Today Sloan uploaded a video of their very first live show which was 30 years ago to this day – February 8 1991 at NSCAD Cafeteria. It is self described as A mixture of unwatchable and unlistenable which it is. Prophetically the first song they ever performed live was Underwhelmed which would end up being one of, if not their most, enduring and popular songs. The sound quality is pretty raw but I don’t know if it actually makes them sound worse…I’m guessing it was probably pretty rough in person. If you weren’t told it was Sloan I doubt you could tell from the quality of the video unless you know what early 20s Sloaners look like doused in grainy red light. An almost unrecognizable Marcus Said follows which is way more distorted and raw than either version found on the Peppermint EP or Smeared from several years later. Next up is several minutes of indecipherable noise that sounds like a band practice involving only a guitarist and a distortion pedal. I have no idea what song it is but I don’t feel worse for it. I have distinct memories of live shows like this where I would leave uncertain if I enjoyed myself or not but that I probably did. The whole thing looks and sounds like the 1990s in 16 minutes. The last song is…no fucking idea…but it sounds like the previous one…maybe it is the same song.
I was never a huge fan of the Peppermint EP or Smeared. They have some good moments but overall I find them far too proto grunge for my taste. I think they hit their stride starting with Twice Removed which is a pure treasure of an album both in the quality of material and style/production. Considering how huge Sloan has become in Canada this is a video that provides hope to every band everywhere that nothing is impossible. What I love about this video is that it even exists…that someone bothered to capture something that they would have no idea as to what the historic nature might even be. It is an awesome albeit very raw document of one of Canada’s most successful and influential bands so thanks…whoever filmed it.
https://youtu.be/KgrWLN6fHHg