The Sadies: Live at The Tweedsmuir Tavern

With tickets in hand to a show on a Sunday evening in southern Ontario, Team GDW were eager to find a similar event on the Saturday evening to maximize our weekend getaway with plenty of live music. For a while, finding that ideal Saturday night concert proved elusive, until we expanded our search a little further into Ontario and stumbled upon an event advertised by The Tweedsmuir Tavern, a venue located in the town of Tweed, just north of Belleville, ON. For this particular Saturday night, this small town would host an evening with both The Mayhemingways and The Sadies. With two of our favorite bands in a venue with very limited availability, a quick phone-call was the only thing needed to secure our seats.

Our first encounter with The Mayhemingways took place during the Bill and Joel Plaskett “Solidarity” Tour last spring. Hailing from Peterborough, ON, this eclectic-folk duo of Benj Rowlands and Josh Fewings delighted the audience with their original ‘fuzz-folk’ music. During that performance, the duo road-tested some new material, and announced that a new album was in the works. Fast forward to 2018, and their new album “Skip Land” is about to be released; making their support for The Sadies a wonderful opportunity to road-test fresh music once more.

With a generous amount of stage time to fulfill their opening duties, The Mayhemingways opened the show with a ten-song set list that featured both new tunes and popular favorites. Just two songs in, the duo would perform “Frances the Truck Driver;” the first single from “Skip Land,” before adding both “Troubles In The Basement” and “Bad Old Days” (coincidentally the same album track placement). Every new song was well received from a strong turnout of fans, who were rewarded with long time favorites such as the title track from their 2016 “Hunter St. Blues” album, and “CD’s That Didn’t Sell” from their 2014 debut EP thrown into the mix too. The Mayhemingways did not miss a beat all night, with Benj and Josh displaying their strong musical chemistry throughout their set, and receiving a well-deserved ovation from the crowd at the close.

Following a brief intermission, The Sadies made their way onto the stage with the intention of giving everybody a great Saturday night party of their unique music. Opening with their popular hit “The First Five Minutes,” brothers Travis and Dallas Good (along with Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky) would perform a non-stop barrage of hits that define their career, knocking out over 25 tracks in the process. Still riding on the coattails of their most recent “Northern Passages” album, newer tracks such as “Riverview Fog” and “God Bless The Infidels,” along with the singles “Another Season Again” and “Through Strange Eyes,” were all performed.

Splitting lead vocal duties throughout the night, Dallas Good would take the spotlight during favorites such as “Anna Leigh” and “The Story’s Often Told;” as would Travis Good during “Leave Me Alone” and “Wearin’ That Loved On Look.” And lest we forget those wonderful short instrumental bursts that help weave specific tracks together, notably “Cheat,” “Rat Creek” and “Ridge Runner Reel.” As always, their popular hit “Tiger Tiger” (complete with the amazing dual-guitar playing display between brothers) would signal the end of the show. At least, until, The Sadies decided to do a non-encore encore – staying out on the stage and cranking out another half-dozen tunes before calling it a night. The Sadies did not ease off the gas pedal all night at The Tweedsmuir Tavern, with a flawless performance and a few surprise tracks thrown in that are often overlooked. Once again, we had a great evening of music from this band, who never disappoint, and we know that our paths will cross again soon. With so much great music on offer, it was impossible to recall all of the tunes performed on this night (hence the ‘partial’ listing below). For those of you from our part of the US, the Sadies will be performing in downtown Philadelphia later this year – if you are curious, go check them out.

The Sadies (Partial) Set List: