I saw Doug first, when Keeley and I walked into Reflections on Thursday night. (I was lucky to even get in the door, having lost my I.D. I think I owe it to the beard.) We reminisced about Shitty London Ontario for a good ten minutes before Keeley cut in with a more than fair observation: "Hold on," she said. "You guys don't get to complain. I grew up in rural Alberta. I don't think you two know what boredom really is!" Fair enough, on the surface, but it's important to keep in mind, that aside from being centrally located, and having the odd good record store, restaurant, or rock show, London Ontario suffers from a very special kind of illness: Mega-Middle-Class. (not rural enough to have any kind of land-based grounding, not metropolitan enough to really get a lot of cultural variety.) See, we might have gotten good bands more regularly, but there's something to be said about the effects of growing up in a place which is almost entirely suburb, where mall-culture is rampant, and 80% of your friends parents are insurance agents. "It's a different kind of boring." said Doug. Later, Bry and I talked mostly about the golden era of the classic, straight-up 'rock-out' music video, a la Elvis Costello and the Attractions.

I digress.

The Constantines and Weakerthans tour had garnered a lot of attention, and anticipation over the last few weeks, and it showed because lineups stretched for blocks at both the all-ages and bar shows. Both venues were packed past capacity. I'm going to be honest here, and say that I'm probably not the best person to give a fair review of the Weakerthans. Both sets were good, and they hold a place in my heart, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that they don't really excite me anymore. They played well, kids loved them. Some got teary eyed. I tapped my feet to a few old favourites, and that was enough for me. The Cons however, were a different story. (and so he revealed his bias.)

Their performance at Reflections Cabaret was outstanding! The sound was not what it should be, but that aside, they busted through their set with so much energy that it was hard not to break a sweat. (though that could have also just been the hordes of people, and lack of free water.) The Cons are the kind of band (and I know not everyone will agree with me here, but bear with me.) that when they raise their hands up high, the whole room does the same. Their sometimes aggressive, sometimes melancholy blues-based 'post-punk' rock lights things on fire.

Jon Epworth opened up for them, and aside from one technical difficulty, his set was great too. He closed it off with my favourite song, 'Gone'. "Write more songs like that one." I've said to Jon on more than one occasions. "That's the kind of song that people fucking connect with." (All his songs are great, but give me a break. That one's gold!) And Gerry Hubley DJ'd before, between and after all the bands, ending the night with a killer dance party explosion set. The coat-check line was so long, that most people eschewed it in favour of dancing their little feet off for a good hour or so till it cleared out a bit. Dancing on a floor literally covered in broken glass, I might add.

It was a good night. Doug ditched Bry to go to a party with Jon E. and some others. And then Bry and John K. Sampson (J.K.S. at the wheel) almost ran Stacey, Adam and I down on Barrington Street in their giant white tour van on their way back to the hotel.

There's a handful of photos from the Cons set here.