Concert Reviews, Photos, Videos and Rock and Roll Stories from fans who love live music

You have to know something special is going to happen when you find out the 3 or 4 of people beside you have flown some 2000KM to watch a band from their hometown of Winnipeg, play 2 of what may turn out to maybe 6 reunion shows.

The last time I saw the Watchmen they were opening for the Tragically Hip on their Phantom Power Tour in 1998 at The Landmark Theatre in Syracuse NY. I guess I caught The Watchmen 3 or 4 times on that tour and really enjoyed them, so when I heard they were reuniting for a couple of shows at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern I knew I was going catch at least 1 of the shows. As it turned out I caught the 2^nd night and man I am glad I did.

When you do the Horseshoe or catch a band that may or ever play again you have no choice but to get up close and really get the show into you. The Horseshoe has a nice low stage. The stage only comes up a meter or so maybe a bit higher. When you are up front leaning on it or against it you really know why this venue hasn’t changed much in 60 years, it didn’t have too!

We run into is 1 of 2 guys holding HD cameras who are recording the show(s) for a documentary on the band.

We ask some questions and learn the working title is All Uncovered (name of a great Watchmen tune), they have complete uncensored access to the band, access to the soundboard and mention the DVD should be ready for mass consumption by March 2009. I can’t help but think it will be a great piece of rock & roll Canadiana.

I have seen a few 1-off reunion shows (not to be confused with a full blown reunion tour) and it always seems like the band and crowd are having such an obviously great time that the mood / vibe quickly becomes so infectious the crowd just goes over the top. Another reunion show that comes to mind is the Junkhouse reunion show in a few years back at Club 279!

I am writing this as an addendum to a more in depth review done by a fan that attended both shows. I will send out a few highlights from my point of view….then let the hardcore fan ramble on. (more…)

Once I got inside I moved to the front left side and posted myself for the show. I had been really looking forward to this show as I had really got into James @ the album Seven and stayed with them through Laid and Wah Wah. I caught the Laid tour in 1993 at the Ontario Place Forum with the rotating stage.

I know there are several albums before Seven, and several after Wah Wah but I didn’t get back into them until this last album Hey Ma!  Maybe it was the Brain Eno production sound on Seven, Laid and Wah Wah!!  Technically Wah Wah was part of the Laid sessions that didn’t see the light of day in Canada for awhile after Laid album. At any rate there is enough back-catalogue to keep me busy with James once again.

The stage seemed almost too small. The seven members of James and all their equipment took up quite a lot of space. The venue was packed, as the show sold out quick and I didn’t really see very many tickets on the street. The tickets I did hear change hands were going for @80 bucks.

The band could have probably played a larger venue based on the quick sell out and lack of tickets out front. There was as sizable group hanging around outside hoping to score last minute tickets. Likely to no avail.

Whew, Whew, Whew, Whew…..Whew…. All this Frustration … Born of Frustration from Seven YES!!….What a great tune to start the show! Everyone is singing!!. I’m thinking man this is so good already.

Tim Booth is happy that is very clear from the start. He loves the stage, the crowd loves him and the band is rocking. Everyone is having a really great time.

We get a couple of songs from the new album Hey Ma next. Waterfall gets really great crowd reaction. They played a nice bunch from this new album including Bubbles, Oh My heart and Hey Ma. This song was rolled out with references to the war in Iraq, Tony Blair and George Bush. (Hey ma the boys in body bags coming home in pieces)

Booth asks how many fans had seen the band first time around 15 years ago “at the stage that revolves”, many hands go up and he smiles and says,” he wanted to see how long the relationship had been”.  “Next time, bring some friends and we will have a bigger party”

Talking about the instruments, we get songs with 2 drummers, a violin, there are at least 3 set of keyboards, plus an electronic drum kit, many guitars, maracas, tambourines and I watched a tiny handheld keyboard with a mouth tube attached a le Frampton, being played. I’m sure there was more I just didn’t catch it all.

There was a point in the show when the crowd sang back the chorus of Sometimes for 10 minutes with the band just standing there watching, listening and smiling. It was just amazing. It could easily have been the longest, loudest continuous singing by a crowd I ever heard.

Big highlights for me Ring the Bells and Say Something. Probably, the biggest buzz for me though is reserved for Don’t Wait that Long which is played as the first encore song. The guitar here just comes across as so Gilmour-esque to me. This was followed by Star then the mega hit Laid which they kind of blew through.

The band left the stage then returned to play, Top of The World. This song was unplanned and does not appear on the set list. I managed to score a setlist after the show. There wasn’t a single guitar pic tossed.

All in all this was really really fun show!! For 25 bucks… man that is hard to beat!!

Todd

Photos from this show on Flickr

Please let us know if you find any videos from this show on youtube by commenting below.

…..I have to admit… I went to this show with only the expectation of having a good time and bathing in the sheer iconic stature of Iggy & The Stooges. I don’t need to go into details about the impact of Iggy and The Stooges had on music or their history. I understand that if you are reading this review you already know. My worst fear would be an encounter with a parody of their former selves. I had not seen Iggy before and was relying on what I had heard from my friend Bob, what I heard, what read over the years and I what I could glean from the internet. I’m very happy to say my fear wasn’t realized and it wasn’t by a long shot.

This show blew me away!!! If this band is operating at 60% of what they used to be able to do, there aren’t many frontmen around now that could touch this level of energy. Sometimes the show is about the headspace you happen be in at the time. I was certainly ready for the stripped down c0ck out, rock out show. Everything was perfect!!

My friend Bob and I went down to the show and got there a few minutes before Iggy went in. I got a nice video clip of him getting out the black towne car, signing a few things, talking to a couple of fans then heading in the stage door. The clip is cool just for the sense of getting a bit of the fan frenzy around a rock star. There is a point in the clip when someone asked Iggy to pose for a photo and he obliges with a goofy headshake and sticking out his tongue. Someone said they were sorry about the equipment getting ripped off in Montreal the day prior and Iggy says ” I’m not gonna let that bother me…” At another point in this video you can hear my friend Bob yell “alright Jimmy”!

We hang around outside and miss the first band completely, which was our intention. We head in around 8:50PM or so. Our seats are OK, Massey Hall has very few poor seats. We are a little right and back around row P. This seating location will change. The stage set up is basic 1970′s rock show stuff. 2 rows of stacked speakers on the right and left, Marshall speakers and amps (these looked brand new – likely because of the recent theft in Montreal) stacked on both sides of the drumkit which is on a low riser, a couple racks of rock lights and a plain white curtain for a backdrop. That is it!! That is as basic as it gets!!

I guess @ 9:05PM Iggy & The Stooges take the stage. Iggy barechested is wearing (more…)