Wide Mouth Mason @ The Roxy -- November 30, 2023

A couple months ago, iconic Canadian blues rockers Wide Mouth Mason released their latest album, Late Night Walking. They then hit the road, with a run of Canadian dates that including a show in Vancouver at... the Roxy.

With no opening band for the evening, Shaun Verreault and Safwan Javed hit the stage, joined by bassist Reed Shimozawa, to start off with “Habitual” and from there ran through their deep catalogue. From my favourites off the new album, like “Unshoot a Gun” and gritted-teeth bitterness of “You Pushed Me” to classics like “Smile” and “Why”, which had the bar singing along.

Throughout the set, Shaun switched back and forth between guitars and pedal steel, showing off his “Tri-Slide” technique (joking that when playing, one hand looked like Edward Scissorhands, and the other like C3PO), and often songs burst into solos and jams, where Shaun could prove himself as one of the best guitarist in the country, hands down.

Other highlights included “Sugarcane”, which features a little bit of the Stones’ “You Can't Always Get What You Want” slipped in, and “This Mourning”, which surprisingly had a little bit of Blackstreet's “No Diggity”; as well as the softer “Long Distance Love”, an older song that Verreault wrote while going cross country on a train, and re-recorded for the new album.

The trio brought the main set to an “end” with the gloomy “Midnight Rain” and a huge blues jam “Mary Mary”, but (thankfully) didn't bother with performative encore. Shaun just asked the crowd to pretend they went away for a moment and came back, before finishing off with another old favourite, the raucous “My Old Self”.

Even though I've seen Shaun play some solo shows over the past few years, it had been nearly ten years(!) since I last saw Wide Mouth Mason live. And in that time, they hadn’t lost a step, having as much energy as ever, refining their sound.
Before the show I was thinking that they are one of the longest running bands I’ve consistently been a fan of (as opposed to other bands from the 90s, which I’ve kind of fallen off & stopped following) and this show was a great example of why.

setlist
Habitual
You Pushed Me
Bodies in Motion
Every Red Light
Only Child
Unshoot a Gun
Smile
Long Distance Love
Why
Get a Hold Of You
This Mourning
Companion (Lay Me Down)
Obvious
Minus Two Minutes
Sugarcane
Midnight Rain
Mary Mary
("encore")
My Old Self

The Strumbellas @ The Roxy -- 08/15/16

Last night was a special, invite-only/win-to-get-in show from The Strumbellas at The Roxy, presented by Jim Beam. The special VIP passes (which all three of us here at 3amR managed to finagle) included a bourbon tasting beforehand and a meet & greet with the band, before they took over the small club. 

But ahead of them, opening the night, was Toronto's Luke Austin. Joined by his band, they played some pretty straight forward, high-energy rock n roll. They were a strong opening band, their songs blending together a little bit, but definitely got the crowd pumped up. Especially with a cover of "Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival (or perhaps channelling Tina Turner's version) with somehow segued into "Lose Yourself" be Eminem, quite possibly the first time that combination has been mashed up. 

It wasn't long then before The Strumbellas hit the stage, the six members (donning wigs and hats they found backstage) starting off with "Wars" from their latest album Hope, which has been huge for the band. The band focused mostly on that and their previous We Still Move On Dance Floors as the band bubbled over with enthusiasm for the intimate crowd.
The set was full of their spot-on harmonies on songs like "Home Sweet Home" and fun, stomp-and-clap along songs like "End of an Era", with a little bit of darkness underneath their "Folk Popgrass" sound.
Other highlights included the raucous "Young & Wild", violinist Izzy Ritchie taking over a little on vocals for "Rhinestone", and, not to be upstaged by Luke Austin's Eminem, lead singer Simon Ward slipped a quick rap verse into "Did I Die?"
They ended the show with a nice one-two punch of the Platinum selling single "Spirits" with people singing along, and finally ending off with the anthemic "Shovels and Dirt" as they built to a powerful climax to end off the night. 

The Strumbellas are a really enjoyable band to watch live, and if you missed the show last night, do I have good news for you. Just this morning they announced a tour, including another Vancouver show on October 16th, joined by none other than The Zolas at the Commodore. That should be a helluva night. 

setlsit
Wars
End Of An Era
Young & Wild
We Don't Know
Home Sweet Home
Did I Die?
Wild Sun
Rhinestone
The Hired Band
The Long Road
Spirits
Shovels and Dirt

The Trews @ The Roxy -- 04/26/11

I have seen The Trews over a half dozen times now, and whether acoustic or electric, they're always been in good sized venues. Which is great, but when one of my favourite live bands announced a string of fan-only dates in smaller venues, I knew I had to go.

Before the show, though, a brief tangent. I know I am in the minority being Vancouveronian who couldn't care less about the Canucks in the playoffs, but I was still a little dismayed when I found out that The Roxy would be playing game seven while The Trews were playing. I went to see a rock show, not a hockey game. It wasn't as distracting as it could have been -- I am guessing the fact that since it was a private show for dedicated fans helped a lot -- but it was still a little annoying. The band, however, were really great sports about it; they definitely knew their audience and were thinking of their fans... and even had a little fun with it. Colin mentioned it a couple times, joking "don't fuck it up!", improvising some lyrics about the game, and even pausing for the penalty shot... while they played their rendition of the Hockey Night in Canada theme.

As for the real show, The Trews were definitely on top of their game. From the insanely high energy of songs like the [appropriate] hockey anthem "Not Ready To Go" to the more mellow songs like "Dreaming Man", they proved why they are one of Canada's best live bands.
The set was heavy on the new album, obviously, including my two favourites from it, "One by One" and "I'll Find Someone Who Will", which were slotted with a couple of my old favourites, "Poor Ol' Broken Hearted Me" and "Can't Stop Laughing".
And despite the game, The Trews had the crowd wrapped around their finger, with everyone singing along to the aforementioned "Not Ready To Go" and "Poor Ol' Broken Hearted Me".

Another interesting thing about seeing the band live is the covers they always slip in. During "So She's Leaving" there was a little Rolling Stones, and "Tired of Waiting" had a bit of Buffalo Springfield. The song also had some fantastic guitar work from John-Angus, who is just a phenomenal guitar player. My face melted on several occasions thanks to him.
They ended their set after over an hour with "Hold Me In Your Arms" before coming out (just after the Canucks won) for a one song encore, somehow managing to top the energy of their entire set with "Burning Wheels"

setlist
The World I Know, People Of The Deer, Not Ready to Go, So She's Leaving (w/ She's So Cold - Rolling Stones), Paranoid Freak, Stay With Me, Hope & Ruin, Misery Loves Company, Poor Ol' Broken Hearted Me, One By One, Can't Stop Laughing, I'll Find Someone Who Will, Dreaming Man, Tired of Waiting (For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield), Hold Me In Your Arms.
[encore] Burning Wheels.