Sloan

holy cow sloan! That may have been the best show ever! Thanks for bringing the rock!

not much can beat a free sloan show. i feel bad that the crowd was a bit dazed by the sun and out of it, and not as energetic as a club show in new york or elsewhere. chris rightly dissed the crowd in a good way by saying it never used to be like that in new york. but you guys kicked ass as usual! nice handling of the drunk in the front row. thanks for coming out of your way for a day! nice to hear 'all used up', but no 'hfxnshc'!!!??? what's up with that?! that should be as given as 'money city'!! see you guys next time.

As always the boys rocked. They played a lot of uptempo stuff (no Action Pact though?). The acoustics were ok, and they kicked butt. The opening band—The Apostles of Hustle— on the other hand...whoa. They might have been the worst band I've ever seen in 20 years of concert-going. Anyways, it was great to hear Penpals live, and Losing California was awesome. Great job guys.

I have about 200 pictures to load from the show. Ah, they are coming!

Its moments like this in life when I just think "Woah." This moment was Sunday. I was really excited about Sloan in Central Park, like a 5 year old really. I was really sure 'how crowded' this free show was going to be. It could have turned out like a normal Sloan show or could have been packed because people are a sucker for free things. This would be my 6th time seeing Sloan by the way.

We were there real early, like noon. First ones there. That makes us awesome and lame at the same time. The crowd took a while to grew, but we were able to watch the soundcheck around noon. It looked like it was going to be good. Caught half of the Sloan soundcheck, and half of Apostle of Hustle. We then saw each member of Sloan walking out across the park. For some reason we thought that was interesting.

When the doors opened about 1:30, front row priority was not an issue. We had some hotdogs. They were chewy. The ketchup was gooey. Gross. Throughout the day we saw some members of AOH roaming around. .

I didn't care about the Duhks. They kind of bothered me.

Apostle of Hustle was great. Song after song they delivered. I didn't expect them to be so good live, but they kind of kicked their own record's ass. Thats a good thing. Whiteman is pretty interesting on stage. A lot of antics. I'd definatly see them again. You could see Jay (from Sloan) on the side of the stage with a camera. Actually I saw him come in dancing. That was priceless.

ANYWAY.....

5:30 came and the announcer came out and said "LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! HALIFAX'S OWN.......SLOANNNNNN!!!!" The crowd went crazy. Sloan entered the stage. It already looked like it was going to be the best show ever.

The boys opened up with 'Flying High Again,' which has improved dramatically since January. They then went into "Who Taught You to Live Like That" which is my favorite new Sloan song. That really got the crowd going. Patrick then took over lead vocals for "Losing California." This song is always great and fun to hear live. Chris then went into "Penpals", but before that, told us that 'This setlist looks like an all acoustic show. We take requests!" After "Penpals" Jay took over lead vocals for one of my all time favorite songs, "The Lines You Amend." That has to be the greatest song live. No kidding. After Jay finished, someone yelled out and requested "THE LINES YOU AMEND!!!" and Jay goes "Are you KIDDING me?" And laughed. Patrick then took over again for "Ill Placed Trust" which was rather rad live. It made me feel like dancing. Not really, but you know what I mean. Then Chris went into "Fading into Obscurity". Ah, thats such a good song live, especially when it picks up in the middle. Chris was quite the crowd man on Sunday with his struts down the stage and fan banter. I love the Murph.

Then the switching of the instruments began. Chris moved from bass to drums. Jay moved from guitar to bass. Andrew moved from drums to guitar. Patrick went nowhere and stayed on guitar. I felt bad leaving him out there. Andrew, who was wearing a lovely yellow shirt, went into "Golden Eyes". While this is not my favorite song in the world, it is certainly memorable. Then Andrew went into "Love is All Around". This is my favorite new Sabola song. Seriously. It kind of sends chills down my spine.
But then came my 'all time-Andrew-Scott-"Sabola" song...."People of the Sky." Oh my, did the band totally rock out on this one. They rocked out so hard in fact, that Chris broke the kick drum pedal! After this song, Chris got up and yelled "I AM THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD!!!!" as he held up his drumstick in one hand and the pedal in the other. While the drumkit was being fixed, Murph came to the front of the stage and said "WHO WANTS TO FIGHT ME!?!!" This went on for several minutes and was quite hillarious to say the least.
While they were waiting for Chris to get back to the drums, they started to go into "Something's Wrong." How appropiate!
Andrew finished up with "I've Gotta Try". Thats a great song to hear live as well.

The band went back to their regular instruments, and Chris went into "The Other Man." Around this time I think the whole 'hat thing' started....I think. This went on for a while. Someone kept throwing their hats at Chris. Chris wore one. That was sort of gross lol. When he threw it back it almost hit me, but I caught it and threw it back to the respective dude whose hat it was. I only caught it because it flew off track and nearly hit me in the eye.
"The Other Man" was really nice to hear live in Central Park on a sunny day with the band under trees. It was slightly chilling actually because I thought "wow I am so glad this is my favorite band." Thats meant to make you teary. Or not.

Then Jay launched into "C'mon C'mon" which is one of the best Sloan songs live period. Talk about making the crowd dance. I'm still dancing actually. Talk about energy. Seriously. Around this time Chris mentioned there were no "Sloan chants" going on, and that was upsetting to him. As they then started, Chris goes "What the hell is that?" and him and Patrick tried to conduct us all accordingly. This went on a few times lol. Chris said that New York has become too "Disneyfied". Agreed.

Then Patrick went into "All Used Up." I quite enjoyed that song. Yes. Before Chris started the next song he sayed "Why are my songs always so depressing? Well maybe they aren't that depressing, but after a Patrick song they sound depressing!" Chris then went into "Coax Me." I love it when they play this song. I love a slow Chris song. After the song he said 'Well maybe its not THAT depressing". Patrick went into "The Good in Everyone" which had Chris licking mic stands and all. Patrick songs ARE upbeat, aren't they? They then went into another Chris song "Keep on Thinkin'" which is a non depressing Chris song, and the harmonies on this song just blew us all out of the water yesterday. Seriously. They ended the set with "Money City Maniacs" which wasn't allowed to start according to Pentland and Murphy until we all clapped. This is always the best song live. It also involved the crowd participation with "HEY YOU!" and the singing of the end chorus. Some "SLLOOOOANNNN"s were also thrown in. :)

The band left the stage for a bit and came out for the encore, of course. The song? "If it Feels Good Do It". YES. Talk about one of the greatest songs live. I feel like its always a great ending to a show. Talk about Sloannnnn chants. Chris Murphy + Scissor Kicks=Awesome.

After the show, my friend and I waited around for a few minutes for the band. Its nearly a tradition to meet them after the show and snag a picture. Patrick and Andrew were the first ones out but a family of 4 and some other girl were talking to them first. Then came out Chris, attacked by a family of 3 from Canada. This and only a few other people were waiting after the show.

Then came out Jay. Yay! We talked to Jay for a while. I told him how my cousin's daughter said that 'he's cute'. Jay said she has 'bad taste" followed by 'just kidding!' Then we talked a bit, and mentioned my puppy Henry Jay shares the 'Jay' part of their name. He said 'that was cute. people have named their children Sloan after the band too'. I also told him that the last time we met them, my friend accidently cut off Chris's head, and the picture was just me and his chin and Jay replied "his chin IS his best feature!" and laughed lol. After snagging a picture, we let him mingle with some others. He is super adorable. He signed a picture for my sister with 'XO'. awww!

After that we hit up Andrew. He is rad. We had a short conversation and snagged a picture as well. He always shakes our hand while leaving and says 'thanks for coming', as I replied "its always a pleasure." My friend asked if it was a 'business transaction'. Andrew laughed :)

Then we bothered Chris. Murph is one of my favorite people EVER. We talked to him for a bit, and he asked 'what is wrong with New Yorkers these days?' He also asked what other Canadian men with liked and as my friend said "You and Jay..." I interupted and said "Sam Roberts" and Chris said "OH I meant MEN"....haha apparently Chris hates Sam, or thinks he is a woman. He's pretty hillarious. While taking a picture together he took my hand, put his arm around me and started to slow dance with me. This was BEYOND adorable. I love Chris. Really I do.

Then we went over to talk to Patrick a bit. My friend mentioned to him "My sister is having a baby and if its a boy its going to be named Patrick Christopher!" and then Patrick was talking about baby names he suggested "Gordon." He was then telling us about his kids, Marshall and his newborn, Ivy. Cute :) We talked to Patrick for quite some time. My friend mentioned we mistakenly had a zoom in picture of his chin last time and it 'showed a zit'. Patrick replied with "NEVERRRR!!!!" lol. When taking the picture my friend asked 'Is it on?' and then Patrick asked me if she was 'fukin retarded?' That is SO classic Patrick lol.

Then on our way out, we looked back as we were by the gates to leave, and Jay waved to us goodbye.

It was the best day EVER.
I love Sloan!!!!

Pictures Here but I'll Upload to the Sloan site Later.

http://s127.photobucket.com/albums/p149/FireEyedGirl/SLOAN%20with%20apostle%20of%20hustle%20Central%20Park/?start=all

SETLIST:
flying high again
who taught you to live like that
losing california
penpals
the lines you amend
setlist says someone i can be true with *but they didnt play it*
ill placed trust
fading into obscurity
golden eyes
love is all around
people of the sky
something's wrong
i've gotta try
the other man
c'mon c'mon
all used up
coax me
good in everyone
keep on thinkin'
money city maniacs

encore:
if it feels good, do it

This was my 4th Sloan show in NY in the last 6 months (I'm counting the Hoboken show in NJ). The band did a great job of mixing things up this time. The CP show was more of a greatest hits than strictly NHTEOI. Great show and crowd. By the way, thanks for taking the time to talk with my wife and me after the Brooklyn show. Please come back to the NY area soon.

I'm surprised no one has posted anything yet. Eh. I haven't seen the guy's since June or July of 2005, but not for a lack of trying. Anyway, it was "Pride Day" in NYC, so there was a massive parade down 5th avenue. Aside from that, this gig was the shortest Sloan gig I have ever been to, yet it was one of the most "all inclusive" set's ever. It was the first time that I'd ever seen "C'mon, C'mon" or "Keep On Thinkin" live, and they were both great. It was a pretty warm day, and, of course, the stage was facing the sun, so the guy's were pretty well blinded. I brought 6 people with me who'd never seen Sloan, 4 out of them had never even heard them and they all walked away looking to hear more. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Sloan are the only band saving rock and roll.

I was excited to be able to check out one of my favorite bands live again. I had just seen them recently when they were in Brooklyn (see review). Unfortunately, their show was a bit shorter than last time, because the middle act hogged too much stage time. The Appostles of ? (who cares). Still it was a good show. Hopefully, the good men of Sloan will make it to Long Island some time. How about that boys? The Duhks were also really good.

Great show in Central Park! It was a gorgeous day, and the sound was awesome. We thought the Duhks were excellent, but didn't really "get" the Apostles of Hustle. Didn't matter - we were there to see Sloan - and you delivered! The set list was near perfect (though too short - we're very spoiled). We see you every time you come to NYC - just saw you recently at the Bowery Ballroom (our favorite venue) and Maxwell's. Both of those were great as well, but somehow Central Park was better - the mix was right on the money. Got some great photos, will be uploading shortly. Hope to see you guys in NY again soon - you're the best thing to come to us from Canada since Mark Messier!