The Weakerthans put on a hell of a show last night in Birmingham, AL. My wife and I arrived a few minutes late, but caught most of Christine Fellows‘ set. I need to listen to some of her albums now. Afterwards, The Bottletree pulled down the famous “screen” and we waited. Next up was local singer/songwriter AA Bondy, who sang mostly acoustic love songs with strong Christian overtones. Then came the screen again
Finally, the main act arrived. John Samson looked so much different than I remember from pictures. I thought I remembered him with facial hair and glasses, and a bit older. I realize he must be going on 30 at this point, as he started The Weakerthans in 1997, but he looked really young for some reason.
They started off with “Bigfoot!”, a slow, almost lullabye-like number from the new album. After that, they broke into “Our Retired Explorer (Dines with Michel Foucault in Paris, 1961)” from Reconstruction Site. Then they hit “Civil Twilight,” followed by “Night Windows,” both from Reunion Tour. The full set list (from my faulty memory) is below. The slashed tracks comprise the section I’m not too sure of, but I think I have the order mostly right. I’ll confirm with someone else that was at the show. (If you were, feel free to comment and correct me).
“Bigfoot!” [Reunion Tour]
“Our Retired Explorer (Dines with…etc.etc.)” [Reconstruction Site]
“Civil Twilight” [Reunion Tour]
“The Reasons” [Reconstruction Site]
“Sun in an Empty Room” [Reunion Tour]
“Night Windows” [Reunion Tour]
“Tournament of Hearts” [Reunion Tour]
“Benediction” [Reconstruction Site]
“Reconstruction Site” [Reconstruction Site]
“Aside” [Left and Leaving]
“Virtue the Cat Explains Her Departure” [Reunion Tour]
“Watermark” [Left and Leaving]
“Left and Leaving” [Left and Leaving]
“Confessions of a Futon-Revolutionist” [the only track from Fallow]
“Plea from a Cat Named Virtue” [Reconstruction Site]
[Encore]
“One Great City!” [Reconstruction Site]
“My Favourite Chords” [Left and Leaving]
“This Is a Fire Door, Never Leave Open” [Left and Leaving]
“(Manifest)” [Reconstruction Site]
It was a fairly balanced set. I was expecting a run-through of the new album with some older songs interspersed, but I was happy to hear a good mix of new songs plus some of the songs that I never had a chance to see when they were touring for previous albums (esp. “Aside” and “Watermark”, both of which I was very excited to hear).
It’s hard to pick highlights when the whole show was excellent, but I think the encore might’ve been my favorite part. John Samson came back onstage to play “One Great City!” (before which I kept hearing people yelling “I Hate Winnipeg!” and during which I sang “I Hate Birmingham!” which elicited a smile from a couple of people next to me). “My Favourite Chords” is such a great song, and when I was convinced these two solo songs were going to end it, the band came back and joined in on cue for the ending, after which they threw in “This Is a Fire Door…”, a song I hadn’t thought about in a while, and had forgotten how much I loved, and then, to top it off, a postlude of “(Manifest),” my favorite of the 3 segues on Reconstruction Site (due to how much more rocking it is than the others, and how awesome the words are).
After the show, we waited outside for a few minutes, hoping John would come out. Stephen came by, and I looked at him, but by the time I recognized him, he had gone inside. He looked to be in a hurry, and I’m not for hassling bands after a show, but I did want to meet John and tell him how much I enjoyed it. I bought a tour poster and Reconstruction Site (I’m horribly embarassed that I didn’t own that until yesterday), completing my Weakerthans catalog.
I have pictures! But they’re at home and I’m at work, so bear with me. They will be posted tonight post-haste! To everyone that came out, I hope we gave ‘em a warm enough welcome that they’ll consider hitting AL again on their next tour!
Update: I found a video someone took of Civil Twilight from the show at al.com. Check it out here (http://videos.al.com/2008/03/the_weakerthans_live_at_bottle.html).
