Dali Van Gogh has had a busy few years. The Halifax hard rock quartet took home Loud Recording of the Year at the 2023 East Coast Music Awards for their EP “New Blood, Old Wounds”, toured Canada with Buckcherry and The Glorious Sons, and picked up a 2026 ECMA nomination for the studio version of “Wicked Way”. Now they’re releasing “Roadkill”, a six-track live album documenting that whole run – and this track, recorded at Overtime Sportsbar in Kingston during the 2024 Wicked Way tour, is the first thing out the door. Frontwoman Rocky Moreau described the record as the band at their most vulnerable, no polish, no safety net. That framing is accurate.
A live performance is a band’s true test because the chemistry can’t be stitched together, and neither can the individual members’ competence. Luckily, Dali Van Gogh doesn’t need any stitching – their chemistry is off the charts. The band’s synchronization on the heavy riffs is world-class and absolutely right in the pocket. Rachelle’s lead vocals are as powerful as ever here, carrying the song to a sublime level. This is a track that lives or dies by its vocals, given how prominently they’re featured throughout – with only a brief but well-executed instrumental break, a guitar solo and riff interlude, before one final chorus brings it home.
Three new full-length albums are reportedly in post-production – “Vilify”, “Unplugged & Off The Record”, and “What’s A Bootleg” – due out in waterfall style over the next two years. Roadkill, then, is explicitly a closing statement on this chapter rather than a preview of the next one. The summer tour runs through September, with dates across Nova Scotia and Ontario.
