Just got back home from Abbotsford, thought I'd offer a review of the final show on the tour.
While there was plenty of empty seats when Ellevator got on to open the show, the place eventually was packed for Matt Good.
I felt bad for Ellevator as few were paying attention and the music was mostly meh to me. Not my style. Still, they presented themselves and their music pretty well, I wish them success. They played I think 7 songs, including some from a new EP coming out on April 20.
Next up was Matt Good, thankfully, and he got a huge ovation from the crowd as he walked to a lone spotlight and began an emotional solo acoustic version of Apparitions. The crowd was fully behind Matt all night, and while he merely stood by the mic the whole time and performed fewer guitar parts than usual, his voice was incredible and powerful as always, and his spirits seemed high. The whole set rocked, 9/10.
Before I get in depth into the OLP set list, here it is in full: Hiding Place for Hearts, Superman's Dead, Is Anybody Home?/Maps, Drop Me in the Water, In Repair (acoustic), Somewhere Out There (acoustic), One Man Army, Thief, Innocent, Clumsy, 4am, Starseed; Encore: Ballad of a Poet, Hello Time Bomb (Matthew Good Band cover, with Matthew Good and Ellevator).
OLP opened with a very cool keyboard intro with a mesmerizing light display before launching into Hiding Place for Hearts. I wasn't sure about this song as an opener when I saw it on other setlists, but it was fantastic and rocked much harder than I thought it would. They really leaned into it.
Superman's Dead was next after an extended outro to the previous song, and they did a solid job. Raine gave the crowd a 6/10 on our singing during the required part, and got maybe up to a 7.5 on the second.
I should pause here to mention the crowd. It appeared to be a sold out house and everyone was clearly enjoying the show all night long. Seating on the floor so not much dancing going on, most stayed seated. Singalongs were ok to start, but petered out a bit, particularly on the next song Is Anybody Home?, which they ended with a quick jam of Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Steve really did a great job on this cover, and I see why they picked it.
The guys were on fire by this point though, fighting to get the crowd into it and they eventually won them over with Drop Me in the Water, which had an extended outro that really impressed me. I wish the album version sounded like that.
Next up was the acoustic set, In Repair and Somewhere Out There. In Repair sounded like it could use a bit more practice and a bit muddy during the main riff, but otherwise it was as beautiful as you'd hope it would be. Somewhere Out There got the crowd singing again, as they could actually be heard over Raine throughout the song.
By the time One Man Army hit, the band and the crowd were firmly together, and the energy in the building was very high. Steve gave an inspired solo, and Raine's voice was classic 1999.
This was probably a high point for Jason and Duncan as well, both of whom I haven't mentioned yet. Because I'd been living out of country for several years, this was my first chance to see Jason behind the kit (as I'm sure this tour was for many). It's clear that he fundamentally changes their sound, and I'm torn about it. On the one hand, he's clearly a very solid rock drummer; he's got serious chops. He seems to push the band very hard, and overall I love the addition. I thought he was phenomenal tonight. Still, his style isn't the same as Jeremy and it's going to take some getting used to.
As for Duncan, fans of this band know what to expect from him, and he was exactly that tonight. All his bass lines were on point, and he was jumping around and singing hard all night. Gave his all, and I was appreciative and impressed yet again.
After One Man Army things slowed down a bit for Thief, and they did a solid full band performance of that one. Raine was again great here, as he was all night.
Clumsy followed, and the crowd again ate every bit of it up. Huge pop for the intro, and you could tell the guys were feeling it as they headed into yet another extended outro. Man, they rocked those hard tonight!
The penultimate song of the set was 4am, and the crowd again sang heartily along with Raine, who ventured into the crowd to get up close and personal, as he always does. 4am is always a highlight of any concert for me, as it really shows the personal and intimate connection so many people have with this band, and vice versa.
They finished up with what seemed like a 10-minute version of Starseed, with an updated and exciting new long intro that nearly brought the house down, while everyone stood, danced, and sang.
They came back for the encore with Balled of a Poet. Raine again told the song's origin story, with Gord Downie's name getting the second loudest cheer of the night, and mid-way through implored everyone to hold up their cell phones and lighters in honour of Gord. It was haunting and beautiful. I got goosebumps.
The loudest pop of the night though came next, when Matt Good, his band, and Ellevator returned to the stage for Hello Time Bomb. This was where the concert reached an appropriate crescendo, and I can almost hear the last "solid gooooold!" still echoing. By the way, Matt screwed up his very last vocals of the tour, and Raine laughed at him so hard he couldn't sing
Unfortunately that was it, as they had played Starseed earlier in the night. Actually I would say overall I was disappointed with their set list. The band was great tonight and they killed the songs they did play, but I would have also liked to have heard something a bit different. Really feels like they wanted to play it safe with just the hits to finish up the tour, which was the opposite of what I was hoping for. Only three new songs feels like a disappointment too, as I was hoping for at least Head Down or Nice to Meet You as well.
Overall though, what made me happiest was the performance. The band seems to have as much energy and enthusiasm as ever. Combined with a renewed interest and popularity after the release of Somethingness (at least I'm seeing that here in BC, where Drop Me in the Water is still on our local radio top 20 countdown and has received heavy air play), I'm very, very excited for the future of this band, and hopefully they can use this surge to keep moving OLP forward with more amazing records and tours.
Thanks for reading!