you have to go get Chris out of the back for me. I HAVE to talk to him.”
Pentland’s response was perfectly patronizing. “But he’s right over there,” he said, pointing to Murphy, who was in fact two steps away and directly in her line of vision.
“Oh,” she exclaimed as she scampered to Murphy’s side.
After that, it was like a Sloan free-for-all for the three of us Canadian travellers. We chatted with each member individually for at least 10 minutes each. Golden nuggets include Andrew Scott’s (ahem) mellowed-out state of existence as he spoke to us, and Jay Ferguson joking that a small second hand music store was the only good thing he remembered about Winnipeg.
All members of the band were impressed that we would drive the seven hours from Manitoba to see them in a small bar in Minneapolis. They were possibly a little disturbed when they heard that we were driving back that very same night and not staying at a hotel or something. Murphy left us with some timely advice, “Don’t try to be a hero.” We didn’t, and we made it back to Canada in one piece.
If the members of Sloan were reading this article, they might think that I am a typical gawking nerd fan. I would dispute that. I am a self-aware, creative human being. I am simply grateful that a band of Sloan’s magnitude would make time to relate to their fans on a level beyond “Hello” and signing autographs.
Way to go, boys.
Can't beat this.... awesome band in an awesome venue!!!! Been to Sloan before, and they didn't let down once again!
This show rocked! I had listened to you guys for years, but this was the first show of yours that I was able to get to. Amazing! Absolutley amazing! I have been counting the days until I can catch you guys again!
My buddies and I drove down from T.O. to see this show and it was well worth it. The venue was great and there were a lot of true Sloan fans in fine form. Detroit Rock City and Chris running through the crowd were just two of the highlights.
I was a new listener to Sloan when I came to this show. It was truly amazing to watch this band--definitely one of the better live shows I've seen. Please come back to Chicago!
It's called Sensory Deprivation, and it's on Between The Bridges.
Another great Andy song: Seems So Heavy from Navy Blues. "Watching from below, I'm reminded/ My girl is ready." Great line.
Wasn't at the show unfortunately.
So when is Sloan coming back to Amsterdam? I'll write a review and if you even let me make pictures...
I think this show was at a club Called the BLACK CAT...I was there with my old friend Seth Gordon of the band The Mockers...just a blistering wall of power pop...outstanding...I missed your recent Wash. D.C. show...because I moved away to different town, and just found this site...that show was probably the tour for between the bridges I guess...it rocked though..sorry I missed your recent tour...power pop rules!!
Music is my drug,
John Martin
New Market, Maryland
It was an awsome one
what was the tune called that Andrew sang with that cool riff?
© 2013 Sloan. All Rights Reserved.