Sammy Reigns Supreme

I'm sure you've had this happen to you:
You have a memory of something being amazing, of that thing being the absolute best version of itself that it possibly could have been. Then you get the chance to experience it again-- You know it can't possibly be as good, that you must have been over-exaggerating its greatness in your mind, and so you prepare yourself to be disappointed- well maybe not disappointed, but maybe you lower your expectations so as to avoid disappointment. Then, THEN, you get to experience it and you think to yourself "What the hell was I on? This thing is just as freakin amazing as I remember it being!" For some that thing might be an old movie, it might be grandma's chocolate cake, or a roller coaster you used to ride as a kid...

For me that thing is seeing Sam Roberts Band live in concert.

I love Sam Roberts. Not in some creepy I-want-to-have-his-babies kind of way, just in the good old fashioned band-crush I-want-to-watch-him-sing-all-the-time-forever kind of way. The first time I saw Sam Roberts band perform was the moment I truly fell in love with music. It was at The Kee to Bala, up near my cottage and it was the summer after We Were Born in a Flame had just come out. I hadn't liked "Brother Down" at all-  I thought "Don't Walk Away Eileen was pretty good - but mostly I just loved the idea of going to see a concert up at the cottage (in the same venue my uncles had gone to see shows when they were teenagers...) and Sam Roberts was the only act playing who I had vaguely heard of, so I convinced my best friend to go with me.

Walking into The Kee was the first time I ever felt at home in a concert venue. Everyone was wearing flip flops and sweatpants, their hair still wet from swimming or stuffed under a hat so they didn't have to worry about washing it. When the opener came on stage (Danny Michel if I remember correctly) it became quickly apparent that the building was equally as 'cottagy' (aka shakey- a boat house whose floor all but literally bows when everyone jumps...) and I was already loving it. By the time Sammy finished the first song I was having the time of my life. In all honestly, the only downside is that every time I am about to see Sam Roberts Band play live I think "This can't possibly live up to that first time at The Kee..."

Then I am proven wrong.
Every. Single. Time.

Sam Roberts is the most consistently awesome band I have ever, and likely will ever, have the privilege to see perform live. Hands Down. Hells, I know several people who don't even like Sam Roberts who will drop everything to see them play! They can take a room-full of people who would normally never even be in the same section of town, and turn them into a mob of like-minded singing and dancing happy-people in the time it takes to sing one chorus of "Where have all the good people gone."  A soccer mom, a punk with a mohawk, a hipster teenager, a twelve year old kid, a biker dude, a square dad, and everyone in between. Why? Because they are SO. GOOD. LIVE.

Tonight I saw Sam Roberts Band at The National Arts Centre, here in Ottawa. I usually don't have the highest opinion of theatre venues for concerts- not the kinds of concerts I enjoy anyways- but Sam Roberts Band took the normal weirdness of rock-bands-in-theatre-settings and just threw it out the window. Threw it out the window and stomped on it while playing incessantly amazing guitar riffs. As usual.

I had my classic "Oh man, I forgot how much I love Nuge [Dave Nugent, the guitarist]!" moment a few seconds into the first song (it happens every time. EVERY TIME. I have no idea how I always forget about it, but I do. Its quite an odd habit...) and it just continued to get better from there. They rocketed through raucous and infinitely spectacular renditions of "Detroit 67," "Brother Down," "Them Kids," and my all time favourite "Dead End," (to name but a few) while slower ones like "Taj Mahal" and "Uprising Down Under" (which I don't think I've heard him perform live in at least five or six years... ) provided us with moments in which to catch our breath between the otherwise-non-stop dancing (despite being at the front of an incredibly INCREDIBLY high balcony. That's just the power of SRB, they are so good that they make you forget about the very real possibility of death via falling off of a balcony while dancing your feet off...).

Speaking of dancing, I also feel it necessary to mention the spectacular fancy footwork of Mr Dave Nugent. Its always a daunting task to share a stage with someone as charismatic as Sam Roberts, but Nuge always manages to steal my attention for a good portion of the show. His absorbing guitar playing, and enthusiastically sweaty shuffle punctuate the mid-song jam-sessions in the best possible way. The very few moments when I find my attention wandering (usually maybe once or twice per performance, often near the end of a particularly long instrumental break) I just direct my gaze stage left and am immediately drawn back into the action. I'm not someone who inherently finds guitar playing intriguing, but I could watch Nuge play guitar All. Day. Long. He just so clearly loves what he is doing that you can't help but be drawn in. Next time you're at a Sammy show, take a moment and direct your attention nugewards- you won't be disappointed.

So-- fantastic musicianship, jam sessions that expertly walk the line between wall-of-sound and melodic goldmine, enthusiastic playing and charismatic singing- what else can I say? All the pieces are there, but its really the gestalt of the performance- the sum being so much more than its parts- that's the bread and butter of Sam Roberts Band live. Its the way everyone jumps to their feet the moment the band walks on stage. The way every single song feels like the best song of the night. The way you can't help but jump and dance around clapping your hands. The way Sam spends ten minutes at the end of the show shaking everyone's hands and thanking them for coming (Still! From the tiny hundred-person bars to Massey Hall and the NAC, he is STILL walking down the stage thanking people for coming. That's amazing, even for a Canadian!) The way everyone has an amazing time, the audience, the band, the ushers (yes, I saw you dancing in your vest and bow tie...)... even listening to a live performance now on my computer all of those things come through. When they're in front of an audience The Sam Roberts Band comes alive in a way that makes you realize what being alive means. And that's really something. That's Music with a capital 'M'.

-E

If you've never heard Sam Roberts Band LIVE take a listen to the CBC recording of their Massey Hall Performance last summer- though I have to warn you, you may have the sudden urge to check out the Sam Roberts touring schedule...

So There's This Band I Think You Might Like...

I love music (yeah yeah you know that already), I love seeing music live (you know that already too), and I love loving both of those things (ditto)- that feeling, however, that feeling when you pass a band on to someone else and they end up loving the music, loving the show, loving the band... le sigh. Sharing the love... makes me feel like a bona fide hippie- and not in the unwashed and smelly kind of way.

I've said before that when I love a band, I'm not that bothered whether other people like them too, and that's true (only if they DO happen to like them, it kind of makes me super excited). That extends to pretty much any band I recommend to someone; I mean I might hear something and think its okay, but feel like it is right up Krista's or Em's or George's alley and then pass it on. Now even though I am not totally enamored with this band, if they like it, if I was right and it is up their alley, that is such a great feeling. If they really like it, if they love it, well then. Even better.

I am not someone who recommends bands willy nilly (neither do I trust the recommendations of those who do)! Recommending a band is like recommending a movie or a restaurant or a book: Just because I like it, doesn't mean everyone else will or should like it too. You have to take into consideration each person's individual taste, what other music they like, their favourite bands, and most importantly what it is that they like about their favourite music/bands.  Someone who likes K-os for the singing parts is not necessarily gonna like Eminem, while someone who likes The Streets for their every-day-life lyrics would likely enjoy Scroobius Pip... I like to find out what it is about a song or a group that makes someone love it and then keep on the lookout for things that remind me of that...

Either way, you also have to be careful about how you recommend it... "You're gonna love these guys, they are sooooo good!" is almost as unflaggingly doomed as "You like the colour blue so you will love these blueberries!" Something like "So I found this band, they kind of remind me of Library Voices, maybe not quite as energetic, but you should give them a shot- I think you might like them!"- much more direct, much more honest, much more effective. Tells them what to expect and doesn't set the standard so high that they're bound to be disappointed regardless of how much they should logically love it.

When I first discover that a friend is in into music (sure arguably few people are not into music, but I mean 'into music' in an active way, where they will just sit down and listen to an album without doing other things, or get a craving for a certain band, or love going to live shows...) I start gathering information so I can make better recommendations. Making mental notes of which music they like and why. I mean its not a recommendation-a-month type of thing, more of a keep-an-eye-out matter, but I like to know what I'm keeping an eye out for. Of course if their tastes fall in line with mine I am bound to be passing on music on a more frequent basis, but regardless of my own reaction to new music my second question when I discover a new band is always 'who else do I know who would like this?"

Loving music is a pretty personal thing. Having a favourite band is a pretty personal thing. And recommending a possibly-future-band-like should be a pretty personal thing too. Don't cop out when passing-on bands: one good recommendation is so much better than ten unconsidered ones...!