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

Sam Roberts Band with Brandon Wolfe Scott @ Commodore -- February 24, 2024

With their new album out a few months ago, Sam Roberts Band hit the road for The Adventures of Ben Blank Tour. Their Vancouver stop was a return to the Commodore Ballroom for a pair of shows. 

Opening the evening was Brandon Wolfe Scott, the Vancouver singer performing some of his solo material. He hit the stage with his backing band and launched into “In Stride” off last year’s EP Slow Transmission, treating the gathering crowd to his chill, throwback vibes.
He ‘got his Bob Dylan on’ by pulling out the harmonica for “Fade Out”, and his soft voice lilted over the crowd on the dreamy “Burden on your Shoulder”, before finishing off his short opening set with “Something Real”.
Whether it’s solo or with his band, Yukon Blonde, it’s always a treat to see Scott play, and he was a great pick for starting out the night. 

It wasn’t long before the lights dimmed and the screen behind the stage filled with the Ben Blank album art, as Sam Roberts Band took the stage, starting off with a bang. First my fave off the new album “Afterlife”, then “With A Bullet”, and getting everyone to dance with “Them Kids”.

Reminding us of not only the band’s depth, but also longevity, they hit songs from all over their career, from classics like “Where Have All the Good People Gone?” which had the sold out room joining in, to the warm “Picture of Love”, the first single off the new album. 

The set ebbed and flowed, not only musically, but also thematically. On a heartfelt “Cascades”, Sam opined “Ooh I need you, Baby in the worst way”, only to follow that up by spitting out “And if this is true then I don't need you, I don't need anyone” on “Metal Skin”.

Other highlights – and more singing along – included “Hard Road”, which exploded into the frenetic “Dead End”, and the three-song-punch that capped off the set, “Bridge to Nowhere”, “Love At the End of the World”, and the early hit, “Don't Walk Away Eileen”. 

But of course, they were back for more, proving that “We're All in This Together” before Roberts put his guitar aside to dance around the stage and lead the crowd in singing with “Brother Down”. Finally, they wrapped up with possibly my favourite Sam Roberts song (and one which I wasn’t even sure they were going to play), the 8+ minute psychedelic journey of “Mind Flood”, with wailing guitars, intense keys, and drumming that thumped into your very core, the band going all out for a satisfying ending.

It’s been a minute since I’ve seen Sam Roberts Band play live (and even longer since a non-festival show), And after two hours of rock & roll, with the crowd in the palm of their collective hands the entire time, and hit after hit, this night was a great reminder of just how strong the band is live.

Sam Roberts Band setlist
Afterlife
With a Bullet
Them Kids
Bad Country
Where Have All the Good People Gone?
I Like the Way You Talk About the Future
Projection
Take Me Away
Let It In 
Picture Of Love
Cascades
Metal Skin
Hard Road
Dead End
Spellbound
Bridge to Nowhere
Love At the End of the World
Don't Walk Away Eileen
(encore)
We're All in This Together
Everybody Needs Love
Brother Down
Mind Flood

Brandon Wolfe Scott setlist
In Stride
Our Back Garden
Fade Out
Way Way Down
Slow Transmission
Burden On Your Shoulders
Something Real

Sam Roberts Band & Basia Bulat @ Vancouver Folk Music Festival -- 07/20/19

This year marked the 42nd annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival, though sadly I was only able to make it for one evening this year. But on the positive side, that evening had the two acts I most wanted to see playing back-to-back!

I arrived Saturday evening and walked the grounds a bit (sad that the stand I get a frozen banana from each year seemed to be missing this time around) before heading to the main stage for Basia Bulat. With flower-adorned mic stands, Basia and her backing band -- which included Vancouver's own Colin Cowan -- started off the set with "La La Lie", the lead off track for her most recent album, Good Advice.
From there, she weaved through a set of folky, chamber-pop songs, jumping from keys to her acoustic guitar. Songs ranged from the soaring "Tall Tall Shadow" to the darker and sombre "Someday Soon", with Bulat a ball of energy on stage, even dancing and twirling around when not on mic.
Aside from her own music, she slipped in a couple covers from Canadian legends, "Moonshot" by Buffy Sainte-Marie, as well as Joni Mitchell's "People's Parties". Other highlights included one of my favourites, the amazing intensity of "Infamous", and "Fool", which ended the set as a beautiful spotlight for her incredible voice as the sun set.

Not long after, Canadian Tuxedos filled the stage as Sam Roberts Band made their entrance. I don't know if it was their "festival set", but they started off hot with "Detroit '67" and from there just played a steady stream of hit after hit, giving a good reminder of both the longevity and musical depth of Sam Roberts.
Classics like "Where Have All The Good People Gone?" and "Hard Road" had the crowd joining in on the chorus, while everyone -- including the usually-seated middle section -- danced to ragers "Fixed To Ruin" and "Them Kids".
After a solid hour, they played right up to the 11pm curfew, capping off the night with the breakthrough hit "Brother Down", turning another giant singalong, which even ended with Sam jumping off the stage and into the photo pit to mingle with the crowd while the band jammed out (I think even slipping in other songs, as I'm positive I heard a bit of "Wicked Game" in there). It was the perfect ending not only to the set, but to the evening of the folk festival.

It's been a few years since I last saw Sam Roberts Band play live, and it was a great reminder why they should, if not already, be considered Canadian Rock Royalty.

Basia Bulat setlist
La La Lie
Time
Good Advice
Five, Four
Heart of My Own
Moonshot [Buffy Sainte-Marie cover]
Someday Soon
In The Name Of
People's Parties [Joni Mitchell cover]
[New song]
Tall Tall Shadow
Infamous
Fool

Sam Roberts Band setlist
Detroit '67
Shapeshifters
Fixed to Ruin
Where Have All The Good People Gone?
Metal Skin
If You Want It
Climb Over Me
Hard Road
Them Kids
Brother Down