Last Saturday Janis and I went to the Sam Roberts Band and Hollerado double bill at the Winspear Centre here in Edmonton, courtesy of Bullfrog Power.
The opening band Hollerado is an indie power pop band from Ottawa. A band I had never heard til this show. While they were alright, certainly nothing I would rush out to buy or go out of my way to see again. The band was energetic and at times reminded me a little bit of Weezer. Lead singer Menno Versteeg was all over the stage trying his best to get the crowd in to it. It seemed there were a lot of women that knew and liked them as they were up dancing and singing along. He did a pretty good job considering most in the audience didn't know who they were.
Hollerado
This was my fifth time seeing Sam Roberts Band in concert, and having seen them that many times, I knew what I was in for. A good blue collar rock n' roll show. Sam is out on tour in support of his latest album Terraform.
Why this tour was booked in mostly soft seat venues is beyond me. To me Sam Roberts should be playing general admission shows where people can swill beers and dance.
The band opened with the title track from the new album which sounded good, as I am not familiar with the new stuff. There were some older tunes from the "We Were Born in a Flame" album played that I knew much better, songs like "Brother Down","Hard Road", "Where Have All The Good People Gone?" and "Don't Walk Away Eileen" the members of Hollerado came out to help on this one. All those songs got a great reaction from the crowd with everyone singing along, especially too "Good People Gone". I never realized how repetitive that song really is. I used to like that song but have to say, not so much anymore.
Sam and the band rocked it out pretty good, not as good as the show I saw last summer at the outdoor Interstellar Rodeo Festival, but still good. I found the stage lighting to be dark. The band was tight, and looked to be enjoying themselves on stage. I noticed he had a horn player with him this time too, maybe he was there last summer too, not sure, but I noticed this time, he added a new twist to a few songs. Sam didn't have a lot of interaction with the audience during the show, until the end, when he jumped off the stage and shook hands and high fived those in the front row, and then made his way down the aisles to the back of the venue.
All and all it was a good show. Good times!!!
Sam Roberts Band.
No comments:
Post a Comment