The Sheepdogs + Motherhood @ Theatre Alphonse Desjardins, Repentigny▪

With so many great new bands out there, I find it redundant to revisit ones that I’ve already seen more than once, especially if they’re not playing in my hometown. On Thursday night, I decided to make an exception and made the long drive to Repentigny. If you ever saw The Sheepdogs live, you would understand. Also, it’s one of my son‘s favourite bands, so if I get any chance to hang with him, I’ll take it.

It was my first time at Theatre Alphonse Desjardins, and I was greatly impressed by the shiny new venue. It was also my first time seeing the supporting band Motherhood, and I was pleasantly surprised by the Fredericton trio. (Penelope Steven on bass, keys and vocals, Brydon Crain guitar and vocals, Adam Sipkema on drums and vocals.) They were edgy and fresh, with an eclectic mix of punk, surfer and alternative rock. I enjoyed the contrast of their laid-back Maritime vibe with their frenetic sound, ranging from Primus to the B52’s.

After blowing out her bass amp, the soft-spoken Penelope took a minute from belting out lyrics and plucking at her bass to talk to the crowd. With her huge grin and Acadian accent, she spoke in both English and French, reminding us why we were all there; “one of the funnest things you can do is start a band with your friends.” And she’s not wrong.

I enjoyed Wandering and Table Top.

Motherhood Set List

Crawly
Crawly II
Flood
Flood II
Tabletop
Shepherd
Wandering
Way Down
Tin Cans
Bird Chirp
Grow High
Grow Higher
Dry Heave
Sunk

The Sheepdogs sauntered onto the stage, a little past nine, in Stetsons and denim, like they were stepping into a saloon in the Wild West.

They got right down to business, kicking it off with How Late How Long and picked up speed with Southern Dreaming and Right On.

About halfway into the set, they slowed things down as the entire band approached the front of the stage. They performed a fantastic acoustic cover of CCR‘s Lodi with Shamus Currie (keyboards, trombone, and backing guitar) on melodica. Ryan Gullen (bass) with his groovy hair and drummer Sam Corbett adding sweet harmonies.

The set list offered a lot of fun twists and turns, giving each musician their own chance to shine and giving the fans a great sense of anticipation.

Larger than life and louder than thunder, frontman Ewan Currie was in fine form. Musing that this July will be 20 years since he formed the Sheepdogs. And then exclaiming, “I’m not fucking 40, I’m 39.”

Rolling up his sleeves, he talked about the new Roadhouse movie that he just watched and how he preferred the original. Actually taking off his hat in honour of Patrick Swayze and then proceeded to play one of my favourites, Scarborough Street Fight.

They were joined by phenomenal guitarist Ricky Paquette, who is new to the band (2022) but a veteran in the Canadian music scene. Their chemistry and “guilt-harmony” were a treat to witness. From the fuzzy riff intro of Feeling Good to the happy twang of I Don’t Know, there wasn’t a single dull moment.

The encore was a perfect ending to a spectacular set. The guitar playing on Roughrider ’89 was a level of mastery that I don’t see very often. And then, just when I thought they gave us all they could, The Sheepdogs delivered Tied To The Whipping Post like no one else since The Allman Brothers. It wasn’t simply a cover but a resurrection of southern rock all the way from Saskatoon—and well worth my drive down to Repentigny.