Review: Sam Roberts Band – Civic Center April4

Thankfully my last Media Ethics class wasn’t too long at all (although I was getting worried when they were going off on a tangent about the Internet as a public space. Yikes!) and I breezed out of the class around 8:30. PLENTY of time to get to the Civic Center for the show. I managed to score 27/30 on my last mid-term also. I love that class. Although, I think the exam may be killer. I must study a lot for that one.

Get to the Civic Center and they don’t even ask me for a student ID. I figured as much. It’s a free concert, what do the guards care?

Walked down to the floor (which took me awhile as I walked towards the exit accidentally, not the entrance) and settled in to catch the end of the Dears set. I don’t know the Dears but I have heard good things. Feedback was good at the end so I figured I would check them out some other time.

Lo and behold I find Vero’s friends in the crowd which was a welcome surprise as I wasn’t with anyone at the concert. Chantal and Pascal and I had a great time waiting for Sam Roberts to hit the stage and when he did, the excitement was in the air. There was also a lot of marijuana. Leave it to a gathering of Ottawa U and Carleton U students for the Pandamonium event (I’m assuming this is a play on the fabled Panda Games of yesteryear) to make us have to sit in an arena full of smoke. I would like to jump ahead in the story and note how Sam Roberts was having a laugh when he caught a whiff of the smoke while playing Hard Road and he was laughing when he hit the line “…there must be something in the air, in the air.”.

The band starts out with With a Bullet and it’s goodness all around. I haven’t seen these guys since Bluesfest last year so I am pumped. They are in full form. I can’t get a good view of the entire stage so I focus on Sam and Dave for the most part.

The setlist is rockin and they hit a valley of songs for a bit until they rev it back up.

Highlight of the night is definitely Mind Flood where I realize that I am listening in stereo. Am I insane? Have I never experienced stereo sound at a concert before? I must have. But the crazy effect that Dave had going on this guitar was amazing as it panned from left to right. The people around me where just taking it all in – knowing that a good jam would be coming along. Then out of nowhere Sam starts strumming some chords in amongst the sonic chaos. Beautiful. The song did not disappoint (as it never does). I remember listening to bootlegs of Paranoia and remembering how great of a jam it was but compared to this, it’s nothing.

The concert had all the goodness that the Sam Roberts Band can deliver. Clapping along to Brother Down, the crowd anthem likes of Where Have All The Good People Gone? – I always find myself jumping around when it builds up to the end part where they start singing “Come on! Come on! People come on!” I can never stop myself.

The tracks off of Chemical City are just as good. They had some good times during Bridge To Nowhere as someone’s bra was thrown and hit Sam right in the face! I unfortunately missed it as I was looking elsewhere but Chantal told me it was hilarious.

Highlight of the night (other than Mind Flood) was seeing Magic on My Mind live (I love the rockingness of the live version compared to the recorded one) and they debuted a new song! The song is listed on the setlist (thanks for the help in getting the setlist Chantal! I’m telling you, women ALWAYS have an easier time getting a setlist from the stage crew compared to a man.) as Fixed To Ruin. It was definitely a catchy tune and had us clapping from the beginning to the end. I don’t know how to describe it. Not a full out rocker but more of a Magic on My Mind/Beatles vibe to it. No doubt we’ll hear more of it as the summer approaches and more concerts appear.

My only wish is that someone made a recording of the concert. Ottawa is not well known for the taper scene (unless I am oblivious to it) so I’m satisfied in just filing this one away in my memory. I can’t express how much I enjoy a Sam Roberts Band concert. They know how to rock. That’s why I love them.

Setlist:

• With A Bullet
• The Resistance
• The Bootleg Saint
• Hard Road
• Taj Mahal
• Dead End
• Bridge To Nowhere
• Brother Down
• An American Draft Dodger in Thunder Bay
• Where Have All The Good People Gone?
• Uprising Down Under
• Mind Flood

• Magic on My Mind
• The Gate
• Fixed To Ruin