Rock Reviews by WestCoast Weasel

by WestCoast Weasel
December 16, 2009

December 11, 2009
New City Suburbs
Edmonton, AB

Being introduced to rock n’ roll at a very young age set the stage for the rock aficionado that I would later become.  While 80s rock planted the seed—it was the punk rock of the 90s that nurtured and solidified its growth.  Only a handful of bands from the era are responsible for shaping not only my musical tastes, but the fibres of my personality over the last fourteen years.  Cult-followed underdogs Screeching Weasel are one of those few groups.  Until Friday night, they were the only favourite group (without deceased members) that I had yet to see live.  They broke up and reformed only a couple times (briefly) over the years.  Luckily they regrouped again recently, with no full tour plans—though somehow my favourite bar in my hometown secured the only headlining club gig of season and the only Canadian stop this year.

“We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so let’s cover it,” said a lively Mr. Ben Weasel (the original Weasel) only seconds before singing “Cindy’s On Methadone” with surprisingly clear cadence for the walls of New City Suburbs.  He explained that he hadn’t been to Edmonton since he stopped by with The Riverdales in 1995 (never with Screeching Weasel).  E-town locals and the rest of the nation’s travelers were in for the treat they’d bargained for.

I heard three of the songs I yearned for most within the first fifteen minutes: “Guest List,” “My Brain Hurts,” and “Supermarket Fantasy” sounded as fresh as they did during my post-pubescent introduction to their pop-punk stylings.  The vocal harmonies between Ben and Danny were without a doubt the evening’s high point; the only noticeable flaws were a couple strained vocal trail-offs heard during extended attempts at singing the words “Every Night” during another favourite.

The current incarnation of the band played like a tight, well-rehearsed unit—unexpected for a group of guys whose gig roster can be counted on one hand.  Ben gave shout-outs to Brad and company of New City for arranging the show before explaining they don’t tour and understand that people have traveled from Northwest Territories, Ontario and British Columbia to be here.  The staff of New City can’t be thanked enough as I was honoured to be one of those few.

After treating the crowd to “Dingbat,” a classic about a nice girl who isn’t “all there,” they broke out the quintessential “Hey Suburbia,” blending the speed and raw tone of 1988’s Boogadaboogadaboogada version and the “Shut up / we don’t care” outro from 1995’s Kill the Musician compilation.

Things couldn’t have been going smoother until Ben called out a “fucking retard who’s spitting on me.”  Ben, known for his no-shit attitude called on anyone with the balls to spit on him to have the balls to admit it.  “I’ve toured through hick town after hick town and now I come up here and this is the thanks I get?  You probably weren’t even around in ’78 when people were doing that.   Guess what?  The fucking bands hated it then too.”  Avoiding a total blow to the momentum they’d formed, “Teenage Freakshow” began only to have Ben replace a verse of lyrics with the warning, “you better fucking hope security gets to you before I do.”  The asshole kept his cover, and was never found.  Luckily the show went on.

Arguably my favourite Screeching song, and certainly one of the best written rock songs of our time—“Science of Myth” was the icing on this snotty punk rock cake.  “This Ain’t Hawaii” followed with an interesting blend/reprise of “Sunshine” before returning to the original tune.  “We don’t leave the stage and come back.  We got a couple more tunes,” he explained unapologetically before tearing the place down with “Cool Kids” and “We Hate.”

Catching Ben and Co. in their original heyday down south would have proved quite difficult at a pre-teen age.  Seeing and hearing them after years of mutual maturing is more than I would have dreamed or asked for.  Thanks to you, my wish of the past fourteen years was finally granted this holiday season.  Let’s hope my mother understands why my only venture back to Edmonton was for December 11, and not for December 25.

…Weasel Was Here

Setlist:

1. Cindy’s On Methadone
2. Guest List
3. Totally
4. My Brain Hurts
5. Supermarket Fantasy
6. My Right
7. I Wrote Holden Caufield
8. Every Night
9. Acknowledge
10. 99
11. Dingbat
12. Hey Suburbia
13. She’s Giving Me The Creeps
14. Teenage Freakshow
15. I Can See Clearly Now
16. Joanie Loves Johnny
17. Slogans
18. You Are My Sunshine
19. Science of Myth
20. This Ain’t Hawaii w/ Sunshine (reprise)
21. Peter Brady
22. Cool Kids
23. We Hate

The entire show is streamed below.  The clips are not property of WestCoastWeasel.com, nor are they associated with our YouTube channel.  We did not bootleg the show and they were found online, elsewhere.  Clips will be removed immediately, upon request.

Edmonton Part #1

Edmonton Part #2

Edmonton Part #3

Edmonton Part #4

Edmonton Part #5

Edmonton Part #6

Edmonton Part #7

—————-
Supermarket Fantasy

Science of Myth

Guest List

Visit Screeching Weasel online here: www.myspace.com/officialscreechingweasel