Alienated in Vancouver: The Dream Syndicate review and photos, Vancouver, Nov. 3, 2025

All photos by me except for the one of me and Dennis at the merchtable, below (which is by Erika Lax)

So apparently the Dream Syndicate is a cult taste, because (I'm guessing) fewer than 100 people made it out to the Rickshaw last night. Boy did the rest of you miss out!

Of the people who did turn up, I'd guess that the average age was a little older than mine; lots of people in their 60s and 70s. Half of the people that I knew in the room had seen them back in 1984, arriving at the Rickshaw as representatives of a time when music geekdom was almost 100% male. My wife and I speculated that maybe 10 to 20% of the audience was female, and of that miniscule number, maybe 85% were there because their male partner brought them?

But Erika totally enjoyed the band and I think has a new favourite of the artists I have shared with her. I have occasionally dragged her to cult-status shows on principle, even got her out to one of those so-called D.O.A. farewell tours; sometimes, if I've seen the band before, we end up leaving early, because I can tell she's not diggin' it and don't want her to be bored.

That was not the case last night.

Actually, I think she got all of "The Medicine Show," the song, on video. Keep an eye out!

Russ Breakey and his lady-friend, whose name I have learned twice now (at Neil Young and again last night), but have not filed for retrieval, had caught the band in Bellingham the other night (see Russ's photo of Wynn in the previous post). They chatted with Wynn about playing Greece, which apparently the Dream Syndicate (or Steve Wynn himself) has done weirdly often.

I spent the first few minutes of the night running around like an idiot, securing merch, saying hi to people, taking photos. I was posting shit like "You still have ten minutes to make it to the Rickshaw!"

But don't ask me to tell you the setlist. The first song, in their first set, was "How Did I Find Myself Here," which was the perfect opener for a gig in a town you haven't played in for 41 years. But I can't do the setlist justice. They did, I think, four or five songs off that album, including the title track, "80 West," "Like Mary," and maybe "Out of My Head" and "Glide," but I'm sure on neither count. They also did about as many songs off These Times, like "Still Here Now," "Put Some Miles On" and "Bullet Holes" and a couple of others I did not note. I know the album poorly. But I know Ultraviolet Battle Hymns and True Confessions even less. I don't even have it!

The second set was, as promised, Medicine Show in its entirely, but played in a slightly different order, moving "The Medicine Show" up and "Armed With an Empty Gun" down, and for the last two songs, flipping "Merrittville" and "John Coltrane Stereo Blues" around, so the jammier one, which even contained a brief detour into the Love Supreme riff, served as the ending cut. It was amazing, fantastic chemistry between the band members, Wynn leaning into Mark Walton (who is not on the studio album but played on live cuts on the box set) and Jason Victor (who could be Wynn's brother; they look quite similar). I always think when a band is really great they'll be playing INTO each other, like this:

Speaking of things I forgot to ask: "Hey, Dennis, why 5?" Mostly I just danced. I did shoot clips of three songs, "Still Here Now" and "Daddy's Girl." and the last song of the night (the second song of the encore, after "Tell Me When Its Over") which was "The Days of Wine and Roses." To be honest, I had not planned to shoot any of the best songs they do, but I was maxed out on dancing at that point, and... I literally was thinking of Art Bergmann on this one. He'd mentioned online that he wanted to hear Days material, but wasn't at the show, so there, Art, this one's for you.

Wynn was funny and chatty. If his book had been on the merch table I'd have bought it, but there were just two shirt designs and stacks of the two 4 CD sets. The band was generous with fans afterwards, getting things signed and such. Rob Frith got both, and got Wynn's signature -- I was really happy he'd come out. Wynn told him about how Jason, the guitarist had actually bought something at Neptoon earlier that day; I had sent Wynn the New York Times article about Rob's big Beatles' find, but he told me he hadn't had a chance to read it yet; I think when he does he'll wish he'd chatted with Rob more! I also kinda wish I'd gotten them to take a picture together, but I simply forgot. Lots of distractions, when you have a big stack of album covers to get signed and all five band members there in front of you (actually Willie Aron, the guy on keys, wasn't technically a band member yet, and hadn't played on any of the albums, but he did just fine!).

Every band member was enjoyable to watch. Jason Victor took most of the solos and was really compelling. Dennis Duck was laconic and Charlie-Wattsish. Mark Walton, who had been here for the REM show in 1984, was expressive and mobile. And I don't think I've been at a happier, more relaxed signing -- everyone was really friendly, the band happy to have pulled things off so well and all 100 or so of us just floating in delight after such an amazing evening of music.

(the one above is by Erika!)

But that's all I've got. I have nothing much else to say. The sound was great, and if a false note was played, I sure didn't notice it. I was too busy dancin'! Here are my photos of the band live. If you write for a publication that pays money to photographers, I would like you to ASK ME before you use these, but if you're just an unpaid blogger like me or a fan or you were there last night, this is what I got; go for it. The more enthusiasm you spread online, the more likely I'll be to see these guys again sometime!