Photos and Review by Sharon Steele – The Trews hit Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom for a sold-out show, kicking off the first leg of their cross-Canada Bloody Light tour. Opening the night were Eddy and the Dirty Boys, who brought their gritty country-rock sound to warm up the packed crowd. The band features members from The Glorious Sons and Boston Levi, and they had the room buzzing early.
With the crowd nicely primed, Nova Scotia’s The Trews took the stage at 10:15 p.m., opening with their current album track “Manifest,” quickly followed by “Tired of Waiting” from the band’s inaugural release, House of Ill Fame.
The audience was already in full participation mode, singing along to hits like “Hope & Ruin,” before the band moved into the crowd to perform “Ishmael & Maggie,” with fans enthusiastically joining in on the lyrics: “Oh, my love, I can’t stand to be alone / And I’ve been drinkin’ too much, I better go home.”
The pace slowed at times, with one standout moment coming during the heartfelt “Highway of Heroes,” as the entire room lit up with phone lights.
John-Angus MacDonald later stepped off the stage and into the audience, eventually making his way to the balcony at the back of the room to deliver a searing guitar solo during the electrifying “Poor Ol’ Broken Hearted Me.”
Before the encore, while standing near the back of the venue, I noticed a woman with a Canadian flag laid out on a table and asked what it was for. She explained it was for a friend who had lost her son just a month earlier — a huge Trews fan — and she was inviting concertgoers to sign it. It was a genuinely moving moment as people wrote messages and words of support. It was a reminder of how much music can mean, and how seeing The Trews live can offer a welcome respite, even if just for an evening. Launching the tour at an iconic venue like the Commodore Ballroom felt especially fitting.
The encore featured “Endless Weekend,” “Not Ready to Go,” and a rousing cover of “Won’t Get Fooled Again.”
The tour now heads east, with upcoming stops in Saskatoon, Thunder Bay, and a final date in Windsor.
