PHOTOS: Sam Roberts Band @ Commodore Ballroom - April 16, 2026

Sam Roberts Band
Commodore Ballroom
April 16, 2026

Christine McAvoy Photography

Sam Roberts Band: Chemical City 20th Anniversary Tour @ Commodore Ballroom -- April 16, 2026

Twenty years ago, Sam Roberts released his acclaimed sophomore album Chemical City and to celebrate the anniversary, Sam Roberts Band is playing a very special five city tour across Canada. Coincidentally, it was twenty years ago I first saw them live*, so I was excited that one of the stops on this tour was the Commodore Ballroom.
*A bonkers lineup of Jets Overhead, The Stills, Broken Social Scene, and Sam Roberts at Deer Lake Park!

With no opening act for the night, the stage filled with blue smoke and Sam Roberts Band took the stage, silhouetted by backlights as the iconic intro of “The Gate” filled the room as they launched into Chemical City in its entirety. From the crowd joining in on songs like “Bridge to Nowhere” and “With a Bullet”, to the soft acoustic “Uprising Down Under” and the hard hitting “The Bootleg Saint”, the band blast through with Sam only stopping briefly to talk about their history with Vancouver and recording this album in Australia. I was also happy to hear my favourites off the album, “The Resistance” which I haven’t heard live in some time, and the psychedelic 8+ minute jam “Mind Flood” (which was a little funny to hear so early in the set and not closing it out).

Sam took over the keys as the beautiful piano ballad “A Stone Would Cry Out” closed out the album, and after the band took a quick break they were back not just for an encore, but a whole other set packed with the hits.

Kicking off by getting everyone to dance to “Them Kids”, the sold out room joined in on almost every song, going all the way back to The Inhuman Condition with “Don’t Walk Away Eileen” and up to Lo-Fantasy’s “We’re All In This Together”. After the rollicking “Detroit ‘67” and the crowd loudly wondering “Where Have All the Good People Gone?”, Roberts paused once more to finish telling the story of Chemical City’s recording, including a b-side to the album with “Fall Before You Finish”.

And finally, after nearly two hours the band wrapped up the set with a couple more crowd pleasers, “Hard Road” and the biggest singalong of the night to “Brother Down”, ending with the band jamming as Roberts went up to the front row, hugging and high fiving everyone he could reach.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I always love a show where a band will play their album in full; be it a brand new one for their launch or celebrating an old favourite. And it’s especially fun when they can go on to a second set to remind you just how many bangers they’ve had over their career. I’ve seen Sam Roberts (Band) a handful of times over these last twenty years, and they always put on an incredible show full of energy as one of the best live rock bands in Canada.

setlist
(Chemical City)
The Gate
Bridge to Nowhere
With a Bullet
Mind Flood
Uprising Down Under
Mystified, Heavy
An American Draft Dodger in Thunder Bay
The Bootleg Saint
The Resistance
A Stone Would Cry Out
(The Hits)
Them Kids
Don’t Walk Away Eileen
We’re All in This Together
Detroit ‘67
Where Have All the Good People Gone?
Fall Before You Finish
Hard Road
Brother Down

Said the Whale - 20th Anniversary Show @ Hollywood Theatre -- April 11, 2026

A couple years ago Said the Whale played a special anniversary show at the Hollywood Theatre to celebrate 10 years of the album hawaiii, and had so much fun they teased making it an annual thing. Well, here we are in year three and not only are they back, but they’re also celebrating their 20th anniversary as a band with a sold out show!

Opening the night was the youngest Canadian band to ever be signed to a record label, Blue Jay Valley, comprised of five kids between grades 5 and 7. Joking that they weren’t even allowed to be in the venue, the punk rock group hit all the songs off their debut album Breakaway, including the catchy “Living in the City”, the raucous “No School”, and my favourite of the set, “Snow Day”. They also had everyone singing along when they slipped in some covers, like Gob’s “I Hear You Calling” and “Hate to Say I Told You So” by The Hives.
The crowd was all in on the band as they blast through their fun and high energy set, with lead singer Noa even doing the worm at one point!

It wasn’t long after that when Said the Whale hit the stage, starting off surprisingly with the deep-cut favourite, “Love Is Art / Sleep Through Fire” then going all the way back to Howe Sounds/Taking Abalonia with “Fish and Stars II”. They celebrated their twenty years by hitting all of their ‘eras’, from the high energy joy of “Emerald Lake, AB” and “I Will Follow You” to the darker “This City’s a Mess” and “UnAmerican” and everything in between, as they also shared some quick stories (and/or teased each other for talking too long) between songs.

Partway through the set, drummer Spencer Schoening and bassist Lincoln Hotchen took leave for the ‘acoustic portion’, with Tyler Bancroft shouting out Blue Jay Valley and then dedicating “Level Best” to his own kids, Ben Worcester doing the gorgeous “Lover/Friend”, and Jaycelyn Brown taking the spotlight on keys for the absolutely beautiful “February 15” for her husband.

The rhythm section returned as “99 to the Moon” ramped up the energy, with other highlights including Ben stalking the stage, full of emotion on “Wake Up” and an older favourite of mine, the raw “My Government Heart” with Tyler spitting the lyrics through gritted teeth.

After an explosive “I Love You” they finished the main set with “Goodnight Moon”, starting soft and sweet before bursting with a joyous singalong. But they were quickly back for a couple more; first “Dandelion” and then the chilling “Curse of the Currents”, with Ben urging everyone to “sing along like you’re at a Dan Mangan show!” and the crowd happy to oblige.

When they teased making these shows an annual event, I said I’d be there in a heartbeat, and I was very happy to see them at the Hollywood for the third year in a row. 20 years later the band is still rocking, with a clear passion for being on stage and especially for everyone there with them.

Said the Whale setlist
Love Is Art / Sleep Through Fire
Fish and Stars II
The Banks of the English Bay
Emerald Lake, AB
I Will Follow You
UnAmerican
The Light Is You
B.C. Orienteering
Camilo (The Magician)
This City’s a Mess
Resolutions
Better for You
Big Sky, MT
Level Best
Lover/Friend
A Cold Night Close To The End
February 15
99 to the Moon
Wake Up
Black Day in December
My Government Heart
Honey Lungs
I Love You
Goodnight Moon
(encore)
Dandelion
Curse of the Currents

Blue Jay Valley setlist
BJV
I Hear You Calling [Gob cover]
Blitzkrieg Bop [Ramones cover]
Living In The City
Oh!
Breakaway
Hate to Say I Told You So [The Hives cover]
No School
Snow Day

SoMa Fest @ ANZA Club -- March 21, 2026

This weekend was the first SoMa Fest from Music BC. Along with some industry panels & events, the festival spotlighting dozens of local bands across several venues throughout Vancouver’s South Main St (get it?). Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to hit up any of the Friday night shows, but there was a certain one on Saturday at the ANZA Club I couldn’t to miss.

I didn’t catch the first act of the night, Élise LeBlanc, getting to the club as Talel McBriar took the stage with her band. With a folky vibe, she weaved through a lovely set as her voice lilted through the room on songs like “Stages” and “Stay the Same”, the recently-released first single off her upcoming album.

Next up was someone I’ve been meaning to catch for a while, Desirée Dawson. She started off the set with “I Am Blessed”, supported only by acoustic guitar, stand-up bass, and backup vox. The spotlight of her soulful folk set was definitely her powerful voice, with songs like the optimistic “Clover” and “Cowgirl”, featuring just her and an acoustic guitar.

Dawson also got the crowd to join in with some soft singing along to “Hold Up Hope” and her chilled out cover of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”. After the jaunty “Chop Some Wood”, she wrapped up the set with “Beholder” to rapturous applause from the room. I’m definitely going to have to make a point to see her do a full set soon.

Duke & Goldie followed, the country duo of Eric “The Duke” Duquette and Jena “Goldie” Gogo backed by a full band, including pedal steel, to start the set with a raucous “West End Queen (Abattoir)”. Goldie’s voice burst forth on songs off their latest EP Romance and Ramblin' including the melancholic “Romanticized Cowboy”, and dipped back further for “Courage”, which they also had the crowd join in on. They capped off their set with “Outsider”, a song Duke dedicated to Willie, Waylon, Kris, and all his other heroes who felt like outsiders to the country scene.

Wrapping up the night was the new project from Haley Blais and Sam Lynch, True Mountain Laurel. The collab came from their longtime friendship and performing with each other on stage (in fact, I saw Haley join Sam for a song late last year teasing the partnership) and I was distraught to have to miss their debut show last month.

The two Vancouver musicians took a seat on a pair of stools on stage, acoustic guitars in hand, which lead to the only unfortunate part of the set; since they were going on later in the evening, the music from the ANZA’s downstairs lounge began to bleed through, especially the thumping bass. But the duo powered on, joking that they would have to get some dance remixes soon, and even laughing at the perfect timing of the bass dropping as soon as they finished one of their songs.

They started off with a cover of the standard “Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie” before playing their upcoming album in full, beginning with the title track “Angel So Bad” that included some funny, clever lyrics. Their voices intertwined beautifully on songs ranging in personal experience, like an ode to Haley’s cat with “Bird of Prey” and honouring their shared middle name in “I Love You Nicole”.

Throughout the set they talked about the songs, their partnership, and joked with each other, their friendship shining through and keeping up the energy for the last band of the evening, even trying to show up the people downstairs with Blais getting everyone to stamp their feet along with “Holy Hell”.

Being a fan of both musicians individually I was already looking forward to the collaboration, but more-so now. If the album captures even a fraction of the charm from their show it’s going to be a special one.

Even though I only caught a small slice of the inaugural SoMa Fest, it was a fun show with quick, half-hour sets from everyone (and, one of the biggest compliments I can give it: the entire night ran on time!)
I’m already hoping they’re back next year, and will definitely try to catch even more if they are.

Elisapie @ Vogue Theatre -- March 12, 2026

Last night, Elisapie returned to Vancouver for a (rare seated) show at the Vogue Theatre in celebration of her album Inuktitut. The 2023 collection of covers saw Inuk singer reinterpret some classic song, translating them to Inuktitut, and went on to be short-listed for the Polaris Prize and net Elisapie Contemporary Indigenous Artist of the Year at the JUNOs.

With no opener for the night, the lights dimmed and Jean-Sébastien Williams (guitar), Joshua Toal (bass) and Gregory Fitzgerald (drums) took the stage, followed by Elisapie herself. They started off with “Uummati Attanarsimat (Heart of Glass)” and wove through her album Inuktitut giving her own take on pop hits like “Taimangalimaaq (Time After Time)”, the darker “Isumagijunnaitaungituq (The Unforgiven)”, and sharing her love of Leonard Cohen with “Taimaa Qimatsiniungimat (Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye)”.

Throughout the set, Elisapie told personal stories about some of the songs and why she chose to cover them. Her gorgeous rendition of “Sinnatuumait (Dreams)” was dedicated to her brother, who passed away in a fire when she was young, and “Qimatsilunga (I Want to Break Free)” was for her cousin, who tragically took his own life. The latter especially took on an entirely new meaning with her performance, bringing a tear to my eye as Elisapie danced around the stage as her cousin would have loved. Which is the special thing about this album, many of the covers take on a brand new life as Elisapie not only performs them in her own style, but also injectes them with her own experience and emotions.

As well as the covers, she slipped in some songs from her previous album, The Ballad Of The Runaway Girl, like “Wolves Don’t Live by the Rules” which brought everyone to their feet, and one of my favourites of the set, “Qanniuguma” building to an intense finish with everyone clapping along.

The main set came to an end with Elisapie and her band all gathering at the front of the stage for an acapella “Qaisimalaurittuq (Wish You Were Here)”, getting everyone to hum along as her beautiful voice filled the theatre, and then slowly leaving the stage one by one as the crowd continued on to the empty spotlight. But they were quickly back for one more song, as Elisapie was visibly thrilled and emotional to be playing the theatre, finishing off the night with “Quviasukkuvit (If It Makes You Happy)”.

A couple years ago, I was able to see Elisapie perform her Uvattini show, which was one of my favourites of the year. Before last night, I was wondering how this would compare to the multimedia performance, but I shouldn’t have worried. Even without the visuals of that show, Elisapie’s masterful storytelling, incredible voice, and powerful performance created a wonderful evening.

setlist
Uummati Attanarsimat (Heart of Glass)
Taimangalimaaq (Time After Time)
Call of the Moose
Californiamut (Going to California)
Isumagijunnaitaungituq (The Unforgiven)
Sinnatuumait (Dreams)
Wolves Don’t Live by the Rules
Qanniuguma
Arnaq
Taimaa Qimatsiniungimat (Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye)
Qimatsilunga (I Want to Break Free)
Qaisimalaurittuq (Wish You Were Here)
(encore)
Quviasukkuvit (If It Makes You Happy)