Oshawa, ON Canada (Tribute Communities Centre), March 9, 2026 Options

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Live
Big Wreck
Econoline Crush
The Damn Truth

March 9, 2026
Oshawa, ON
Tribute Communities Centre

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Setlist

1. Operation Spirit (The Tyranny of Tradition)
2. Selling the Drama
3. Freaks
4. All Over You
5. Pain Lies on the Riverside
6. The Beauty of Gray
7. Run to the Water
8. The Dolphin's Cry
9. Leave the Radio On
10. Heaven
11. Horse
12. Overcome
13. Rattlesnake
14. Lakini's Juice
Encore:
15. Turn My Head
16. I Alone
17. Lightning Crashes

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/live/2026/tr...a-73489a15.html

Videos from [@jayreid75]

Lightning Crashes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hamMEI75dlw

I Alone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hapn-2zXQGU

Turn My Head

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swmdYTqUpQA

Lakini's Juice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZC71scALRs

Overcome

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA4D1maD0ts

The Dolphin's Cry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3QkAHXLvJA

Selling The Drama

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_au427swGs

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Photos and a review of Live, Big Wreck, and Econoline Crush in Ottawa
March 10, 2026
Alan Cross

[Matt Berard and Karen Coughtrey were on the ground for us in Ottawa. – AC]

+LĪve+* brought their Like A Rolling Thunder tour to Ottawa, Friday night (March 6th 2026) at the Canadian Tire Centre (CTC). Accompanied by Canadian rock heavyweights Big Wreck and Econoline Crush, there was no doubt it would be a great show.

[*Ed Kowalczyk has had to stylize the band’s name because of a recent cease-and-desist order from his former bandmates. So, yes, it’s “+Live+” for now.]

The storm (rolling thunder) theme extended to all three bands and both openers took the stage to the unmistakable sounds of a storm approaching mixed with clips of spiritual chanting.

Although Econoline Crush would open the night with a short seven-song set, it was clear many guests considered the night to be a triple bill as it was nearly a full house from the get-go.

Lead singer Trevor Hurst shows no signs of slowing down, bringing the energy to every song and punctuating them with perfectly timed leaps.

The crowd heard a new song, the very catchy, ‘New Gold Magic’, and favourites ‘All That You Are (x3)’ and ‘You Don’t Know What It’s Like.’ They ended their set with ‘Sparkle and Shine’ which was written for Shannon Hoon (the late lead singer of Blind Melon) and Trevor dedicated the performance to his friend and guitarist Ziggy, and the other artists we’ve lost since then.

Big Wreck were next and opened with a favourite ‘The Oaf’ (a hit that they usually perform in the encores). They too introduced to the crowd a new song, ‘Dog With A Gun,’ off their album The Rest Of The Story which was released last year. However, the set was mostly made up of familiar tunes including ‘Believer’ and ‘Albatross’ and ending with the predictable ‘Blown Wide Open’ and ‘That Song.’

The CTC is not known for having great sound quality but Big Wreck would luck in to having the best sound of the night, at least for those liking to hear the music and be able to hear and understand the lyrics.

That said, the crowd is there for the music and they took ample opportunities to take a break from singing and simply entertain the crowd with the exquisite rock chops that have kept them performing and popular for over 30 years.

+LĪve+ however would easily put on the most memorable performance of the night. Ed being the only front man to really interact with the crowd between songs. He would explain that on this night we were at the mercy of a time machine and would travel back in time through the band’s music catalogue.

The band was welcomed to the stage with a very disco feel, multiple disco balls reflecting light, and a popiness to the music that may have tricked you into thinking we were waiting for a boy band to take the stage (although the lack of screaming adolescent girls would likely be a clue to the contrary.) And although not screaming in a high pitched register, the largely Gen-X/ Elder Millennial crowd did show ample appreciation for the awaited headliner.

The disco vibes did not last past the first note played but a 70s vibe remained. The band’s spiritual influences were evident in the chosen background visuals which are somewhat difficult to describe but were different variations on characters like [+], each symbol filled in with an image (often invoking notions of spirituality, often flaming) that would kaleidoscope around, melding and melting, some even resembling tie-dye or lava lamps.

We travelled first to 1997 for ‘Freaks’, then back to ‘94 for favourite ‘All Over You’, and then back even further to ‘92 and the first song Ed ever wrote, the one that landed the band its record deal, ‘Pain Lies On The Riverside.’

Staying in 1992 for the next song, Ed would make a joke about the president at the time (Clinton) being better than the current sitting president, and as introduction to ‘The Beauty of Gray,’ would talk about the racial tensions in the place he grew up. In his own words, “I always thought that was bullshit, still is, 1+1=2 don’t judge anybody by the colour of their skin. That’s how we do it.”

We did spend some time in the present and they played a yet to be released song for the crowd, ‘Leave The Radio On.’ Ed explained the idea behind the new song, is that the audience loves music, he is there because he loves to make music and that music is the one agreed upon global thing in the world of art that can find you just when you need it, when you’re having a tough time and that 3 and half minutes of music from your favourite artist can make everything all right for that time. That’s the power of music.

In a well timed act for the weekend of International Women’s Day (Sunday March 8th) Ed invited the women in the crowd to sing along to Heaven, a song he wrote after the birth of his daughter. Zak Loy showed off his abilities to play multiple instruments, and as the rest of the band took a break he accompanied Ed on what appeared to be an electric mandolin.

As intro to ‘Horse,’ Ed donned a country outfit and reminisced with the crowd about the existence of secret songs on albums, a delightful surprise that fans no longer get to experience in the digital age and he was again accompanied by only Zak, showing off his musical chops this time on something that appeared to be some form of electric zither.

‘Lakini’s Juice’ was the end of the main set and surprisingly numbers of the crowd chose to leave before or during the encore. Those of us who wisely stayed enjoyed ‘Turn My Head, ‘I Alone’ and then were rewarded with the always iconic, perennial favourite,one of the greatest rock songs of all time, ‘Lightning Crashes.’ A perfect night ender, the truest of high notes to head home on.

https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/pho...rush-in-ottawa/

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Video from [@turnoffthetv]

The Dolphin's Cry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1DvbOOT914