Gig: "Heavy Head Residency", Week 3

"Heavy Head Residency", Week 3. (Gentleman Reg / Sheezer / Dance Yourself to Death)

Drake Underground. Wednesday, February 17, 2010.

You can't keep me away, I guess. Despite having hit the first instalment of Gentleman Reg's Wednesday night "Regidency" at The Drake, here I was again, just a couple weeks on. It turned out to be quite a study in contrasts with that first go-round, ending up with an altogether different crowd and ambiance.

Leading off the night was Dance Yourself to Death. They were unknown to me, but the band brought along a large contingent of friends and admirers who filled up the area in front of the stage, dancing energetically throughout. With this enthusiastic (and slightly chatty) crowd in place right from the get-go, I knew this was going to have a different vibe than it was a couple weeks previous. The first song was a tight rocker, with "Can't Explain" power chords, the second a bit more of a dreamy, mid-tempo could-have-been John Hughes soundtrack number with Johnny Ryan's Korg set to Fairlight-styled sounds. Strong lead vox from bassist Jen Markowitz, showing off a warm contralto voice, up in front of the propulsive Maya Postepski on drums. Clearly a unit with a well-defined, well-thought-out aesthetic — one that would encompass a very 80's sound.¹ Undoubtedly a talented band — just not entirely my thing. I wish 'em well and certainly wouldn't be surprised if they found themselves an even larger audience.

Having missed them on New Year's Eve, I was glad to have a chance to catch the second show of Sheezer, the local all-star "all-girl Weezer cover band"² — sticking (with rigourous revisionism) to the first two albums. Starting off with Laura Barrett testing out a vetoed inspirational chant ("Weezer, theyzer, heezer, sheezer!") the band kicked off with "Tired of Sex", Robin Hatch (ex-Sports: The Band) handling the vox. Throughout the show there was a pass-the-mic approach to lead vocals, which worked to generally good effect³ Part of the fun of the "everybody knows these songs" element is that it's like a big singalong, which worked out well on "Undone - The Sweater Song" (which was presented complete with onstage party banter) and had pretty much everyone in the room joining in on the choruses. There was a pleasantly rough-around-the-edges feel to the whole thing, as if the band members were all at a party, and someone had dared them to jump up and bash out a few of these songs.

With pros like Dana Snell and Magali Meagher on hand, there were pop smarts aplenty on hand to know how to navigate this stuff. With the other members being known qualities, the real surprise here was Alysha Haugen, doing a fab job on lead guitar — anyone know where we can catch more from her? Rocking out in their uniform jeans and black shirts, the band was having a great time, laughing on stage, giddily thrilled that they had buttons to sell.

For me, I guess I had slightly mixed feelings about the whole affair. Fun, yes, but it just kinda felt like a lark. Frankly, I'd be ten times more excited to see these same five musicians playing some power pop confections of their own creation. Although, to be sure, when I related this concept to A. after the set, he gave me a look like I had the crazy plague, so it's clear that they're reaching some people with this that would otherwise probably not pay such close attention to them.

By now, the room was pretty much full and worked up into some excitement by the opening bands. As with the first of the Regidency shows, Reg emerged on his own to lead off with a solo track, which was buried a bit in the chatter. Things were on a more solid footing when the band came out and ripped into "Coastline", which did more to get the crowd's attention, including some loud hoots of approval from entertainer/man-about-town/mayoral candidate Keith Cole, who was on hand for the show — definitely someone who makes his boisterous presence felt when he's enjoying something. In tribute, Reg dedicated "Wild Heart" to him.

Meanwhile, a chance to see how the new material is developing and growing. "Make It Better" had certainly come along from a couple weeks previous and was sounding like a crackerjack. Another — called "Driving Truth"? — was sharp, too, with new wave-y keyboards from Kelly McMichael. After the new material, the band was joined again by Jess Tollefsen on some extra keybs, for the hits, including a driving "How We Exit" and the always-fabulous "We're in a Thunderstorm" to close out the main set.

More new material in the encore, including yet one more getting its debut. How exciting is it to see this rush of new material — and good new material at that — right up close like this? For me, that was even more of a thrill than "The Boyfriend Song" — the one that the crowd was waiting for. That one was good fun, too, of course, especially seeing the band throw themselves into it, especially during the Hidden Cameras-inspired "bring it down" section, everyone crouching right down to the floor as the song got quieter. Tollefson and Dave Meslin, on stage playing tambourine and throwing in their voices, ended up right on their backs before the song picked up again. A good end to the night, sending me away from the Regidency with a smile. Let's hope Reg does it all again next year.

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¹ They closed with a revealing cover of Londonbeat's "I've Been Thinking About You".

² This is the band's own self-description from their myspace page. Under normal circumstances (unless looking at things on a macro level), I wouldn't think to comment on the gender make-up of a band, because how good/interesting an artist is doesn't depend on that. But given that we are all resolving to be thoughtful about how we are using language, I'm somewhat curious. Does the fact that the band is bringing it up — is making it fundamental to their shtick, in fact — put it "on the table"? Am I still better off to avoid the topic? It would seem to be the height of assumption for me to presume I know something that these smart, talented women don't — wouldn't me trying to hold them to a standard that they're eschewing be tantamount to accusing them of the crassest sort of false consciousness? Discussion, please.

³ Barrett, widely known as a helluva singer, came off a bit below her peak form in this setting. Maybe a touch less confident on bass than her usual instruments, she had to lean back a lot to keep an eye on her hands, which pulled her off the mic while singing. This should be self-correcting in time, though.