Reviewing a concert normally involves considering a number of measures — the virtuosity of the musicians, the songs performed, the sound’s mix and balance, the venue itself, or even the lighting. Arguably though, there is really only one measure that matters: how it made you feel.

By that standard, I’m fairly certain that 99.99% of the audience felt really, really good after the Skydiggers’ recent performance at Vancouver’s dazzling art deco venue, the Hollywood Theatre.

Founded in 1987 in Toronto, Skydiggers is another of Canada’s seemingly endless stream of “best kept secrets” (as USA fans often label them) and one of the country’s most beloved bands. On May 25 at the Hollywood Theatre, the band’s lineup consisted of Josh Finlayson (guitar, vocals), Andy Maize (lead vocals), Daniel Lapp (horns, fiddle), Jessy Bell Smith (lead/backing vocals), Aaron Comeau (lead guitar), Noel Webb (drums, percussion), Michael Jonston (keyboards), and Derrick Brady (bass). And they delivered an expertly paced two-set, 27-song show that included a healthy balance between new material and their marvelously deep catalogue.

Stream the Skydiggers latest release, Bide Your Time, on Spotify.

Striding onto the Hollywood stage a couple minutes past the 7pm start time, lead vocalist Andy Maize promptly announced, “Let’s start at the beginning!” — opening with a bright “Monday Morning” from the band’s debut album, SkyDiggers. The jangly, Petty-Byrds influenced rock and roller, “Horseshoe Bay,” followed and, with the band clearly in the zone and the crowd singing and dancing, the concert gathered steam throughout the evening.

Indeed, band and audience were feelin’ it.

Discovering a multitude of bands and musicians from north of the border (including Skydiggers) has been a marvelous ongoing journey. Shortly after moving to the Pacific Northwest, my wife and I randomly streamed the band’s 1990 hit, “I Will Give You Everything.” So, when I saw Skydiggers listed for a Vancouver date, I knew we just had to be there.

Originally formed by Maize and Finlayson, the band’s various configurations and collaborations have yielded 20+ albums and EPs over the past three decades. This particular evening included a number of tunes from their two 2023 releases, Hide Your Light and Bide Your Time (Latent Recordings).

Watch Skydiggers perform “I Will Give You Everything” live on YouTube:

“Shimmy Up Those Words,” “Feel You Closer,” and “This Old Town” carried us into the heart of the set and showcased the band’s back catalogue. “Employee of the Myth” from Bide Your Time, brought us back to the present. A pair of songs later brought us to the evening’s first (and only) cover tune: a stunning performance of The Tragically Hip’s “It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken,” with lead vocals by Jessy Bell Smith. This song holds a special place in the hearts of Hip fans, its lyrics (“Cause in the forget-yer-skates dream, you can hang your head in woe, and this diverse as ever scene know which way to go”) revealing what made the late and sorely missed lead singer, Gord Downie, such a powerful songwriter and performer.

The Skydiggers and Tragically Hip were close as musicians, compatriots, and friends, and Jessy’s moving performance underscored that relationship as she emphasized the song’s poignant, central lyric, “And let’s get friendship right, get life day to day.”

The first set drew to a close with a melancholy “Hide Your Light,” providing a perfect counterpoint to the final song, a riveting performance of “A Penny More” from the band’s second album, Restless (FRE/Capitol).

Watch Skydiggers perform “A Penny More” on the Dakota Sessions via YouTube:

Opening the second set with “Pull Me Down” — from the 1992 album, Just Over the Mountain (Unidisc) — kept the show’s momentum and energy rising. The first half of the set included solid performances of tunes from various points in the band’s history, “Anything for You,” “Come to my Senses,” “Hello Beautiful Life,” and “Just Over This Mountain.”

The slow rocker “One Song at a Time” (dedicated to the late Dallas Good of The Sadies) both celebrated and decried life as a touring band (“the smell of piss and disappointment comes one song at a time”). By the time Jessy took lead vocals again for “Dear Henry,” the audience was in full singalong mode. A moving performance of the Andrew Cash-penned “You’ve Got a Lot of Nerve” was a warm nod to the former Skydigger and set up the concert’s final rousing tunes, “We Don’t Talk Much Anymore,” “I Will Give You Everything,” and “Just Before the Rain.”

The gorgeous ballad “Ramblin’ On” opened the three-song encore with Smith on lead vocals, and led to a lovely moment that found her and Maize slow dancing on stage. “Je T’aime Toujours, Mon Amour” acknowledged the deep love between band and audience. “Slow Burnin’ Love” finished out the show in a full sing-a-along, foot-stomping celebration.

As Joscelyn and I filed out of the theatre, dazed and infused by the joy we had just witnessed, we felt what those around us certainly did too: There’s no feeling quite as moving as a shared musical experience.

For information on future live dates, new music, and videos, please visit the Skydiggers website.

Here are some more photos of Skydiggers performing at Vancouver, BC’s Hollywood Theatre on May 25, 2024. All photos courtesy of and copyright Mark Caicedo.