The Weakerthans’ Somber “Reunion Tour”
Last summer, Canada’s beloved storytellers the Weakerthans hit up Webster Hall with Bad Religion’s Greg Graffin and the New Amsterdams and it was, without a doubt, one of the most entertaining shows I had seen that summer. Flash forward a year and change later and the boys were back at the same place, with a new album Reunion Tour in the bag. I stumbled into the venue just as the band was in the midst of their first song. Right way, the mood was remarkably different. Honestly, the new album has not found constant rotation with me. Since it just came out, it’s understandable why a good portion of the hour and a half set contained songs from it.
Along with the low key nature of the new batch of songs, the guys seemed to be leaning towards the more somber songs in their catalog for the most part this time around. If anything, the ability to turn the mood in each direction at the drop of a hat could been attributed to the diversity of John K. Samson’s songwriting. I wondered beforehand why these guys have not had more crossover appeal. Ultimately, the heart of the band is Samson and his warm tales. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, he is, most definitely, one of the best songwriters out there today.
Regardless how I feel about the new album, a somber Weakerthans show is just as worthy. Hey, you can’t always kick out the jams.
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