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Review: The Sheepdogs/The Commoners, Strange Brew
“We’re The Commoners from Toronto, Canada. We’re gonna play a fuckin’ rock show!”
And that’s exactly what they do. Operating somewhere in the vicinity of Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Black Crowes and Stillwater from Almost Famous, The Commoners seem to have arrived via a timeslip from 1973. They swiftly get the capacity crowd onside, augmenting their sound with a neat line in West Coast harmonies and the occasional “Right on, man” as they go about their rockin’ business. It would be hard to think of a better support for their fellow countrymen The Sheepdogs.
is needed now More than ever
It’s about time a promoter took a punt on The Sheepdogs and booked them into a bigger Bristol venue. They’ve played virtually all the smaller ones now (The Louisiana, The Fleece, The Thekla) and built an audience that’s surely large enough to sustain a move to the likes of SWX. The multiple Juno award-winning Saskatoon rockers seem to think so too. “It’s good to get off that boat,” quips frontman Ewan Currie. “I mean, it’s a nice boat, but . . .”
Last time they were here, guitarist Ricky Paquette seemed to be deputising for Jimmy Bowskill, who had officially taken a hiatus from The Sheepdogs. Now it appears that he’s Bowskill’s full-time replacement, although there doesn’t appear to have been any formal announcement of this. He’s a great player and certainly fits in perfectly, especially during those moments of duelling guitars with Ewan Currie and that gorgeous Allmans-esque intro to Southern Dreaming.
The Sheepdogs have also found time to record two new EPs that keep up those high standards of composition and musicianship. They play a good selection of those songs tonight. Take Me For a Ride, which clocks in at less than three minutes on record, is expanded into a singalong boogie monster with several solo spots, including a showcase for Ewan’s keyboard, guitar and tambourine playing brother Shamus (who, rather disappointingly, seems to have left his trombone at home this time).
As ever with The Sheepdogs, it’s not hard to detect their influences – Lynyrd Skynyrd (How Late How Long), Creedence Clearwater Revival (Now or Never), The Allman Brothers (Hell Together) and even The Eagles (Darlin’ Baby) – but such is their skill that these songs never sound derivative.
They’re probably too rockin’ for the ‘tasteful Americana’ crowd, but have more soul than 90% of those acts, as evidenced by the likes of Scarborough Street Fight from Outta Sight, which has expanded into quite the epic onstage and could yet become the band’s Freebird. But you’re never far from a good singalong – I’ve Got a Hole Where My Heart Should Be, I Don’t Know, Nobody – and they eventually leave us with an encore of Feeling Good, which is a perfect summation of the audience mood.
Read more: Metal & Prog Picks: December 2024
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