Seeds for this show were planted back in mid-July, thanks to a notification popping up in our social media feeds announcing that Toronto, ON alt-country-psyche-surf rockers The Sadies were visiting PA to kick off the fall season. If the fact that the band would be performing at The Attic – an intimate space within the historic State Theatre – in State College, PA (just under two hours away from our home) was not enough to earn our attention, the additional “Special Acoustic Performance – One Night Only!” banner certainly did. Tickets bought!
With a maximum capacity of 49 patrons (including the band and staff), the Attic was certainly as described – intimate, yet perfect (and pretty much sold out). Since purchasing our tickets, additional shows elsewhere would be announced with the same Special Acoustic Performance tag, and our good friend (and GDW author) Steve Murphy would attend one of the events in London, ON a few weeks prior to ours. Out of curiosity, I asked Steve if they truly went all-acoustic, who promptly replied “Haha, no, the first three songs were with an acoustic guitar, that’s it. The rest was normal Sadies.” Okay – so a Performance, as opposed to a full Show – but that’s okay – for us, it had been approaching eighteen months since last seeing them, and we needed our fix.
Securing our seats once admitted into The Attic, a cursory glance at the stage set-up drew our attention to a pair of electric guitars sandwiching the sole acoustic variety – thus confirming what Steve had told us. We were happy to see a good turnout, the room close to capacity – and better still to observe a young lady in the audience donning a band t-shirt, and overhearing a gentlemen share that he’d never heard of The Sadies, but they look so interesting. And as showtime rolled around, the trio of Travis Good (vocals/guitars), Sean Dean (upright bass), and Mike Belitsky (drums) were given a lively State College reception when making their way onto the stage, to which they reciprocated with a solid 80-minutes of music from across their entire catalogue.
Reaching immediately for his acoustic guitar, Travis would commence the evening with “Little Sadie” (an early tune that they have resurrected these last few years), before surprising us with a performance of “Green” – a tune found on the 2024 “Rick White and the Sadies” album (that was available for sale at the merch table – one that had eluded us, meaning a vinyl copy was certainly purchased). “Thanks a lot folks, we’re the Sadies from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It’s great to be here for our first time,” Travis would offer following this tune. And prior to an acoustic performance of “Idle Tomorrows” (one we do not recall ever witnessing them perform at previous shows we’ve attended – but an instantly recognizable cut from their 2010 “Darker Circles” album), Travis would add, “Here’s a song I wrote a long, long time ago with our buddy Gary Louris from The Jayhawks.”
Switching out to his primary electric guitar following these four acoustic numbers, Travis and his two bandmates would energize The Attic with a well curated set list that drew heavily upon their recent JUNO-Award winning “Colder Streams” album, whilst adding in some lesser played cuts which were a delight to experience live – “Wasn’t Born to Follow” and “My Heart of Wood” being two such examples. And as expected, the intermittent bursts of their popular instrumental pieces were received enthusiastically – their signature spaghetti western meets surf sounds found in cuts such as “Lay Down Your Arms,” “Rat Creek,” and “Ten More Songs.”
Following “Lay Down Your Arms,” Travis would pause to pay tribute to his late brother Dallas Good. “Thank you so much, we really appreciate it. Right now, for everyone here who’s never seen us before, we used to be four, and sadly three years ago we lost my little brother Dallas,” he shared, before raising a glass in the air. “And so, we dedicate this show, and every show we do forever to my brother Dallas. Let’s hear it for Dallas Good. We’re gonna try one from our most recent record. A bunch of these songs have been from our most recent record.”
Winding down with a killer combination of “Ridge Runner Reel” and “Stop and Start,” Travis would bid everybody a good evening, pausing momentarily, before adding that of course they had a couple more songs. No theatrics needed – no leaving the stage, absorbing the applause, and returning – but using that time to instead switch out for his acoustic guitar one more time as the trio led off their non-encore encore with “Anna Leigh.” And reaching, finally, for his secondary electric guitar (that had sat untouched all evening), Travis, Sean, and Mike would send everybody home with a fabulous performance of “No One’s Listening” (one of their most enjoyable live tracks, in my humble opinion).
Another solid evening of music from one of the best on the live music circuit today – The Sadies never fail to deliver, and in this current era of less Canadian travelling bands touring the US (for both personal reasons and spiraling visa costs/uncertainties), we are incredibly grateful that this trio continue to play some of the smaller venues and smaller towns here in the US northeast. We are always asking bands to visit Central PA – and State College is certainly considered part of the mid-state – and a wonderful venue such as The Attic is a great place for artists and audiences to connect.
Here’s hoping that The Sadies choose to return to our region again soon. Heck, I’ll even hold on to the hopes for a fully acoustic show, now that those seeds have been planted. That would make for a unique experience, for sure.
Set List:
- Little Sadie (acoustic)
- Green (acoustic)
- Windy and Warm (John D. Loudermilk cover – acoustic)
- Idle Tomorrows (acoustic)
- Oak Ridges
- Cut Up High and Dry
- Cheat
- Through Strange Eyes
- Message to Belial
- Ten More Songs
- More Alone
- So Far for So Few
- Lay Down Your Arms
- All the Good
- Only Good One
- Wasn’t Born to Follow
- Another Year Again
- Ain’t It Sad to Stand and Watch Love Die (Conway Twitty cover)
- Rat Creek
- Leave Me Alone
- Dark Eyes (trad. cover)
- The Trial
- Northumberland West
- My Heart of Wood
- Ridge Runner Reel
- Stop and Start
Non-Encore Encore:
- Anna Leigh (acoustic)
- No One’s Listening
The British guy that crossed the ocean and crash landed in central Pennsylvania (to quote Greg Keelor, “And I wonder what am I doing here?”). As the youngest of four siblings, exposure to music from a very early age nurtured my passion and appreciation for many musical genres. Continuing to discover some amazingly diverse and talented musicians based in Canada, I gravitate to live music experiences and remain devoted to spreading the word about such a vibrant music scene.
