Georgia Harmer @ Biltmore Cabaret -- November 22, 2025

A couple months ago, Georgia Harmer released her sophomore album Eye of the Storm, and now the eponymous tour stopped in Vancouver at the Biltmore Cabaret. I had seen Georgia a couple times live opening for some powerhouses — Dan Mangan & Tim Baker — and I was looking forward to seeing her on what turned out to be her first headlining tour!

I was also excited for the opener, Vancouver’s Sam Lynch, who took the stage alone armed with her guitar. She started with “Teeth” from her latest album Outline, released almost exactly a year ago and focused mostly on that for her set, hitting two of my favourites early; the emotion-filled “Hurt” and “Doing My Best” which ending with Lynch letting loose on vocals. Partway through Sam brought a friend on stage, with Haley Blais joining her for a new song they recently wrote together (and teasing something more?). After “Moth” built to a big finish, she closed out with her latest, “Dog Song”, for a lovely set.

It wasn’t long after that Georgia Harmer hit the stage with her guitar, alongside Matt Kelly on guitar & pedal steel, as she opened with the first track from Eye of the Storm, “Can We Still”. From there she went through the new album, nearly in order, her gorgeous voice driving songs like “Little Light”, the heartbreaking “Hazel vs Coyote”, and “Take It On”, where she was joined by Sam Lynch for backup vocals. She also dipped back into her previous album Stay in Touch with the more upbeat “Headrush” and the breezy “Top Down”.

Between songs, Harmer chatted with the crowd, opening up about some of the backstories and thanking everyone for connecting with them. And after about an hour, she closed out the main set with “Farmhouse”, but introduced it with a wink and was shortly back out for the title track “Eye of the Storm”, both Lynch and Blais joining in, beautifully backing her up on vocals for my favourite song of the night. Harmer was about to wrap up the set when someone yelled out a request for “Know You Forever”, which she took a moment to consider, then played with the caveat that the crowd help out, which they were more than happy to.

In fact, the crowd was quietly attentive and locked in the entire night, to the point that Harmer was incredibly appreciative and I believed it when she said it was a show she would remember, thanks to everyone in that room. And I’m sure everyone at the Biltmore that night felt the same way toward her.

Georgia Harmer setlist
Can We Be Still
Talamanca
Little Light
Slow Down
Last Love
Hazel vs. The Coyote
Homes
Austin
Headrush
Time To Move On
Take It On
Top Down
Farmhouse
(encore)
Eye of the Storm
Know You Forever

Sam Lynch setlist
Teeth
Hurt
Doing My Best
Getaway Car
[New song w/ Haley Blais]
Keeping Time
Moth
Dog Song

Alex Little @ Red Gate -- November 21, 2025

Alex Little recently released her new EP, Spider in the Sink -- her first without backing band The Suspicious Minds -- and celebrated by throwing a release party at Red Gate with some Vancouver friends.

First up was Mister Pets, starting off with “New Jacket” for a set of some grimy rock ‘n’ roll. They were pretty straightforward as they rocked through their set, a solid opener for the evening.

After a quick turnaround, Alex Little took the stage, joined by a backing band of Natalie Vermeer (keys), Adam Sabla (guitar), Hayz Fisher (bass), and Tony Dallas (drums). She started off with the title track “Spider in the Sink”, going through the whole album, but also throwing some covers into the mix; from a deep cut Devo song, “Baby Doll” to a fun version of “Head Over Heels” originally by The Go-Go’s.
Little had high energy throughout the set, often dancing through every song like the groovy beat of “Finally Safe in the World” and the biting “Sounds Like a Deal” which closed out her too-short set.

And even though it was Alex's EP release party, the night was capped off by Rempel -- who also recently released a new, self-titled album! They started strong with the incredibly catchy “Kiss My Lips”, and barely took their foot off the gas as they cranked through songs like the anthemic chanting of “Bullseye” or their latest single “Greedy”. Even when they introduced “Here It Is, There It Goes” as a ‘slower’ one, it was only in relation to the rest of their set as the song built to a finish with Rempel’s voice filled the room.
And as energetic as the music was, the band was even more so, chatting and joking with the crowd, each other, and even the sound guy Josh through the set, before finally wrapped up with a brand new song, not even on their new album.

I wasn’t familiar with Rempel before this evening, but I was very quickly won over and will have to check out their new album. Along with the very fun set from Alex Little to celebrate the new EP, the night was a great showcase of three Vancouver band.

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Rempel setlist
Kiss My Lips
(like a) Locomotion
Worth Your Weight
Vicious
Spend the Night Alone
Oh Yeah
Bullseye
Greedy
Here It Is, There It Goes
Good Man
[new song]

Alex Little setlist
Spider in the Sink
Baby Doll [Devo cover]
Finally Safe in the World
Kid
Send Me a Postcard [Shocking Blue cover]
Forever
Head Over Heels [The Go-Go's cover]
Sounds Like A Deal

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Sloan: A Tour de Force @ Commodore Ballroom -- November 15, 2025

If I’m being honest, I’ve always been a more casual fan of Sloan. Most of their singles are incredible bangers, going back to the 1900s, but I’ve only dipped in and out of their full albums through the years. That said, I did check out the new one, Based on the Best Seller, and when I realised it’s been about 16 years since the last time I saw the Canadian rock legends live, I knew I needed to fix that with the Vancouver stop of ‘A Tour de Force’ at the Commodore Ballroom. 

There was no opening act for the night, as the house lights went down and the screens flanking the stage showed the “Coming Attractions”, fake short trailers for movies based on a few of the songs off the new album, before the “Feature Presentation” as Chris Murphy, Jay Ferguson, Patrick Pentland, and Andrew Scott took the stage, joined by Gregory Macdonald backing them up on, well, everything.

The Haligonian band started off with “Capitol Cooler” and “Live Forever” from their latest release, before weaving through nearly all of their fourteen(!) albums. Going from one of my favourites, “The Other Man” with its moody narrative off Pretty Together, to the incredibly infectious “Ill Placed Trust” from Never Hear the End of It, and the impeccable melody of “Lines You Amend” from One Chord to Another.

In true Sloan fashion, members rotated around and each took lead vocals for their songs, the others joining in excellent harmonies. Murphey even replacing Scott on the drums when he came up to sing songs like “Baxter” (after being serenaded by the audience due to it being his birthday).

They wrapped up the first half of the night with “Unkind” before announcing they’d be back, and after a half hour intermission the band returned (just in time, as the crowd was starting to get antsy) with my highlight from the new album “Dream Destroyer”.

They kept the energy up through the second half of the evening, from raucous songs like “All Used Up” to more laid back “Witch’s Wand”, and the bouncy “The Rest of My Life” which transitioned perfectly into their energetic smash single “Money City Maniacs”, the stage lights turning red and the whole crowd yelling along.

But they still had a few left in them as they were back with the deep cut “Snowsuit Sound” followed by another one of my favourites, the snarky “Underwhelmed” which one again had the sold out room joining in, and then leading into “The Good in Everyone” for a joyous finale.

It was a very fun show, with Sloan proving to fans old and new just why they’ve earned their status over the last three decades. And hopefully I won’t make it another sixteen years before seeing them again!

set two
Dream Destroyer
Congratulations
Fortune Teller
No Damn Fears
I Can’t Sleep
The Dogs
All Used Up
Witch’s Wand
The Rest of My Life
Money City Maniacs
(encore)
Snowsuit Sound
Underwhelmed
The Good in Everyone

set one
Capitol Cooler
Live Forever
Scratch the Surface
Right to Roam
The Other Man
Ill Placed Trust
Baxter
Traces 
Dream It All Over Again
All I Am Is All You're Not
So Far Down
The Lines You Amend
Take It In
Unkind

Neko Case @ Vogue Theatre -- November 13, 2025

Hot off her new album, Neon Grey Midnight Green, Neko Case hit the road on tour, which included a stop at Vancouver’s Vogue Theatre. The last few times I’ve seen Case live (both solo and with The New Pornographers) have been at the Vogue, and it’s an excellent venue for her soaring alt-folk.

Opening the night was John Grant, and unfortunately I only caught the last two songs, but they were wildly different from each other. “Marz” was a synth-folk tune with heavy vocal effects, while he ended with a sweet piano ballad, “Caramel”.

After a short break — and an announcement over the PA requesting no photos or videos during the show — Neko Case took the stage with her backing band that consisted of Nora O’Connor, Adam Schatz, Kyle Crane, Andrew McKeag, and of course, Paul Rigby.

She kicked off the set with a couple older songs, “Bracing For Sunday” and the ferocious “People Got a Lotta Nerve” before delving into the new album with “Louise”, immediately showing off her stunning vocals.

From there, the set spanned her career, going all the way back to Blacklisted with “Deep Red Bells” and “Lady Pilot”, up to the new album with the building tension & release of the title track “Neon Grey Midnight Green” and “Match-Lit”, dedicated to all the ghosts in the (famously haunted) Vogue Theatre. Other highlights included the tempestuous “This Tornado Loves You”, as well as “That Teenage Feeling” & “Rusty Mountain” played back to back as two excellent examples of Case’s version of a love song.

After the quirky, almost tone-poem “Tomboy Gold” and the soaring “Wreck”, Case brought the main set to a huge finish with “Star Witness”, the whole band letting loose. But of course, everyone was back a moment later for a few more older songs, the longing “I Wish I Was the Moon” and one of my all time favourites with “Hold On, Hold On”, before ending off with “At Last”.

I don’t think I’m breaking any new ground when saying Neko Case’s voice is unmatched. But I feel like every time I’ve seen her live, I’m absolutely blown away anew. Combined with her heartfelt songwriting and excellent backing band, it makes for a great live show.

setlist
Bracing for Sunday
People Got a Lotta Nerve
Louise
Deep Red Bells
This Tornado Loves You
Little Gears
Baby, I’m Not (A Werewolf)
Magpie to the Morning
I’m an Animal
Destination
Lady Pilot
Oh, Shadowless
That Teenage Feeling
Rusty Mountain
Match-Lit
Neon Grey Midnight Green
Tomboy Gold
Wreck
Star Witness
(encore)
I Wish I Was the Moon
Hold On, Hold On
At Last

Sigur Rós with Wordless Music Orchestra @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre -- Nov 12, 2025

Sigur Rós is one of my all time favourite bands. I’ve always been a sucker for strings in music. So when the Icelandic band announced an orchestral tour with Wordless Music Orchestra a couple years ago and there was no Vancouver date, I made the trip down to Seattle for what ended up being one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. And when they finally announced a Vancouver stop as part of the final leg of this tour, I knew there was no chance I would miss it.

With no opening act for the night, the show started promptly with Wordless Music Orchestra filling the stage, followed by the conductor Robert Ames and the members of Sigur Rós. They started with a swell of strings for “Blóðberg” and the horns chimed in after on “Ekki múkk”, with a set that spanned from the winding epic “8” off their latest album Átta, all the way back to the title track for their first album Von, Jónsi’s voice — somehow fragile and powerful at the same time — filling the theatre.
I felt on the verge of tears for most of the first half of the show, then the floodgates opened for “Starálfur”, the ebb & flow of the song building in intensity, only to drop to a soft hush, and then come crashing back in for a cathartic release. After a couple more songs, they ended the first half with “Varðeldur” and took a short intermission, perhaps for everyone to recover emotionally.

The second part of the evening started with a pair of songs from their untitled ( ) album, the haunting “Vaka” and the dancing piano of “Samskeyti”. As the set built with songs like the beautiful “Skel”, it felt like the more hopeful and uplifting half of the show; the ethereal “Sé lest” erupted into an almost ‘oompah’ sound heavy on the brass, and the soaring, grandiose finish to “Ára bátur”, both songs getting incredible reactions after as the sold out crowd was in awe.
With everyone primed, they launched into “Hoppípolla”, a rich and joyous song that once again had tears flowing, as each section of the orchestra came in perfectly & the lights danced across the stage making an indescribable climax to the show. And for the denumount, the band took their leave for the orchestra to finish with “Avalon”, as the audience erupted into the one of the longest sustained reactions I’ve seen, the band returning to stage twice to bow & thank everyone, both in the crowd and on the stage.

Going into this night, there was a small part of me worried that I had built up their Seattle show in my head too much. But I’m happy to say I did not, that the band and orchestra managed to live up to those expectations, and this is a show I will never forget.

setlist
Blóðberg
Ekki múkk
Fljótavík
8
Von
Andvari
Starálfur
Dauðalogn
Varðeldur
[intermisson]
Untitled #1 (Vaka)
Untitled #3 (Samskeyti)
Ylur
Skel
Untitled #5 (Álafoss)
Sé lest
Ára bátur
Hoppípolla
Avalon