Sloan have staying power. And they sure know how to bring back those pleasant memories of the ’90s
The Canadian indie rock icons, including guitarists Patrick Pentland and Jay Ferguson, bassist Chris Murphy and drummer Andrew Scott plus touring keyboardist Gregory Ma
cDonald, sure know how to put on a show as they showed an enthusiastic crowd at Average Joes, Monday, April 11. And left them all leaving with big smiles on their faces.
As promised on the One Chord to Another anniversary tour, they played their beloved 1996 Cd from front to back and in the process showed just how diverse they are as a band. They seamlessly switched between scrappy punk rock to gorgeous Beatles style pop chock full of vocal harmonies, a touch of big riffed classic rock and a smattering of mournful, introspective, shoe-gazing mid-’90s indie-rock.
I always get a picture of the set list at the beginning of the show to help remember what a band played. They show their sense of humour on this set list as each song in the first set was renamed something to do with food. Their sense of humour was contagious as the crowd sang along with the hits.
After bassist/ vocalist Chris Murphy encouraged the crowd to come to the front of the stage by quipping “There’s no moat here,” they came crashing out of the gate with their big hit “The Good in Everyone (The Food in Everyone on the set list).
Guitarist Pat Murphy sported a big, bushy Santa Claus beard and was rock solid, holding down the rhythm, playing some hot solos and singing his share of lead vocals. Audience members drones of “Slooooaaaaan, Sloaaaan” were punctuated by “We love you Patrick,” as he graciously bowed in appreciation.
Each band member get to sing lead
vocals, not to mention effortlessly traded instruments, sometimes mid song. During one extended jam, Pentland and MacDonald soloed on piano and percussion while Ferguson took Murphy’s bass as he took Scott’s sticks behind the kit as Murphy grabbed a weatherbeaten Gibson SG and took his place in front of the stage to sing a couple songs before returning to the drums, also during another solo.
I enjoyed “Junior Panthers” (named Junior Dinners on the set list) laid back, ambient pop vibe sung by Ferguson.
“Lines You Amend,” (Lines You Ate) was an immediate crowd favourite for which Murphy, back on bass, got the crowd to gleefully sing along.
They ended the first set with “400 Metres (400 Platters),“ and promised to be back after a break.
Their second set began with Patrick Pentland wielding a three humbucker pickup SG to blast through their suitably AC DC influenced anthem “ Money City Maniacs” which had the audience singing along.
This set (the songs were listed by their normal titles on this set list) was was a greatest hits and favourite obscurities filled set featuring tracks from the rest of their CDs.
Andrew Scott rendered his drums to Murphy and took up his SG again for a fantastic big riffed classic rock style number “Sensory Deprivation,” from their 1999 album “Between The Bridges” which turned into a genre spanning jam between the members.
Sloan have a lot of songs, many of which are immediately recognizable by the melodies, though not often the lyrics, so they sprinkled plenty of these throughout their set as well as others not as well known from various EPs.
But they all featured those superb vocal melodies and toe tapping beats.
They wound down their show just before 11 a.m. with “Coax Me” and “If It Feels Good Do It,” before being called back for an encore.
— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
