What a treat to watch The Sadies on a small stage — so small that bass player Sean Dean had to stand beside it — on a beach on the Sturgeon River, while a bonfire was raging behind us and shooting stars were shooting overhead.
Sadies sets are famously generous, and this one was no exception, probably two hours long including the "encore" ("we're gonna play ten more songs," they said, a little over halfway through) and the real encore.
The Toronto veterans have a friggin' deep, huge well to draw from, spanning early trad-sounding murder song "Pretty Polly," to blistering sing-along country gospel tunes (like "There's A Higher Power"), surf-y instrumentals, a surprising take on a Carole King cover ("Wasn't Born To Follow") and dark psychedelia ("Palace Of Gold").
Dallas and Travis Good worked their unparalleled brotherly guitar magic; Dallas's licks more surf-y and tawny, Travis often playing the "same thing, faster" game on guitar, revving the band up to impossible, hilarious speeds.
Whoever booked them is a genius; The Sadies took to the intimate, roughing-it gig like consummate pros, transforming a petite beachside shack into a barn burner.
Sadies sets are famously generous, and this one was no exception, probably two hours long including the "encore" ("we're gonna play ten more songs," they said, a little over halfway through) and the real encore.
The Toronto veterans have a friggin' deep, huge well to draw from, spanning early trad-sounding murder song "Pretty Polly," to blistering sing-along country gospel tunes (like "There's A Higher Power"), surf-y instrumentals, a surprising take on a Carole King cover ("Wasn't Born To Follow") and dark psychedelia ("Palace Of Gold").
Dallas and Travis Good worked their unparalleled brotherly guitar magic; Dallas's licks more surf-y and tawny, Travis often playing the "same thing, faster" game on guitar, revving the band up to impossible, hilarious speeds.
Whoever booked them is a genius; The Sadies took to the intimate, roughing-it gig like consummate pros, transforming a petite beachside shack into a barn burner.
