Kurt Vile + The Sadies @ Beanfield Theatre▪

It has been probably 15 years or so since I first saw Toronto’s The Sadies, and I thought they were pretty cool then. I think they are pretty cool now, too. Their sound is listed as “alternative country” on their Wikipedia page, but that’s certainly understating it. In places, it goes as far as rockabilly, the upright double bass thumping courtesy of the shades-wearing Sean Dean, while drummer Mike Belitsky is holding down the beats with a deadpan expression for the entire duration of their 45-minute set.

The real star of the show is undoubtedly frontman and guitarist Travis Good, who, clad in a blazer and trousers, bears more than a passing resemblance to Nick Cave, but way less slick. He blasts out some crazy intricate guitar work that gets more and more impressive with each passing song. Northumberland West feels like it could exist on a banjo, such is the speed of the notes emanating from his guitar, though this pales in comparison with penultimate song Ridge Runner Reel, a 50s country hoedown that just gets faster and faster as the song progresses, to rapturous cheers from the crowd.

Quieter moments work well too, such as on My Heart of Wood, which is much more mellow and sounds almost like Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game deconstructed and rebuilt in a country mould. Such a great band, such a great set, definitely still pretty cool.

The Sadies setlist

Little Sadie
Oak Ridges
Cut Up High and Dry
Cheat
Through Strange Eyes
Message to Belial
10 More Songs
So Far for So Few
Lay Down Your Arms
No One’s Listening
All the Good
Northumberland West
My Heart of Wood
Another Season Again
Ridge Runner Reel
Stop and Start

It’s one of those bucket-list shows for me tonight, finally able to cross Kurt Vile off it. It’s just the 2nd show of a mammoth trek across North America that runs through to the end of July, and then all of November, in support of 10th album Philadelphia’s Been Good to Me. He arrives on stage with his three-piece band of Violators in tow, and in front of a backdrop that looks like a Waffle House sign that declares “KV’s been good to me,” and they roll into life with the moody churner Check Baby and Hey Like a Child.

Kurt has never been shy about wearing his influences on his sleeve, and it’s never more evident than when you hear him live. Zoom 97 sounds remarkably like Real Estate thanks to those harmonies with guitarist Jesse Trbovich, while Every Time I Look at You is undeniably inspired by Neil Young’s Harvest Moon.

The Violators then depart to leave just Kurt and his acoustic guitar, for a section of the setlist called “solo,” dealer’s choice, I guess. He elects to go with Runner Ups from 2011’s classic Smoke Ring for My Halo, which sounds absolutely incredible, especially when he stops playing to sing unaccompanied, “I got, runner ups!” at the chorus, then restarts on guitar seamlessly. Unreal. His trademark cover of John Prine’s How Lucky gets a massive singalong, and sounds pretty magical too.

The Violators then return to raise the volume back up, and Chance to Bleed sets it off, followed by Girl Called Alex, which starts off mellow until a huge rock breakdown arrives that sees Jesse throw the appropriate rock shapes. A debut airing of 99 BPM sounds pretty fantastic too. A perfect double-whammy of Pretty Pimpin’ and Wakin’ On A Pretty Day close out the main set to huge applause.

The encore is amazing too. A drunk girl screams, “PLAY SOMETHING FROM CHILDISH PRODIGY!!!” after Avalanches of Snow, to which Kurt shrugs and says, “Hmm, maybe later…” Sounds like a polite way of saying “no” to me, we’re in the encore already. Drunk girl screams the same thing after Like Exploding Stones, at which point, Kurt turns his mic stand to face her directly with his acoustic guitar. Looking her in the eye, he runs through Heart Attack completely spontaneously, and she screams out every lyric in harmony.

It’s both poetic and fitting as he sings to this crazy drunk girl, “You better get your head re-screwed on / You gonna give me a heart attack!” Even with the girl’s less-than-optimal vocal ability, it’s a phenomenal spectacle to watch. After all of that, a comparatively mellow Cool Water, with a guest appearance from Travis Good, closes out the show after an epic hour and 40 minutes. Absolutely fantastic, one of the best shows of the year so far. My first time seeing Kurt Vile definitely won’t be my last.