Mat Holden, Arts Contributor
The evening of Mar. 15 was cold — the coldest night in a long time. But that didn’t stop Sloan from taking the stage at Celebration Square.
They did, however, complain about it. “I heard that Joel Plaskett had balmy weather last night,” said lead vocalist Chris Murphy. “Thanks, Joel.”
Decked out in full snowsuits, the band looked more prepared to embark on an arctic expedition than play a rock show. “What kind of gloves are you wearing?,” Murphy asked guitarist Patrick Pentland, showing the crowd that he had been playing bass with gloves on.
In fact all four members of Sloan, as well as a backing keyboardist, were playing with fingerless gloves on. Between each song the members would stand in front of the small space heaters placed by their amps. But the cold had little effect on the music.
The set list for the night played like the band’s best of album; sticking exclusively to the singles that made the band so popular in the last two decades. “We played our first show twenty years ago this week and this song just might be the first song we ever played live,” Murphy told the crowd before the band launched into “Underwhelmed.”
There was little stage banter during the show, with Murphy being the only band member to say anything. The others played their respective parts while looking cold. “Jay asked not to play any fiddly guitar parts because he can’t feel his fingers, but we have to do this one,” Murphy announced as the band started into “The Other Man.”
The crowd of a few hundred, about half the size of the previous night’s Joel Plaskett Emergency show, were nothing if not dedicated. It was easy to see that the people who chose to brave the weather were there out of their love for the band. Every song turned into a sing-along. At one point Murphy started to clap to the beat. “You guys look amazing, but I can’t hear anything with all those gloves,” he told the crowd afterwards.
While the show was musically well-performed, it was clear that the band was not enjoying it. They played the songs and they left. “Come see us indoors anytime,” Murphy joked as they left the stage.
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