Say something my dear (The Watchmen concert review)
Posted by: Alan in Alan, Concerts, MusicI was going to title this “who watches the watchmen?” but I figured I’d get a number of angry fanboy comments for misleading them. what the? why isn’t he talking about the movie? what kind of crap is this?
It’s true, this is not a post about the upcoming movie, this is my slightly late 
reflection on what I called (upon its completion) my best small venue concert ever. At some point I may have to dig back through the archives of cd’s and concert ticket stubs to possibly dispute that comment, but for now I’ll stand behind it as a fact… the Watchmen kicked my ass and did it with a smile.
The opening band wasn’t bad, but on this night clearly very few people were interested in what they had to offer. Everywhere I looked there were people engaged in conversation, leaning in to be heard, numerous backs turned to the stage and speaking for myself, there were more than a few checks at the clock. Their name was Soul Side In if you are wondering, and they do have a myspace page… (shrug) listening to their studio stuff I’d put it in the same class of rock as 3 doors down, theory of a deadman, etc.
Anyway, on to the main event… The Watchmen!
After a 5 year “break”, they certainly didn’t show any signs of rust as they launched in to their set and very quickly I discovered my worst fears were close to coming true. I really hoped people wouldn’t turn this in to a night of “sing along with Daniel”, but it was clear that the crowd was there to celebrate the return of a long lost friend and they would not be denied. The good thing is the band appeared to expect this and played along, letting the crowd sing extended periods of songs and the banter / interaction went way beyond the typical “how you doin tonight Calgary?”.
Personally I don’t think there was a word to a song I didn’t sing along with, except for the surprise transitions into The Killers “Human”, as well as Ms Gradenko and Walking in your footsteps by the Police. I think these last two were kind of standards for when they were a touring band, but it shames me to say I only got to see them once near the beginning of their career, and that was as an opener for somebody else… 54-40 maybe?
For me, the standouts on the evening were Say Something and Stereo – Say Something was mind blowing, and this performance has pushed it to the top of my favorite songs by The Watchmen. I’m not taking anything away from the rest of the show, but those two were just on a completely different level.
I really wish I could find a set list for this show so I could re-create the song order, but so far I haven’t had much luck. If anyone can find one (or decent photos of the night) I’d really appreciate it.
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