Sloan at Le Studio TD
March 7, 2026
When a band is 35 years into a career, especially a career that has seen them maintain the same line-up, it is truly remarkable to have new songs fit so easily into the set list with the classics, but that is exactly what happened last night at Le Studio TD. Canadian rock icons Sloan pulled into town to play a packed house, no opener, with two sets that actually turned into three with a much demanded encore.
Before the band took to the stage, the screen hanging in the back lit up with parody trailers of movies based on four songs off the latest album, Based on the Best Seller. The sci-fi B-movie “Live Forever”, the film noir thriller “Capital Cooler”, the horror film “Dreamer Destroyer” and the Spaghetti Western motif for “No Damn Fears”. These short films simultaneously achieved a bevy of goals. They informed the already buzzing crowd that their rock n roll heroes were moments from taking the stage. They proved that even after all these years the four lads from Halifax (via Toronto) have not lost their great sense of humour nor the childlike cheeky curiosity that made them darlings of the national scene. But maybe most importantly, these four shorts proved that nearly four decades in, these four friends have never forgotten the importance of a democratic partnership. Each member is as important as the next, all of them singers and songwriters, with a love and support towards each other that is extremely rare in the ego driven world of music biz.
When the band finally took to the stage and opened with the instant classic “Capital Cooler” off the latest album, there was no denying that this was about to become one of those nights I’ll revisit for years to come. Adding to it all was the fact that despite years of admiration for this talented quartet, I had never seen them live before. It’s one of those things where the stars kept failing to line up every time they rolled through whatever town I was living in. Finally I can cross them off the bucket list.
Based on the Best Seller was the album that had the most songs, which makes sense as it was the one being toured, with the other 19 songs pulled from the rest of the 13 albums in Sloan’s very impressive back catalogue. This was part career retrospective and part love-in between band and adoring fans. So many sing-alongs to the classics, like “The Other Man” off 2001’s Pretty Together or “The Rest of My Life” from 2003’s Action Pact. A seemingly endless collection of rock anthems, one after another, with fists pumping in the air and bodies moving to the grooves, the first two sets were so full of magical moments. Right before they launched into a mind blowing rendition of “Money City Maniacs” off 1998’s Navy Blues to end the second set, the balcony was recommended to get out of their seats. This proved to be a wise piece of advice as Sloan quickly proved that they could still bring the power required for this rocker.
It was the obvious song to end the second of the two sets, but as great as that song was, it was also obvious that the night was not over. The energy in the room required more and the people knew it as nobody moved toward the door. The band quickly returned with the perfect hat-trick of Sloan songs - “Snowsuit Sound” off 1994’s Twice Removed, “Underwhelmed” off their 1992 debut album Smeared, and finishing with “The Good in Everyone” off the brilliant One Chord to Another, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary this June - to cap the night and send the crowd spilling onto Sainte-Catherine Street, giddy and glowing.
Honestly walking through the Montréal en Lumière Festival on the way to the metro, it felt like I was floating. The power of music and talent of this band was in full effect. I was only left with the confusion of why it took me so long to actually get to see them. A question I will never be able to answer but a band that fortunately is no longer on the “to see” list. Thank you Sloan, that was incredible and hopefully the first of many.