Show Review - Slowcoaster @ The Paragon

Slowcoaster 

"The Darkest of Discos" Album Release 

w/ Something Good

October 8th 2010 @ The Paragon Theatre

Review by Tiffany Naugler

Ticket said that the doors opened at 9:00pm and the show starts at 10:00pm but, as usual and in Halifax tradition, the show started more than late - around 11:30pm.
I wish Halifax show promoters would tell you the start times of shows and then actually follow through on those times… maybe then we wouldn’t have shows wrapping up around 2:00am or later.
Then again, maybe I am just complaining because I’m old. Whichever the case, it’s a pet peeve of mine.

Regardless, as I sat at a table located on the small raised section of the Paragon floor, located at the left of the stage, I was intrigued by the set up of the first band – Something Good.
My escort for the evening (a friend of mine who was interested in my extra ticket to the show) informed me that they were something of a hip-hop act and from what I could tell by scoping out the stage; there was a vocalist (MC), a keyboard/guitarist, drums, bass and conga drums? Interesting.
Upon further investigation there were also turntables set up in the far left corner, which were slightly hidden from my view.

Something Good came out with a bang.
There were hardly any people at the Paragon at this point (which above noted late start times are usually the caused of) but they performed like it was a full house! The MC was bouncing around the stage, while teasing and taunting the crowd. Constant hype about the upcoming Slowcoaster’s set got the crowd moving closer and closer to the stage.
By the end of their set, they had a crowd of crazily dancing people having what seemed to be the time of their lives.

My only complaint about the set was, that even though there were 6 members (7 instruments) in this band, the sound wasn’t very full. The vocals were very high in the mix, which I can sort of understand - as you would preferably like to hear what the MC is saying… but I am one to believe that it shouldn’t be the only thing you hear. Unless there was a conga solo or quiet part in a song – I could barely even tell that there extra drums on stage. Even the scratches from the turntables were not that audible, which was kind of disappointing, as I am usually always in love with the sound in The Paragon.

Other than that I would say that Something Good know how to put on a show and I wouldn’t mind catching them again sometime – in a different venue, or even just with a different sound guy.





Then the lights went down, and the disco ball over the top of the now fully-grown crowd started spinning as bright blue lights hit the stage and fog rolled through out the entire venue. You could feel the energy coming off the crowd and nothing had even happened yet! The fog from the fog machine was thick, almost chokingly thick. It probably didn’t help that we were standing pretty much right beside the damn machine, but that was the least of our thoughts, as Slowcoaster were making their way onto the stage.

Now, I will admit, I am not the biggest Slowcoaster fan on the planet, but I have seen them many, many times and well – They Bring The Party. It’s been almost a week since I saw this show and well, I am still singing along to Slowcoaster songs in my head. I have not danced that much in a long time… not even during Slowcoaster’s Evolve Festival set, did I dance so much – and Evolve is essentially one big dance party!

There were lights and there was fog. There were guest vocals and using the crowd barrier as a guitar slide and the crowd dancing furiously as they participated in the call and response of “fill up the pipe with Ganja!”

Slowcoaster’s set was full of old favorites and lots of material off the new album. The new tracks were not as dance oriented as the past couple of records, but I don’t think that was a bad thing. It was a perfect mixture of old and new SloCo, which kept you on your toes all night!



I left The Paragon with a smile on my face and a bounce in my step.
It’s been a long while since I came home from a show with that much enthusiasm. Normally, I’m tired and cranky and ready to hit the hay (see above statement about being old). Not this time, as I am pretty sure I irritated the crap out of Dan with every detail about the show before I would settle for going to bed.



Seeing as how I had won the tickets for this show, I decided I was not bringing 10 tonnes of camera equipment with me, so I opted just to bring the video camera to capture some of the show’s live elements to share with you. Check out the footage above and make sure to check out Slowcoaster if they hit a city near you – you will NOT be disappointed.