Some live Canadian rock tracks were added to SWOMP’s lifelong soundtrack on Saturday, February 10, 2024.
Sam Roberts Band returned to the Forest City, bringing ‘The Adventures of Ben Blank’ tour to the London Music Hall for a foot stomping, rocking, sing-along evening of music.
No stranger to the local music scene over the years, Roberts reminisced on stage about some of their previous shows in London.
“Some beautiful and traumatic memories in this town,” Roberts told the crowd.
“We played at Call The Office, about 20 years ago and the only person in the audience was the bartender, so he already had to be there. That was the first show we played in this town. We thought, okay, there is some potential here.”
Roberts added: “Then we played some crazy gigs at Western. It was like tornado alley, people crowd surfing and acting bat shit crazy, the scene on that campus. We thought, man, we should’ve went to school here.”
Roberts added over the years the relationship with the city of London has grown deeper.
“Then the Music Hall came around and we’re so happy that we still have this beautiful friendship with all of you people after all these years,” he said.
“This is like the Hotel California, once you’re here you just can’t get out.”
The veteran Montreal rockers kick-started the evening with a thumping new song “The Ballad of Ben Blank”, which serves as the lead track from their eighth full-length record, The Adventures Of Ben Blank, released back in the fall.
The setlist was sprinkled with new songs, along with crowd favourites such as “Them Kids”, “Hard Road”, “Don’t Walk Away Eileen” and their closer “Brother Down”, as Roberts engaged and encouraged the audience to sing-along to their array of catchy hooks and choruses.
During one of the singalongs, while performing ‘Where Have All The Good People Gone?”, Roberts gave a shout out to a fan near the front of the stage, who was watching his 100th Sam Roberts Band show on Saturday.
“This is a place we’ve had many special nights in,” Roberts said.
“If you’ve been here before, thank-you for coming back. If it’s your first time, welcome to the family.”
Here is a photo gallery from the band’s performance on Saturday:
Leading up to the February 10, 2024 performance, SWOMP’s Dana Haggith caught up with Roberts for an interview. Listen, below:
Sam Roberts released his debut in 2002, following a popular independent demo recording he had made in Montreal. Before that point, he had been a violin player who eventually moved on to guitar and started a rock band with his friends. The Inhuman Condition was released and became the best-selling independent EP in Canadian history. In 2003 he released his first full-length album, We Were Born in a Flame. The Certified Double-Platinum selling album was a huge hit in Canada and won the Juno Awards for Album of the Year, Rock Album of the Year, and Artist of the Year. He continued to release hit albums for the remainder of the decade: Platinum-certified Chemical City in 2006 and Gold-certified Love at the End of the World in 2008. Each album also won the Juno for Rock Album of the Year.
For his 2011 release, Collider, Roberts changed from using his name to using Sam Roberts Band. In 2014, Lo-Fantasy was released to great acclaim. Lead single We’re All In This Together reached the top of both Canadian rock radio charts, followed by Top 10 hits Human Heat and Shapeshifters. In 2016, TerraForm was released, the band’s 6th studio album. Lead Single “If You Want It” reached #2 at both rock radio charts. The album was nominated for the Rock Album Of the Year at the 2017 Juno Awards. In 2020 Sam Roberts Band released All of Us which featured the hits “Ascension” and “Take Me Away” to critical acclaim. In 2021 All of Us, released during the pandemic, was nominated for Rock Album of the Year. October 2023 saw the release of the band’s eight studio album, The Adventures Of Ben Blank, which features the new single “Picture of Love” and “Afterlife”.
Sam Roberts Band continue to deliver their legacy of hit singles to take over the airwaves. The band’s legendary live show has seen them performing around the world including Australia, Japan, extensive tours of Europe and North America and brought them to festivals such as Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza and Bumbershoot, and alongside giants like the Rolling Stones and AC/DC.
Winnipeg, Manitoba’s JayWood opened the evening at London Music Hall with a soulful and groovy set.
He also praised the Sam Roberts Band for bringing them along on tour.
“‘Them Kids’ was one of the first songs I ever learned on guitar,” JayWood told the crowd.
Here are a few photos from their performance:
The Sam Roberts Band tour continues this week, with a Friday show in Buffalo, followed by a concert at St. Andrew’s Hall in Detroit the next evening. After playing Mo-Town, the band is heading back North of the border, with a string of shows on the West Coast.
For the full tour schedule, visit their official website https://www.samrobertsband.com/.