The first time I saw Rich Aucoin -- opening for Arkells at the Commodore nearly 11 years ago -- he instantly became one of my favourite live acts. So of course I was excited when he was finally able to return to Vancouver, while touring his 2020 album United States.

I caught the tail end of the opener, The Daveed Saband, who had a pretty high energy rock sound, and seemed like a good opener for the night.

Once they were done, and while the stage was being set, the overhead projector fired up in anticipation, telling us to keep our arms and legs inside the universe, and that in space no one can hear you scream (so we'd better be loud when yelling along).

It wasn't long before Rich Aucoin introduced the set, saying we first had to hear a word from our "sponsor", a jelly commercial aptly scored by "Bootylicious", followed by some faux-trailers and the opening credits -- as usual, featuring fun facts about some of the people who were in attendance.

After being introduced to our narrator (Michael Caine) and a brief mention of the illness that took the world in 2019 (the major motion picture Cats) it was time our feature presentation, as Rich lead the audience to a singalong to some 20th Century fanfare.

Aucoin launched into "Meaning in Life", transitioning into "Yelling in Sleep", and then get the entire room shouting along to one of my favourites, "Want to Believe", which was mashed up with "Four More Years".
Rich was joined only by drummer Tony Dallas, who was on-point all night but especially got to show off during "Undead". Tony matched Rich's incredible energy, even when stuck behind the kit, as Rich was able to run up and down the stage, and even into the crowd frequently.

The projector ran the whole set, showing lyrics to yell, chapter transitions, clips from Cats as well as other movies, memes, narration from Sir Michael Caine, and more, usually synced perfectly to the music. Though I've often said that as fun as the set is, it wouldn't be near as good without the music to back it up, and songs like "How It Breaks", incredibly catchy with heavy lyrics inspired by events of 2020, backed that up.

The climax of the set was "Are You Experiencing?", which saw the nostalgia-inducing rainbow parachute come out, stretched over the entre dance floor for everyone to jump under, as Rich joined everyone in the centre of the parachute, singing to/at/with them. Then all-too-quickly, the set came to an end with "It" — one last giant group song, Rich once again in the middle of the crowd, urging everyone not to “leave it all in our heads”.

Though that wasn’t quite the end of the night. But even though Rich never left the stage area, the finale had “encore energy”, as Rich sent everyone home with a singalong to Smash Mouth hit "All Star", lead by both himself and the disembodied voice of Michael Caine.

If (IF!) there is downside to Rich Aucoin’s shows, it’s that they always feels like they go by way too quick. But then again, by the end of it, I was exhausted... and I wasn’t even the one performing.
Rich has been saying recently there are only a few more years left in this particular version of his live show before he transitions to something new, so if you have a chance within the next few years, I implore you to do it!

setlist
Meaning in Life
Yelling in Sleep
Want to Believe / Four More Years
How it Breaks
Undead
Are You Experiencing?
The Other
It
All Star [Smash Mouth cover]