Sam Roberts has been active in the music business for over twenty years now and hadn’t played in Victoria (with his band) for a decade before his sold out show Capital Ballroom on February 23rd. From his debut album in 2002 all the way up to last year’s The Adventures of Ben Blank, the man knows what he is doing on stage and does not disappoint. The last time I saw him was at Sasquatch! 2011 down in Washington, so I was eager to see Roberts rock out again.
Local band Miina (formerly known as Carmanah) opened the show with their soulful rock. They’ve played a few festivals recently – Rifflandia and Song & Surf – so this was my third time seeing them live. They played songs from debut EP Slow Motion, kicking off their set with the single Pressure. Their music is definitely more introspective and feminine – it’s a softer sound but with a sultry edge to it. Once again, as noted in other reviews of mine, people were talking throughout their set due to the quieter nature of the songs. Halfway through the set, singer Laura Mina Mitic spoke about the band having a fish fry with Sam Roberts a few years ago – drummer Graham caught the fish and another band member cooked it – it was a “super west coast” experience. They closed their set with Cruel Companion and drifted off stage after a solid 30 minute set.
Sam Roberts Band graced the stage and got down to business swiftly. Their energy was steady and the banter with the audience was minimal, Roberts preferring to let the music do the talking. He did chat about his history wtih Victoria, talking about opening for The Tragically Hip at the Royal Theatre many years ago and staying at the Strathcona (leading me to wonder if he ended up at Big Bad Johns…). Diving back into the music, Them Kids had a big sing along moment, as did Where Have All The Good People Gone? The band sounded as good, if not better than their recorded works. One of their newest songs, Projection, had folks dancing, and Don’t Walk Away Eileen was the highlight of the night – the audience lost it and went wild for it. If you can find me a Canadian that can resist belting out that chorus, I owe you a beer. The encore kept everyone in place – Roberts played Everybody Needs Love alone with acoustic guitar and the band rejoined him on stage for Brother Down to close down the night. It was the perfect end to the set – his breakout single in 2002 leading us out into the crisp night air.
All in all, it was a night of great anthemic Canadian rock that I won’t soon forget. Please don’t wait another decade to return back to us, Mr. Roberts.
