The Shore Club continues to be a mandatory stop on the Summer Music season. This year included two sold-out nights from the wildly talented Sam Roberts Band. After catching his Chemical City tour stop earlier this year, it was clear this was going to be a legendary night in Hubbards, and it exceeded all expectations. The Shore Club is a special room; by day it is a mild-mannered lobster eatery, and by night, it transforms into a dance hall/concert venue. The room has played host to a litany of legends over the years and continues to be one of the hottest spots (literally and figuratively) to catch a show in the Summer. It is hard to fathom that it wasn’t until 2026 that the stage featured the Sam Roberts Band.
Over the course of its storied career, the Sam Roberts Band has regularly made its way East to perform on a myriad of Maritime stages. Most recently, the band kicked off its 5-night Chemical City 20th anniversary tour on the Light House Arts Centre stage in Halifax, where the band played the sophomore album in its entirety. Once the album was wrapped, the Halifax crowd was treated to a handful of fan-favourite tunes, some of which made the cut down in Hubbards.
For this pair of back-to-back nights at the Shore Club, the band didn’t come with predetermined set lists. Each of the two shows featured a different collection of songs that spanned the band’s extensive and beloved career. Those early singles such as “Brother Down” and “Don’t Walk Away Eileen” are prerequisites, but then the packed concert hall was treated to a rollicking ride through the Sam Roberts discography; night 1’s set included “Where Have All The People Gone”, “Picture of Love”, “Mystified” and “Bridge to Nowhere”.
After the first couple of songs, the sweat was already starting to roll in the room, and was even acknowledged by Roberts himself, as he and his bandmates were all wearing jackets over their dampening tees and opted to turn this performance into something of an endurance competition, trying to make it to “Afterlife”, the 7th song in the set before shedding the unnecessary layer. While the room might have been the warmest it has been in recent memory, that didn’t slow anyone down, as the band looked to be having a blast performing their first show in the storied room. It was another great showing from the Sam Roberts Band, and here’s hoping that they follow in the footsteps of their pal Matt Mays and make this an annual stop. The love that Sam has for the East Coast is definitely reciprocated tenfold, and we’ll keep showing up when he stops by for a visit.
At the top of the show, PEI’s own Absolute Losers took to the stage to kick off the night. The band had been on the radar for a bit, but was one of those acts that were missed for one reason or another, so it was a treat to catch them on the Shore Club stage. This trio of indie rockers brought a vibrancy and musicality that was very reminiscent of local rockers Sloan, both in sound and ability to swap places from lead vocals to drums to guitar. It was a great showing, and I can’t wait to see more.
