sam roberts band

It had been over 5 years since the Sam Roberts Band had been able to do anything resembling a major tour due to the Covid pandemic and all that the pandemic had wrought. Two complete studio albums had been recorded; 2020’s All Of Us and 2023’s The Adventures Of Ben Blank. That's a lot of songs aching to be played live and loud.

They would start the Kelowna stop of their aptly named The Adventures of Ben Blank tour by launching into “Afterlife” following a brief but energy elevating display of lighting effects, projected images, and thundering sounds. Instant magic invocation and musical ecstasy creation that fused the entire audience and band into one inseparable and unmeasurable shared extended experience of joy.

Other tracks from the most recent album were offered up, such as “The Ballad of Ben Blank,” “Projection.” “Picture Of Love,” and “Cascades” along with songs like “I Like The Way You Talk About The Future” and “Spellbound” from the aforementioned All Of Us disc.

The relentless energy and pace continued across the performance as they also pulled out pieces from albums as far back as 2002’s The Inhuman Condition and 2003’s We Were Born In A Flame.

This tour had started at the beginning of February in the band’s hometown of Montreal and had played several eastern Canada dates and dipped down across the line to do a couple US shows before starting this Western Canada leg. Clearly any rust that may have formed on a machine meant to roar but kept in captivity for too long had long since been blown off by time they took the KCT stage.