The man before me, though, is humble in the most genuine way possible. Though he is larger than life in my eyes, Sam Roberts stands about as tall as I do — 5’7″ from the ground. He greets me with a smile as he would an old friend, and our conversation feels instantly comfortable. He offers me a beer as he acknowledges the clear cup roughly half-full of Sam Roberts Band Session Ale (a project that the band embarked on with local brewery Spearhead) in his hand, and we sit side by side in the corner of the room, talking about hockey (he is a big Montreal Canadiens fan), his young children, and his music career.
The inspiration for their raw, psychedelic rock comes from many places — be it from discovering new musicians at festivals (the band recently played at Pemberton Music Festival alongside J Cole and The Black Keys in British Columbia) or classics or just life experiences. “At Pemberton, I took a walk by myself — not even with my band mates — through the crowd, and in that setting you are confronted with so many different musicians. I saw bands that the crowd knew, but I had never heard of. We’re lucky enough that we get to spend a lot of our time surrounded by other musicians, and you can learn a lot from that.”
There is, the Montreal-born singer/songwriter tells me, no predetermined set-list for the show. He will just take the stage in an hour and play what feels right. He and “Nuge” have been playing together for so long, he says, that they understand what sounds good in this sort of setting and what just won’t. But, he says, they learn these things from playing it live in front of other people. “Sometimes it works, and sometimes we look at each other and say ‘never again.'”
Sam Roberts is one of the most popular musicians in Canada — his single “Brother Down” in the early 2000’s saw him rise to instant fame. His brand of feel-good rock is infectious, and the energy of the band’s live show is virtually unmatched. “I think that the relationship with the fans is one of the most overlooked things with musicians,” he says. As he speaks, you can see the McGill University alum’s brain working to string together a stream of intelligently-worded sentences. “I don’t want someone to feel like they are witnessing something,” he says, “I want them to feel like they are a part of something.”
The two men took to the stage around an hour later, and with the strum of one chord I immediately recognized “Detroit ’67.” A smile instantly found its way across my friend’s lips. This is the effect of a Sam Roberts concert — within seconds, everyone was on their feet, dancing and singing along, that same sparkle from his eye in the eyes of many watching him. He holds up a piece of paper, bearing song titles written in permanent marker. “We are, by no means, obligated to stick to this set list,” Roberts announces to the crowd. “This means we are taking requests, but we get to choose which requests we take. If we can’t play it, we’ll let you know it’s never going to happen,” he smiles. This sent a flurry of song titles hurled through the air (fans have a 5 album, 1 LP and 1 Record Store Day vinyl repertoire to choose from), but they next slowed it down with the moving track “Uprising Down Under.” They breezed through classics like “Hard Road,” “Brother Down,” “Don’t Walk Away Eileen” (this writer’s personal favourite song), and “Where Have All The Good People Gone?” and peppered in newer singles like “We’re All In This Together,” covers of Gordon Lightfoot and Paul Simon tracks, and even songs that were not singles, like “Paranoia” and “The Canadian Dream.” They joked with the crowd, interacting with them, smiling and taking sips from their beers as they played. Needless to say, you could just tell the duo was having a good time, thanking the crowd and event coordinators at every possible opportunity. Being a member of the audience, you are also compelled to have a good time – your mood is in their control, and they will not rest until you are smiling and dancing along.