OUR LADY PEACE Brought Their 30th Anniversary Tour to a SOLD OUT Toad’s Place

Review By: Joe Perusse
Photos By: Holly Roy Photography

Our Lady Peace brought their 30th anniversary tour to Toad’s Place, and the sold-out
crowd was into it from the first note.

Bassist Duncan Coutts and drummer Jason Pierce opened the night with the intro to
“Naveed” before Raine Maida hit the stage. Not long after, Maida grabbed an acoustic
guitar for “Superman’s Dead,” joking with the crowd that the band hadn’t been here in
20 years but everyone still looked familiar.

One of the coolest moments early on came during “Innocent,” when Maida left the main
stage and walked all the way over near the merch booth to sing from the crowd. He
pulled out a bullhorn for “One Man Army,” then went back to the acoustic for “Is
Anybody Home?” where the crowd handled a lot of the singing. Maida laughed and told
them, “You guys are loud.”

“Life” was dedicated to Coutts, who battled and beat cancer, which gave the song a little
extra weight. Steve Mazur had some standout guitar moments during “Sound the
Alarm,” and Pierce was pounding away behind the kit all night. The bullhorn made
another appearance during “Not Enough,” and at one point Maida told the crowd that AI
will never replace the energy of a live show — which got a big reaction.

The middle of the set included “In Repair,” “Drop Me in the Water,” and “Everyone’s a
Junkie,” which Maida thought might stump the crowd, but they sang along anyway. “Hail
Hail,” “Temporary Healing,” and “4am” kept the momentum going before they closed the
main set with “Somewhere Out There” and “Clumsy,” both huge singalongs.

They came back for the encore with “I Wanna Be Your Drug,” followed by “Whatever
(Redux),” where Maida mentioned that streaming revenue from the song goes toward
suicide prevention efforts. After thanking the New Haven crowd multiple times and
saying how great they were all night, they wrapped things up with “Automatic Flowers”
and closed the show with “Starseed.”

Opening the night was The Verve Pipe, who played a strong eight-song set. Right after
“Photograph,” Brian Vander Ark told the crowd how good it felt to be back at Toad’s.
“Cup of Tea” and “Villains” followed, and drummer Daine Hammerlie set up a smooth
intro for “Dust.”

Vander Ark introduced guitarist Lou Musa before a great solo during “Colorful,” and
keyboardist Channing Lee got her moment during “Medicate Myself,” while Vander Ark
raised a glass to the crowd and joked that Toad’s still smelled the same after all these
years.

One of the best moments of the opener came during “The Freshman,” when the crowd
sang an entire verse by themselves. Vander Ark looked genuinely moved and told them,
“That was a special moment for us, thank you.”

Saving the final intro for his brother Brad Vander Ark on bass, the band closed their set
with a cover of “Black Hole Sun.” It was a strong version — the kind the original band
would’ve appreciated. They left the stage blowing kisses to the crowd, and the feeling
was definitely mutual.

THE VERVE PIPE

OUR LADY PEACE