Sloan – Live at The Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto
Sloan rolled into Toronto for a Friday night show at The Phoenix Concert Theatre, and a packed house greeted them for a night full of energy, singing, and good times.
With a two-set show (plus the encore) coming near the end of a busy touring year, Sloan brought 27 songs to life for the hundreds of fans in attendance. In fact, the crowd on Friday night was one of the busiest we’ve ever seen at the venue. Fans were locked into their spots on the floor, ticket holders in the balcony were on their feet grooving, and making your way to the bar was no easy feat. It was perfect.
Fans of the band know that Chris Murphy, Patrick Pentland, Jay Ferguson, and Andrew Scott do things a little differently. They know that the guys are going to take their turns singing lead on the songs they’ve written. They know they’re going to see some switching on instruments. And they know that each of the band’s members is as big a part of the show as the rest.
Even after 27 years in the industry as a band, it’s still cool to see them working together with the same equality and fluidity as they roll on.
Note: If you want to read a great piece about Sloan from a talented writer and big fan of the band, check out this post by Ben Lindbergh at theringer.com!
With a monster setlist, Sloan was able to play a solid mix of new music (their newest album, Twelve was released in April 2018) classic hits, and fan favourites throughout the night. But no matter what song they were playing, no matter if it’s never been on the radio, no matter if it’s less than a year old… there wasn’t a single song in the Friday night double set Sloan show that didn’t have fans singing along.
A lot of bands play new music at shows to introduce it to fans. Some bands that have been making music for 25+ years don’t bother to play more than their new single to go with the classics at a big show like this one. But Sloan, with the knowledge that their fans are all-in and have been listening to 12 for the last seven months, went ahead and played 10 of the 12 songs from the album and the Toronto crowd was ready for them.
From the top of the show, with Spin Our Wheels and All Of The Voices (new) followed up by Who Taught You To Live Like That and Fading Into Obscurity (2006’s Never Hear The End Of It) the band showed that they were ready to cover as much of their catalogue as they could. And on the floor, as the set went on, we watched people dance, we heard them sing, and we saw them smile big and wide and full of happiness.
Call them power-pop or pop-rock or the Canadian Beatles, really call them whatever you want. In the end, after nearly three decades on the scenes, these Toronto via Halifax musicians still have the love of their fans, the talent to get it done, and enough love for what they do to keep going.
On Friday night they packed The Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto as the calendar turned to December. And from the moment they walked on stage, there was a love and energy and welcoming spirit in the room. And all of it centred around Murphy, Pentland, Ferguson, and Scott as they did their thing.
Check out the setlist from Friday night’s Sloan concert in Toronto and more photos from the pit. And stay tuned, we have a feeling these guys have a lot more left in the tank for more music and shows!
Sloan, Toronto December 1, 2018 Setlist
Set One:
? Spin Our Wheels
? All Of The Voices
? Who Taught You To Live Like That?
? Fading Into Obscurity
? It’s In Your Eyes
? Step On It, Jean
? Gone For Good
? People Of The Sky
? Losing California
? Right To Roam
? Follow The Leader
Set Two:
? Don’t Stop (If It Feels Good Do It)
? Don’t You Believe A Word
? The Day Will Be Mine
? The Other Man
? Essential Services
? Live On
? Year Zero
? 44 Teenagers
? Gimme That
? Burn For It
? I Hate My Generation
? Wish Upon A Satellite
? If It Feels Good Do It
Encore:
? The Lines You Amend
? The Rest Of My Life
? The Good In Everyone
Photos of Sloan at The Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto – December 1, 2018
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They didn’t play Money City Maniacs! It was the one tune that would have brought the house down and made me so happy. Why Sloan? Why???
It would have been huge… no doubt about it!
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